THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW
Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean

Lesson # 324 • Assaults (part 2)

We begin this lesson with a continuation of examples of liability for assaults.
Reuven burns Shimon on the fingernail with a hot spit where it does not cause a bruise and does not cause loss of employment. Reuven must pay for pain only. If it is in a place that is visible, Reuven must also pay for humiliation. If it requires medical help, then he must also pay for healing. Reuven gives Shimon a potion to drink or smears him with an ointment that changes the color of Shimon’s skin. Reuven must pay for healing alone, until Shimon’s appearance returns to normal. If the change in appearance is visible to others, then Reuven must also pay for humiliation. Reuven places Shimon in a room and imprisons him by locking the door, so that Shimon cannot go to work. Reuven must pay for loss of income. But if Shimon was already in the room when Reuven locked the door, Reuven is not liable. Reuven shaves off the hair from Shimon’s head. Since the hair will eventually grow back, Reuven pays for humiliation alone. However, if Reuven uses a depilatory or burns the hair off in a manner that will stop it from growing back, he is liable for up to all five categories, namely, injury, pain, healing, loss of income and humiliation.

1. Injury, since the damage is permanent;
2. pain, because the depilatory substance gives Shimon a headache;
3. healing because Shimon needs medical attention;
4. loss of income, because if he needs a pleasant appearance for his job; he cannot go to work;
5. humiliation, due to obvious social norms.

Shimon pleads that he became deaf or blind as a result of Reuven coming into physical contact with him. Shimon must provide medical testimony to buttress his claim if Reuven pleads that Shimon is not really deaf or blind. Before Beth Din will award damages to Shimon for any of the categories it must be convinced that the method by which Reuven delivered the blow actually could have caused the injuries of which Shimon complained. If Reuven strikes Shimon with a small pebble not large enough to cause injury or with a tiny piece of wood and it inflicts a wound that an object of this kind would not be expected to inflict, Reuven need not pay for the injury.

However, Reuven is liable to pay Shimon for humiliation because Reuven must pay for humiliation even if he just spat on Shimon. If there are no witnesses to testify as to the instrument, then Shimon may take an oath and he will win the case. Beth Din can presume if the instrument was as small as Reuven claims, it would not have inflicted such a severe injury. If an instrument made of hard metal, such as iron, was used by Reuven, then the size may not matter since even a small piece of hard sharp metal can cause severe injuries.

We begin now with a series of rules that describe the amount of damages that Reuven must pay Shimon for each of the five categories of damage.

1. INJURY: This category is compensated for only if the following two criteria are present: (1) there is permanent loss of limb; and (2) there is permanent potential loss of earnings due to the permanent injury. If the permanent injury does not affect Shimon’s continuing in his occupation, there is no compensation under this category. For example: Shimon, the victim, lost an arm as a result of an assault by Reuven. Shimon is an opera singer earning $5,000 a week and his roles will not change because of the loss of an arm. He will continue to sing in the opera in leading roles and his earning capacity has not changed. Reuven will not pay anything for injury. There may compensation for some or all of the other four categories. Assume that Shimon is a baseball player earning $5000 a week. He can no longer play without the arm. However, he can become a sportscaster earning $1000 a week. He will be entitled to the difference of $4000 a week for the years that it is estimated he could have continued being a baseball player with such earning ability.

2. PAIN: This depends upon the psycho- logical and physical makeup of Shimon and his background. If he is pampered or delicate; and other factors that experts can assess. If there is a loss of limb involved, the amount to be paid is what Shimon would have to pay to have the limb removed with anesthesia compared without anesthesia.

3. HEALING: The amount to be paid for healing is relatively simple to determine. Beth Din will examine all of the hospital and medical expenses. If there are treatments that will be required for a protracted period of time, Beth Din will seek expert testimony as to their future costs. In all events, if the amount decided upon for future costs is not adequate for future medical expenses, Shimon may make an application to Beth Din for additional medical expenses. Shimon may make an application to the Beth Din for partial interim payments to sustain his medical treatments. Medical experts may be necessary to testify if the wounds are attributable to Reuven’s blows and if Shimon is following the medical advice he has received. Halacha does not permit Reuven to insist that Shimon seek medical relief in a far away place that is cheaper than in the community where Shimon resides, or that Shimon submit himself to Reuven’s doctor for treatment so as to save Reuven medical expenses. On the other hand, Shimon cannot demand that Reuven give him a lump sum that is less than what a Beth Din will eventually award him thereafter seeking his own medical help without any further payments from Reuven. Reuven can object, since if the sum Shimon requests is inadequate, Shimon will always complain that Reuven did not give him sufficient compensation to be healed.

4. LOSS OF INCOME: In the case of a loss of limb, this represents the loss of the lower income predicted in the first category above (injury). In the above example of the baseball player, Shimon will earn $1,000 a week as a sportscaster. But because of the injury he must remain out of work as a sportscaster for two weeks. In addition to the money he receives for injury he also receives $1,000 a week for two weeks for loss of income.

5. HUMILIATION: The payment to be made depends upon the relative social status of Reuven and Shimon. If Reuven is of no particular significant standing there is greater humiliation to Shimon in the assault than that caused if Reuven holds a more significant role in society.

In all of the situations, Beth Din has wide latitude in the area of payment. It will examine all the community standards, the status of the parties, and other factors that it deems necessary.

As an aside, there is an observation in the Codes that if one humiliates a kohein, payment for compensation is higher than for someone who is not a kohein.

The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume X chapter 420 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased via email: orders@gefenpublishing.com and via website: www.israelbooks.com and at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint@inter.net.il