Bava Kamma - Daf 54
- Source for machlokes about כלים damages in a bor
The Mishnah on Daf 52a taught that if utensils fell into a bor and broke, the pit’s owner is exempt. This disagrees with Rebbe Yehudah, who holds one is liable for utensils damaged in a bor. The Rabbonon darshen: "ונפל שמה שור או חמור" – and an ox or donkey shall fall into it, teaching: "שור" ולא אדם – he is liable for an ox, but not a person, "חמור" ולא כלים and for a donkey, not for utensils. Rebbe Yehudah darshens the extra word "או" to include liability for utensils. The Gemara asks that the passuk should be darshened as a כלל ופרט וכלל, which would exclude birds, and ultimately answers with the passuk: כסף ישיב לבעליו – he shall return money to its owner, teaching: לרבות כל דאית ליה בעלים – to include anything which has an owner in the liability of a pit. Still, the Rabbonon exclude utensils from the word "חמור", and Rava concludes that it is difficult to explain what the word חמור teaches according to Rebbe Yehudah.
- Why one is exempt for שור פקח’s damages in a bor
The Mishnah on Daf 52a taught that if a שור חרש שוטה וקטן – an ox, deaf, deranged, or young, fell into a pit, the owner is liable. This cannot mean the ox belonging to a deaf person, etc., because it would imply that one is exempt for damages to an ox belonging to a competent person, which is untrue. Therefore, Rebbe Yochanan explained it means an ox which is deaf, etc. This implies that the owner is exempt for damages to a שור פקח, - an intelligent ox which falls in, and although Rebbe Yirmiyah deflects this inference, an explicit Baraisa is eventually quoted: נפל לתוכו שור בן דעת פטור – if an intelligent ox fell into [the pit], he is exempt. Rava explains the reason: דבעי ליה עיוני ומיזל – because [the ox] should have examined its path as it walked, and its falling into the pit is not considered the negligence of the pit’s owner.
- The inclusion of all animals in the liability of a pit, and many other halachos
The next Mishnah states: אחד שור ואחד כל בהמה – The same applies whether it is an ox or any animal, regarding eight halachos: (1) liability for a pit’s damages, (2) separating animals from Har Sinai at מתן תורה, (3) כפל – double payment for a thief stealing an animal, (4) returning a lost animal, (5) unloading an animal struggling beneath its burden, (6) the prohibition to muzzle an animal while it is threshing, (7) כלאים, the prohibition to mate or plow with different species together, and (8) the prohibition to allow one’s animal to do work on Shabbos. These also apply to birds and wild animals. The Torah wrote specific animals in these places שדבר הכתוב בהווה – because the Torah spoke about common cases.
After deriving several halachos of the Mishnah, the Gemara says that three of them are derived with a gezeirah shavah from the halachah of Shabbos. It then discusses the source for applying Shabbos to all animals, and ultimately concludes: וכל בהמתך ריבויא הוא – the word “all” in the phrase “and all your animals” is an inclusionary term which includes all other living beings, even birds. The specific words in the two versions of the עשרת הדברות teach other halachos through a gezeirah shavah.
