Bava Kama Chart #14

Chart for Bava Kama Daf 118a

IN WHAT WAY DOES A THIEF FULFILL HIS OBLIGATION TO RETURN A STOLEN ANIMAL TO THE FLOCK? (1)

(A)
THE OWNER KNEW ABOUT THE THEFT
(B)
THE OWNER DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE THEFT
1 RAV The thief must inform the owner It suffices for the owner to count his flock
2 SHMUEL It suffices for the owner to count his flock It suffices for the owner to count his flock (2)
3 REBBI YOCHANAN It suffices for the owner to count his flock Nothing is necessary, not even a count of the flock
4 RAV CHISDA It suffices for the owner to count his flock The thief must inform the owner (3)
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FOOTNOTES:

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(1) That is, even though the thief returned the stolen animal to the domain of its owner, the thief remains responsible for damage done to the animal until he performs a "proper return" ("Hashavah Me'alyesa") of the item. The Amora'im argue about what constitutes a proper Hashavah. (Rashi on the Mishnah and the Gemara)

(2) According to Shmuel, the Halachah when the owner knew about the theft and the Halachah when the owner did not know about the theft are the same. When the Mishnah states, "Lo Yad'u ha'Ba'alim...," it means that the same Halachah as just mentioned ("Chayav") applies also when the owner did not know about the theft. (Shmuel's explanation is more understandable according to the Girsa of the Rif, whose text of the Mishnah reads, "v'Im Lo Yad'u ha'Ba'alim," with the connective "Vav.")

(3) Rav Chisda's reasoning is that since the animal (by being stolen) has become accustomed to wandering out of its confines, the thief must inform the owner so that he will be aware that he must watch it with additional vigilance. Accordingly, Rav Chisda requires that the thief inform the owner of the return of the item only with regard to stolen animals, but not with regard to inanimate objects that were stolen. According to Rav Chisda, when the Mishnah says, "Lo Yad'u ha'Ba'alim," it means that the same Halachah applies when the owner did not know about the theft (as we wrote according to Shmuel, in footnote #2 above). When the end of the Mishnah says that the owner's count of his flock exempts the thief, it is referring only to the case in the beginning of the Mishnah (where the owner knew about the theft) and not to the middle case of the Mishnah (where the owner did not know about the theft). (See Insights.)