Bava Kamma - Daf 86
- Paying damages for a temporary loss in value
Rabbah asked if one pays for an injury which caused a temporary loss in value: כגון שהכהו על ידו וצמתה ידו – for instance, where he hit [the victim] on his hand and his hand shriveled, וסופה לחזור – but its end is to return to full health. Does he not pay any damages (although he pays for unemployment), since it will heal, או דלמא השתא מיהת אפחתיה – or perhaps now, at any rate, he reduced [the victim’s] value on the slave market, since most buyers are uncertain if he will fully recover? The Gemara concludes that this question is the subject of a dispute between Abaya and Rava. Abaye says: נותן לו שבת גדולה ושבת קטנה – he gives him payment for his “major” unemployment (i.e., his temporary loss of value caused by his current inability to work), and for his “minor” unemployment (i.e., his current loss of income as a cucumber watchman). Rava says: אינו נותן לו אלא דמי שבתו שבכל יום ויום – he only gives him the value of his daily loss of employment based on what he normally earns but does not pay for the temporary damages.
- Machlokes how to calculate בושת
The Mishnah on Daf 83b taught about humiliation payments: הכל לפי המבייש והמתבייש – it is all assessed according to the status of the humiliator and the humiliated. This is machlokes in a Baraisa, where Rebbe Meir says that all victims are viewed as aristocrats who lost their wealth, שהן בני אברהם יצחק ויעקב – because they are the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov. A poor person is not assessed according to his poverty, which would be too lenient, nor is a wealthy person assessed according to his wealth, for the claim would be endless. Rather, we use the above middle assessment, which befits descendants of the אבות. Rebbe Yehudah says: הגדול לפי גודלו והקטן לפי קטנו – A great person is paid according to his greatness, and a lowly person according to his lowliness (i.e., we do consider financial status). Rebbe Shimon says: עשירים רואין אותן כאילו הם בני חורין שירדו מנכסיהם – wealthy people are assessed as aristocrats who lost their wealth, as Rebbe Meir held, עניים כפחותין שבהן – but poor people are assessed like the least among [the poor]. The Mishnah cannot be Rebbe Meir, who does not consider financial status. It also cannot Rebbe Yehudah, because the Mishnah later obligates בושת for humiliating a blind person, and Rebbe Yehudah does not. Rather, it must be Rebbe Shimon.
- ביישו ישן ומת
The next Mishnah states that one who humiliates a sleeping person is liable. Rebbe Abba bar Mammal asked: ביישו ישן ומת מהו – if he humiliated him while he was sleeping, and he died in his sleep and never realized he was humiliated, what is the halachah? Rav Zevid explains the question: משום כיסופא הוא – Is בושת paid for feeling embarrassment, והא מית ליה ולית ליה כיסופא – and this one died without having any embarrassment, so the assailant would be exempt? או דלמא משום זילותא הוא – Or perhaps it is because of the public degradation to which he subjected his victim, והא אוזליה – and here, too, he degraded him, although he never knew? Rav Pappa explains the inquiry differently: משום כיסופא דידיה הוא – Is בושת paid because of his personal embarrassment, והוא מיית ליה – and here, [the victim] died without experiencing embarrassment, and the assailant would be exempt? או דלמא משום בושת משפחה – Or perhaps it is because of the family’s humiliation, in which case he would pay even though the victim died.
