Bava Kamma 93 - Invitation to Do Damage (Torts)

If one says to his fellow, "Blind my eye," "Cut off my hand," or "Break my leg," and the fellow did so, the assailant is liable to pay for the damage. Even if the first person added, "on condition that there will be no liability," the assailant is nevertheless liable.

If one says to his fellow, "Tear my garment," the damager is liable, but if the owner added, "on condition that there will be no liability," - the damager is not liable.

If one steals pieces of wood and makes them into utensils, he pays the value as of the time of the robbery.

Art: Frans Mortelmans - The Carpenter

Bava Kamma 92 - Assailant Must Ask Forgiveness from his Victim (Torts)

Although the assailant gives his victim compensation, the assailant is not pardoned by God until he requests forgiveness from his victim, as it says, "And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him – Behold, you are to die... but now, return the man's wife [and appease him enough] so that he will [even] pray for you."

And from where do we know that if the victim does not forgive him, the victim is considered cruel? It says, "...Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Avimelech..."

Art: Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Bava Kamma 91 - Assessment of Weapons (Torts)

"If two men fight together, and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist..."

Says Rabbi Shimon HaTimni: "An extra word 'fist' teaches us that just as a fist, the weapon must be available for inspection," - but Rabbi Akiva disagrees. However, they agree that an assessment is required: the court must assess that the injury was probable and not an accident.

If one humiliates someone with words, he is not liable for any payment; however, the offender may lose his share in the World to Come.

It is forbidden to cut down valuable fruit trees.

Art: Hanging Knife and Jack of Hearts by John Frederick Peto

Bava Kamma 90 - Amounts Paid for Humiliation (Torts)

One who boxes (alternatively, shouts into) the ear of his fellow must give him a Sela ($200), but Rabbi Yehudah says a Maneh ($5,000). If he slaps him on the cheek, he gives him 200 zuz ($10,000); if he does it with the back of his hand, 400 zuz.

If he pulled his ear, yanked his hair, spat on him, and his spittle reached him, removed his cloak from him, or bared a woman's head in the marketplace, he gives him (or her) 400 zuz ($20,000).

This is the general rule: Everything depends on the victim's level of honor and on the societal position of the one causing humiliation. The amounts above are the maximum.

Art: A Fight by Maerten Van Cleve

Bava Kamma 89 - Trading in One's Ketubah (Torts)

A married woman can sell her Ketubah with the stipulation that if she is widowed or divorced, the buyer will collect the entire face value of the Ketubah. Still, if she dies during her husband's lifetime, he will receive nothing. Since the buyer takes a significant risk in making such a purchase, the price he pays is steeply discounted from the face value of the Ketubah.

Such a sale should not be made because a man is not allowed to keep his wife even for one hour without a Ketubah.

If the wife injures her husband, he can't collect this speculative value of the Ketubah.

Art: Encounter by Matisse

Bava Kamma 88 - Payment for the Humiliation of a Canaanite Slave (Torts)

One who wounds a Canaanite slave of others is liable to all five categories of payment; Rabbi Yehudah says that "a man and his brother" excludes a slave from humiliation payment. And the Rabbis? The slave IS your brother in (some) commandments. Then, can the slave testify in court? No, since the slave is similar to a woman and a minor, who also observe some commandments yet can't testify in court.

A wife can bequeath her possessions to her son, out of the husband's reach. However, in Usha, it was enacted that the husband gets back the usufruct property bequeathed or sold by his wife.

Art: Friends at the Theater, Ludovic Halevy and Albert Cave by Edgar Degas

Bava Kamma 87 - One Who is Obligated and Does Observe the Laws (Torts)

According to Rabbi Yehudah, a blind person is exempt from the laws of exile for inadvertent murder because of "without seeing," from all monetary laws because of "according to these laws" and from all the laws of the Torah because of "these are the ... the laws."  

Said Rav Yosef, who was blind but observed all the commandments, "I am glad that the law is not like Rabbi Yehudah because one who is obligated and does is greater."

Regarding a deaf person, a deranged person, and a minor, one who wounds them is liable, but if they wound others, they are not liable.

Art: A Mad Woman by Eugene Delacroix