Bava Kamma 60 - January 1, 20 Tevet

This month's learning is sponsored by Tzippora Chwat in loving memory of Leeba bat Chaim. This week's learning is sponsored by Tamar Orvell.  Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan disagree in which case the one who passes fire to a deaf-mute, shoteh, or minor will be exempted by human law and obligated by the law of heaven. If a person fans a coal together with the wind, if the wind played a significant role (if the person would not have been able to fan it into a fire without the wind), the person is exempt. How is it different from the zoreh, winnowing, in the Shabbat laws where one is liable even though the action is only completed with the help of the wind? There are four answers to this question. Why are all these words listed in the verse regarding damages from fire - thorns, pile, standing grain, and field? From this verse, the rabbis learn that when misfortune comes to the world due to evil people, it attacks the righteous ones first. From there the Gemara deviates into theological issues regarding the righteous and the wicked and why bad things happen to good people. During the plague of the firstborn, the Jews were commanded to stay inside as the destroyer was in the land and would not be able to distinguish between those deserving of death and those not deserving of death. This verse teaches several things about times when the Angel of Death is more rampant and how one should act to avoid it.