9,687 related texts · Page 103 of 202
The Mekhilta establishes a foundational principle of tort law in the Torah: a person is not liable for damage unless the harmful agent leaves their property and causes damage elsew...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael derives a precise set of liability rules from the verse "and he send his beast" (Exodus 22:4), establishing who is responsible when an animal causes d...
"And it eat in another's field" — Rabbi Nathan addressed a scenario where someone stacked grain in another person's field without permission. If the field owner's beast then came o...
The Mekhilta establishes a foundational ruling in the laws of property damage caused by animals. The question is straightforward: when is an animal's owner liable for the destructi...
When fire spreads from one person's property and damages a neighbor's field, how far does liability extend? The Mekhilta records a three-way debate among the sages that reveals jus...
"and there be consumed sheaves": All things are included: a pile of reeds and beams, a mound of stones, and of pebbles for the processing of lime. "or the standing corn": trees als...
"Pay shall he pay, the lighter of the fire": Why is this written? From (22:4) "a man," I would know only of a man. Whence do I derive (the same for) a woman, a tumtum (one of indet...
Four general rules were stated by R. Yishmael in the name of R. Meir in respect to damages. Wherever the mazik ("the damager") has permission (to be), but not the nizak ("the damag...
When a dispute over property arises and the facts remain unclear, the Torah provides a striking instruction: "Then the master of the house shall draw near" (Exodus 22:7). But draw ...
"then the master of the house (i.e., the watcher) shall draw near to the judges": For an oath. You say, for an oath. But, perhaps for an oath or not for an oath? It follows (that i...
"For every matter of offense"—general. "for an ox, for an ass, for a lamb, for a garment"—particular. General-particular (The rule is:) There is subsumed in the general only what o...
How many judges does it take to decide a monetary dispute in Jewish law? The Mekhilta traces the answer to a single passage in (Exodus 22:7-8), where the word "elohim" — meaning ju...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi — analyzed the phrase "until elohim shall come the matter of both" (Exodus 22:8), which describes disputes brought before judges. The verse speaks of "...
Rabbi Akiva challenged Rabbi Eliezer's reasoning. You are deriving what is possible from what is impossible, he argued. Natural death is always beyond human control — it is impossi...
(Exodus 22:9) says "no one seeing" in the context of a guardian who claims an animal was stolen from his care. The Mekhilta explains: "no one seeing" means no witnesses were presen...
(Exodus 22:11) "And if it were stolen from him, he shall pay its owner": This speaks of a hired watcher, and the above (Ibid. 9-10), of a non-paid watcher. But perhaps the reverse ...
(Exodus 22:12) discusses an animal that is "torn by a wild beast" while in a guardian's care: "If it were torn, let him bring ed." But what does "ed" mean? Two rabbis disagreed. Ra...
The Torah establishes different levels of responsibility for different types of guardians. A hired watcher — someone paid to safeguard another person's property — bears liability i...
The Mekhilta raises one of the most characteristic questions in all of rabbinic literature: if a law can be logically deduced from another law, why does the Torah bother stating it...
The Mekhilta examines a specific scenario in the laws governing borrowed property. If an animal passes from the domain of a lender to that of a borrower, even for a single moment, ...
"If it were hired, it came by its hire" — the Torah introduces a fourth category of guardian: the hirer. Someone who rents an animal occupies a middle ground between the unpaid gua...
Would you say that? There is a crucial difference (between a paid and an unpaid watcher), viz.: Since a paid watcher both derives benefit and gives benefit, and a hirer derives ben...
The Mekhilta draws a careful legal distinction between two cases that the Torah addresses separately: the ravished girl and the enticed girl. The difference between these two situa...
The Mekhilta strengthens the father's authority over a rapist's marriage through an a fortiori argument. With a seduced woman — where the seducer did not violate the father's will,...
The Torah addresses the case of a father who refuses to allow his daughter's betrothal. The verse uses the phrase "if her father refuse, refuse," repeating the word in a way that i...
Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Yossi Haglili debated the method of executing a witch, as prescribed by (Exodus 22:17): "A witch you shall not allow to live." Rabbi Yishmael objected to a...
(Exodus 22:18) "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death": What is the intent of this? It is written (Leviticus 20:15) "And a man who cohabits with a beast shall be put to d...
"only to the L–rd alone": Because others say: If the Israelites had not joined the name of the Holy One Blessed be He, with that of idolatry (i.e., the golden calf), they would hav...
The Torah was given with its signs — its built-in warnings against idolatry. The Mekhilta explains why this matters. Israel might have reasoned as follows: we are commanded against...
(Exodus 22:20) commands: "And a stranger you shall not afflict and you shall not oppress him." The Mekhilta identifies two distinct prohibitions within this verse. "You shall not a...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai posed a question that cuts to the heart of the relationship between God and the stranger. He placed two verses side by side and let the contrast speak for i...
Abraham called himself a stranger. (Genesis 23:4): "A stranger and a sojourner am I with you." David called himself a stranger. (Psalms 119:19): "I am a stranger in the land." And ...
Beloved are the converts, and the Mekhilta offers a stunning proof: God delayed Abraham's circumcision until the age of ninety-nine specifically to keep the door open for future co...
(Exodus 22:21) commands: "Every widow and orphan you shall not afflict." The Mekhilta immediately pushes beyond the literal categories. This verse mentions only widows and orphans....
Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Shimon were being led out to their execution. Rabbi Shimon turned to Rabbi Yishmael and said: "Rebbi, my heart is faint, for I do not know why I am going t...
And when R. Shimon and R. Yishmael were executed, R. Akiva said to his disciples: Prepare yourselves for calamity. For if good were destined to come in our generation, only R. Shim...
The Mekhilta constructs a powerful a fortiori argument about God's mercy. Within the framework of God's lesser measure — the measure of punishment — even a single individual who cr...
The Torah's prohibition against charging interest is one of the most distinctive features of biblical economic law. The Mekhilta examines the verse "Do not impose interest upon him...
The Mekhilta catalogs the multiple transgressions committed by someone who lends money at interest. From the Torah's various prohibitions against usury, the rabbis identified five ...
The Torah commands that when you take a garment as a pledge for a loan, you must return it to the borrower so they can sleep in it at night. But the Mekhilta noticed a problem: the...
(Exodus 22:26) "for it is his solitary covering": This is his cloak. "it is his garment for his skin"—this is his undergarment. "On what shall he lie?": to include his mat-skin. "a...
From here they derived: One may speak one thing and be liable for four. (How so?) If the son of a prince curses his father, he is liable for "prince," "father," "judge," and "in yo...
(Exodus 22:28) "Your fullness and your dema (terumah) you shall not delay": "Your fullness"—bikkurim (first-fruits, which are taken from fully ripened grain). "you shall not delay"...
"Seven days shall it be with its mother" — the Torah requires a first-born animal to remain with its mother for seven days before it can be given to a Kohen (a priest). But the Mek...
R. Nathan says: The verse "under its mother" comes to be expounded, viz.: "under its mother"—after its mother has died. You say "under its mother"—after its mother, but perhaps it ...
"Do not place your hand with an evildoer" (Exodus 23:1). The Torah issues this warning in the context of bearing false witness, but the Mekhilta unpacks it with a vivid courtroom s...
"Do not place your hand with an evildoer": This was the practice of the "clean-minded men of Jerusalem." They would not go to a feast until they knew who was going with them, and t...
(Exodus 23:4) commands: "If you encounter the ox of your foe, or his donkey, straying, return shall you return it to him." The Mekhilta asks: does "encounter" mean literal physical...
