Dina demalchuta dina, the law of the land is the law, is one of the most famous, far-reaching and even revolutionary laws of the Talmud. At its most…
The distinction between a ganav and a gazlan is fairly well known. The former in trying to hide his crime pays double the amount stolen whereas the…
Doing teshuva is hard work. Sinning can be fun, easy to do, financially beneficial and habit forming. Change is hard. It requires hard work,…
One of the revolutions of Judaism was its democratization. No person is inherently superior to another--all are created in the same Divine image. One…
“Even though he repays him he is not forgiven until he asks him.” (Bava Kamma 92a) In our last couple of postings we have discussed the…
In our last post we discussed Rabbi Yehuda’s (rejected) view that the blind are exempt from mitzvoth. This exemption actually brought great joy…
Rav Yaakov Ettlinger in his collection of responsa (Binyan Tzion #172) discusses the powerful and scary question of whether one has to give up one…
Masechet Bava Kamma begins by describing one’s responsibility to pay for damages caused by one’s animals. It then discusses damages one…
“Rav Yossi said: It would have been proper for the Torah to be given by Ezra had Moshe not preceded him.” (Sanhedrin 21b) It was Moshe…
When opportunity knocks, answer – you may not get a second chance. Or to quote the language of our Sages “a closed door does not easily […
One of the beautiful features of the Land of Israel is its wide-ranging topography. The lowest point on earth some 1,300 feet below sea level is…
“The disciples of Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai asked him ‘why was the Torah stricter regarding a ganav, thief than a gazlan…
“Al pi [1], according to the testimony of two or three shall something be established.” (Devarim 19:15) With so much power…
While there are 613 categories of mitzvoth they are not all created equal. Saving a life is more important than observing Shabbat, Shabbat is more…
One of the greatest causes of damage to public property is that of fire. Forest fires cause damage to millions of acres of every year and we…
“The ox of a Jew who gores the ox belonging to the Temple or the ox of the Temple that gores the ox of the Jew they are exempt from…
Correlation does not imply causation - though it may be just that. It is not always easy to distinguish between two events that, while…
Slow down. Such would be good advice for those trying to navigate a busy street. Running down the street in any major urban area is not recommended…
In our previous posts we discussed the difference between an ox classified as a tam, a domesticated animal who is not at risk of…
“The victim and the perpetrator share in the [payment] of damages.” (Bava Kamma 14b) Being a victim of an accident is never pleasant…
One would not expect to connect Miriam’s speaking negatively against Moshe, read (at least in the Diaspora) this past Shabbat, with the laws…
One of the basic differences between the religious and civil laws of the Torah is while the former are mandatory the latter are not necessarily so…
Arba avot nezikin, there are four primary categories of damages, the ox, the pit, the man and fire." (Bava Kamman 2a) As …
"There are four primary categories of damages - the ox, the pit, the man and the fire...the common denominator of them is that…