THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW - Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean

Lesson # 314 (part two) •The forewarned ox

Up to this point we have been discussing animals that caused damage “with its foot” or “with its tooth” or “with its horn”. In all of these situations there was property damage and Reuven, the owner of the ox was liable to Shimon the owner of the property that was damaged.

We come now to a different situation where Reuven’s ox gores Shimon. It is stated in the Torah “If an ox shall gore a man or woman and he shall die, the ox shall be surely stoned” (Sh'mot 21:28). The verses go on to say that if it was an ox that gores habitually then the ox is stoned to death and in addition thereto, the owner makes compensation to the victim of the goring; the payment is called “ransom”.

The place of goring is important
1. Assuming that Reuven’s ox is a fore- warned ox and it killed Shimon in Reuven’s yard, the ox is put to death but Reuven does not pay the ransom and does not make monetary payments. This holds true if Shimon is in Reuven’s yard without permission. If Shimon is there with permission, then Reuven is liable for the goring.
2. If the ox kills Shimon in Shimon’s yard, the ox is put to death and Reuven makes payment to Shimon’s estate.
3. If the ox kills Shimon in a pubic street, the ox is put to death and Reuven pays the ransom.
The goring ox is put to death whether the person who is killed by it is an adult or minor, male or female, slave or freeman.

The method by which the ox kills is not important. The ox is to be stoned to death whether it has killed by goring, biting, pushing, kicking or any other method that causes death. The result is the same whether the ox is innocuous or forewarned - it is put to death. The question arises, if the ox has already killed a person and must be put to death, how does it kill a second time and a third time to become a forewarned ox? Various answers are given including that the ox after goring a person to death ran away and repeated such fatal injuries twice again and was finally caught after the last goring.

The defendant in a criminal case must be present in the courtroom when he is being judged. So too the owner of the goring ox, whether a man or woman must be present in the courtroom when Beth Din judges whether or not the ox is put be put to death and determines the amount of the ransom. If the ox has no private owner, such as an ox that comes from an uninhabited place, or from the desert; or an ox that belongs to the Holy Temple (may it be rebuilt, speedily in our days) or an ox that belongs to a convert who has died without heirs, then the trial is held without the presence of the owner. (Every Jew has heirs, except a convert who has yet no child conceived after he converted.) An ox that belongs to a legally incompetent person, such as a minor, or mentally deficient, is treated as an ox that has no owner. The ox is put to death only if caused Shimon’s death by itself without outside intervention. If a human was also a contributing factor, the ox is not put to death. Thus, if Reuven provoked the ox to gore Shimon, the ox is not put to death and Reuven is also free of the death penalty at the hands of Beth Din but is guilty to the judgments of Heaven. The same holds true if a person provokes a dog to kill a person. However, if Reuven opens the dog’s mouth and places Shimon's hand into the dog’s mouth and the dog bites Shimon causing his death, Reuven is liable to the death penalty for murder. The same holds true if Reuven shoves the ox and as a result thereof the ox shoves Shimon, causing his death.

The owner of the killing ox pays the ransom. If the killing ox belongs to two persons, Reuven and Levi, each pays the full ransom to Shimon’s heirs, since each requires a full atonement. Those persons who are deemed to be legally incompetent to be responsible for their actions or the action of their animal, such as a minor, or mentally deficient, do not have to pay the ransom even if they have a guardian. The ransom is for atonement and these persons are not required to make atonement. If an ox intending to attack another ox instead killed Shimon, the ox is not put to death. However Reuven must pay the ransom for the death of Shimon. All that has been said about the forewarned ox that causes death “with its horn” also applies if the ox that causes death of a person ”with its foot”. For example, Reuven’s ox enters Shimon’s yard and while walking, crushes a baby in the yard. Reuven must pay the ransom to the baby’s heirs. The ox is not put to death since it did not have intent to injure. If the occurrence was in a public street, there is no liability for ransom since the owner of the ox has no liability for damage caused by his ox “with its foot” in a public street.

The ransom is paid to Shimon’s heirs. If the victim was a married woman, the ransom is paid to her descendants or to her paternal heirs. This is a departure from the halacha that holds that a husband is the sole heir of his wife. The woman’s husband is her heir to the assets on hand at the time of the death but not to collectibles. (At the time of her death the ransom was not part of her estate. Beth Din determines the amount of the ransom, taking into account the earning capacity of the victim, the expenses that the estate has as a result of his death, and any other factors that Beth Din deems appropriate. Beth Din has wide latitude in setting the amount. (The ransom that is paid for killing Shimon’s heathen slave or heathen maidservant, whether a minor or adult, is always 30 shekels of fine silver, regardless of the actual value of the slave or maidservant.)

A payment for wrongful death differs from a ransom in the following ways:
(1) Ransom affords atonement while the monetary payment does not;
(2) If Reuven has no funds he must make every effort to pay the ransom, but he does not have to make the monetary payment except if he has the funds.

The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume X chapter 405 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