Baba Kama 5:5-6

Baba Kama 5:5

Let’s say that a person digs a pit in a private domain and opens it to the public domain, or vice versa, or he digs it in one private domain and opens it to another – in all of these cases, he is liable for any damage caused. If someone dug a pit in the public domain and an ox or a donkey fell into it and died, he is liable. This is true of a pit, a canal, a cave, a tunnel or a trench – one is liable for the damage caused by any of these. The reason the mishna specifies a pit is to teach the depth necessary for liability if something dies by falling into it: ten handbreadths (about 30”), which is the depth for which one is liable if something falls into a pit. If any of these excavations were less than ten handbreadths and an ox or a donkey fell in and died, he is exempt, but if they were injured, he is liable.

Baba Kama 5:6

Let’s say that a pit belongs to two partners. If the first partner goes by without covering it, then the second partner also neglects to cover it, the second is liable. If the first partner covered it and the second partner found it uncovered but neglected to re-cover it, the second partner is liable. If the owner of a pit covered it adequately but an ox or a donkey still fell into it and died, he is exempt; if he did not cover it sufficiently and an ox or a donkey fell in and died, he is liable. If the animal fell forward into the pit, startled by the sound of the pit being enlarged, he is liable; if the animal fell backwards (i.e., startled by noise coming from outside the pit), he is exempt. If an ox and its gear or a donkey and its harness fell into a pit, the owner is liable for damage to the animals and exempt for damage to their accessories. If an ox that is deaf, mentally incompetent or a minor falls in, the owner of the pit is liable but if a child or a servant falls in, he is exempt (since these particular laws only apply to oxen and not to people).