Safeguarding Objects And Unloading Animals

 

LAWS OF BAILS 

 

In parashat Mishpatim, the Torah enumerates three different levels of responsibility for a bail or a deposited object (Shemot 22:6-14.)  The Mishna explains that there are four different kinds of shomrim, or bailees, whose responsibilities fall into three categories:

 

1.  Shomer chinam, the unpaid bailee, is responsible for the object only if he was negligent in watching it.

 

2.  Shomer sakhar and sakhir, the paid bailee and the employee, are also responsible if the object is lost or stolen, even if they exercised normal care in minding the object.  But they are exempt in the case of duress - an event which is completely beyond the scope of normal care, for example, armed robbery.  This additional responsibility is in return for the payment that these bailees receive.

 

3.  Sho'el, the borrower: The borrower is responsible even in the case of duress.  This is because he enjoys the full benefit of the object (Mishna Bava Metzia 7:8.)

 

Yet the manner in which the object is supposed to be guarded is almost identical in each category.  (Though there are some minor differences – see SA CM 303:8.)  If the procedures of the paid bailee were adequate, then why is he held responsible for a stolen object?  Why is the borrower even responsible for total duress?

 

One way of understanding this is to note that shemira, guarding, is NOT a requirement to carry out particular actions or procedures.  Rather, guarding requires active involvement and alertness to protect the object against any kind of danger that may arise.  In return for his salary, the paid shomer is expected to exercise a higher degree of alertness and initiative.  The borrower, who has all the benefit of the object without even paying for this benefit, is expected to be even more solicitous.  Since he has all the benefit of the object, it is as if it actually belongs to him, so he bears total responsibility.

 

When we talk about a religious person, we do not usually call him (or her) a "mekayem mitzvot," one who "fulfills the commandments," but rather a "shomer mitzvot" – one who "GUARDS the mitzvot."  Our responsibility is not merely to perform particular actions and avoid others, but rather to be guardians of the Torah as a whole, to exercise alertness and initiative in protecting it.  Note that the word "pekuda," meaning commandment, is from the same root as pikadon, a bail (deposited object).

 

But even this responsibility has different levels, which we can relate to the various levels of shemira of an object.

 

A Jew may view himself as a shomer chinam.  He recognizes that observing the Torah is incumbent upon him, but doesn't particularly believe in or look forward to any recompense for his acts.  Many mitzvot which are "lost" or "stolen" from him due to circumstances will seem to him as if they were beyond his ability to fulfill; so many different obstacles appear to him like duress.

 

When we are aware of the immense reward Hashem prepares for those who zealously keep His commandments, then we will not keep the Torah in a perfunctory way; rather we will exercise much more initiative.  We will be constantly on the lookout for circumstances that might prevent us from fulfilling the Torah, and we will always think of ways to overcome any possible obstacles.  Then we are similar to a shomer sakhar.

 

The highest level is when we recognize that the Torah in a sense belongs to us.  Hashem does not need this precious deposit - rather He gave it to us for our own benefit.  "What does Hashem your God ask of you besides to fear Hashem your God, to go in all of His ways, and to love Him and to serve Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  To guard Hashem's commandments and His laws which I command you today, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD." (Devarim 10:12-13 as explained in the introduction to Chafetz Chaim.)

 

When we are imbued with the consciousness that the Torah was given to the Jewish people for our safekeeping and for our benefit, that "kol ha-hana'a shelanu" - "all the benefit is ours," then we will exercise the highest degree of care.  Just as all of the benefit of keeping Torah is ours, so is all of the responsibility.  At this level, we will stop seeking excuses for our omissions and exercise foresight to overcome any possible obstacles to Torah observance.

 

 

CHAPTER 189 – LOADING AND UNLOADING A BEAST

 

The Torah mandates two seemingly parallel commandments to help our fellow who is having trouble with his pack animal.  One commandment is to help unload the animal, the other - to help load it.  The details of these commandments, as well as the subtle differences between them, bear many important lessons.

 

UNLOADING AN ANIMAL

 

"If you see the ass of your enemy straining under his load, and you refrain from unloading it, go and unload with him" (Shemot 23:5.)

 

Of course the basic message of this mitzva is helping our fellow man.  However, two additional lessons are learned from the details of the mitzva.

 

This verse is one of the main sources for the prohibition of causing unnecessary suffering to animals, "tza'ar ba'alei chaim" (Bava Metzia 32b.)  While man was given dominion over the animals (Bereishit 1:26), this dominion is not one of tyranny, and it has limits.  Any time we use animals for our benefit, we have to be sensitive to their needs and avoid any unnecessary pain.

 

An additional message is learned from the surprising use of the word "your enemy."  The Torah is telling us that even when we are feuding with someone, and our first inclination is to avoid helping him (as the verse indicates), we have to overcome our reluctance, put aside our personal feelings, and come to his aid.  Like the prohibition on vindictiveness (chapter 30), this mandate helps keep ordinary antipathy from spreading into outright conflict.  Our Sages learned that this is a special mitzva "to overcome his urge" to snub his enemy  (BM 32b.)

 

LOADING AN ANIMAL

 

"Don't see the ass of your brother, or his ox, falling in the way, and you ignore them; surely load with him"  (Devarim 22:4.)

 

Here also the main message is one of mutual help.  However, the peculiar wording "and you ignore them," instead of merely stating the obligation, or stating "don't ignore them," gives an additional dimension.  From this we learn that if loading a beast is beneath someone's dignity, to the extent that he would not load even his own beast, he is exempt.

 

In our terms, the average person would be obliged to help a stranger with a flat tire.  But a prominent person, or someone wearing expensive clothes, would not even change his own tire if he had the ability to call a road service.  So such a person would also be exempt from helping a stranger.

 

This mitzva also applies to an enemy.  The Talmud tells us that the importance of overcoming our enmity is so great that we should help an enemy load his beast before we help a friend unload one, even though our friend's unloading has the additional advantage of allaying an animal's suffering.

 

THE LADDER OF SPIRIT

 

These laws together give an important insight to the particular level of beasts in creation.  Animals occupy an intermediate level above plants and inanimate material, but below human beings.  While beasts are not moral beings with free will at the level of human beings, they do have feelings and desires, and we do have a certain empathy with them.  Furthermore, animals are susceptible to a kind of moral improvement or the opposite.

 

The challenge for us is to acknowledge the special value of our animal helpers, without allowing this acknowledgement to obscure the immense spiritual distance between man and beast.

 

At the time of creation man, God's plan emphasized the recognition of the special level of animals.  Man was not even allowed to kill animals for food (Bereishit 1:29).  However, this emphasis backfired.  Hevel recognized that despite animals' high level, they are still subordinate to man, and brought sacrifices from his flock; but Cain esteemed animals too much, and instead brought sacrifices from his produce (Bereishit 4:3-4.)  In the end, this obscured the difference between man and beast, and Cain was led to the first act of murder (Bereishit 4:8.  As we explained in chapter 176.)

 

Mankind continued in its decline until Hashem was compelled to start over with Noach and his offspring.  Since "the beast is the enemy of the good" mankind was permitted to eat meat (Bereshit 9:3), so that the special sanctity of mankind, created in God's image, would be sufficiently appreciated.

 

But in the time of the redemption we will gain a clear understanding of God's plan, and a correct evaluation of the importance of each creature; then even the animals themselves will not harm each other:

 

"And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid; the calf, the lion, and the fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them" (Yeshayahu 11:6.)

 

These subtleties are expressed in the laws of our current chapter.  On the one hand, we acknowledge our empathy with the beasts by forbidding causing them unnecessary suffering; on the other hand, causing them pain is not forbidden if it is essential for our purposes.  Human beings are not forbidden to eat meat, to wear leather or fur, or to perform vital experiments on animals.

 

The commandment of unloading an animal, where the enemy and the animal are likewise being helped, reminds us of our kinship with the animals; we have to help man and beast alike.  But the commandment of loading, where special notice is given to man's unique dignity, and where overcoming our enmity is a greater value than preventing an animal's suffering, reminds us that our spiritual level is still immeasurably higher than that of the beasts.