Baba Kama 1:1-2

Baba Kama 1:1

The four main categories of damages are the ox, the pit, a devouring animal and fire. Ox is not like the devouring animal, nor vice versa. These, which are live animals, are not like fire, which is inanimate. None of these, which go out and cause damage, is like the pit, which doesn’t travel to cause its damage. What they all have in common is that they all cause damage, one must safeguard against such damage, and when damage occurs, the one responsible must pay the injured party using his best-quality land.

Baba Kama 1:2

Anything that one is required to safeguard, he is responsible for if it causes damage. If he is only partially responsible for the hazardous situation, he is just as liable to pay damages as one who was wholly responsible. One is responsible for damaging items that are not subject to the rules of misappropriation (i.e., they are not sanctified), that belong to Jews, and that have an owner, in any place except in the responsible party’s own domain or in a place jointly shared by the responsible party and the injured party. When one is responsible for damage, he must pay the injured party using his best-quality land.