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Baba Kama 4:2-3

Baba Kama 4:2

If an ox has a presumption that it will gore other oxen (muad) but not other animals, or that it will gore people but not cattle, or that it will gore small creatures but not big ones – in such a case, the owner pays full damages if it gores what it is muad to and half-damages if it gores what it is not muad to. Rabbi Yehuda’s students asked him what the law is if an ox is muad to gore on Shabbos but not to gore on weekdays. He replied that in such a case, the owner pays full damages if it gores on Shabbos and half-damages if it gores on a weekday. Such an ox would become a tam (i.e., lose its presumption of goring) after three days of Shabbos pass without incident.

Baba Kama 4:3

If the ox of a Yisroel gored an ox belonging to the Temple, or vice versa, the owner is exempt because Exodus 21:35 specifies “the ox of his neighbor,” excluding an ox that belongs to the Temple. If the ox of a Jew gored that of a non-Jew, he is exempt from payment (because the civil courts did not obligate payment in such cases). If the ox of a non-Jew gored that of a Jew, he pays full damages whether the ox was a tam or a muad (the laws differentiating between tam and muad having been specified as pertaining to Jews).

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz