תלמוד על נדרים 3:3

Somebody put down an amphora in the public domain and then another person came and put another one close to the first. If the first person comes to take his own and would move [the second] and put it down at another place, he would create a “pit”¹¹If the jars block the entire path, a passer-by cannot remove one of them and put it down again in the public domain since then he would create the obstacle and would be liable for any damages his “pit” would cause in the future. The Babli agrees, 31b, that any obstacle created in the public domain is under the rules of “pit”.. But could he take a stick and break it or step over it and if it broke, it broke¹²Since the passer-by has the right of way, can he forcibly make himself a path without penalty, or does he normally walk and is free from paying only for incidental damage.? Let us hear from the following: If a bull came to mount another¹³In the Babli, 28a: “If a bull mounted another to kill him”. and the [latter’s] owner came to draw away his own, if he drew him away before it could mount, and [the attacker] fell down and died, he is free from payment. If he pushed [the attacker] which then fell down and died, he must pay¹⁴Therefore, the passer-by is not allowed to break the jars to clear the way for himself.. Rebbi Yose said, we can hear from this that if one saw a flood threatening in his irrigation canal, before the flood reached his field he is permitted to divert the water to another place¹⁹Which would damage the property of other farmers whose fields are irrigated by the same canal.; after the flood reached his field he is not permitted to divert it to another place²⁰This is like pushing the agressive bull off its victim, which makes the victim’s owner liable for damage to the agressive bull.. If the chrysargyros²¹Χρυσάργυρος, “alloy of gold and silver; tribute of gold and silver”, a Roman tax imposed by Constantine I, repealed by Anastasios I. The tax was imposed on professions and forced artisans into guilds. A certain sum was collected from each profession in a taxing district [cf. A. Dessau, Finanzen des alten Rom, Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, Jena 1900, vol. 3, pp. 949–955]. Before the repartition of the tax, the taxpayer might indicate that certain people exercised the same profession as himself without being registered as members of the guild. By this act, he increased the pool of taxpayers and reduced his own share of the tax load. But after repartition of the tax, such a denunciation would lead to the others having to pay tax without his own obligation being reduced; that is forbidden. was imposed, before [the collector of] chrysargyros arrived, one is permitted to say, X is following my profession, Y is following my professon. Once the [the collector of] chrysarguros arrived, it is forbidden. It is permitted to bribe the quartermaster²²אכסניי פרכא, from Greek ξενία “hospitality, lodging”; πάροχος, Latin parochus (pure Latin term copiarius) “purveyor; furnisher of conveniences to travelling magistrates and officers in Roman provinces”. If the expression is taken as one word, cf. ξενοπάροχος, Latin xenoparochus, “one who provides for strangers” (E. G.). before the Roman [soldiers] arrive²³The bribe is given to spare one’s house from receiving soldiers to put up. The entire paragraph is quoted in extenso and commented on in the Responsa of Simeon b. Ṣemaḥ Duran, vol. 3, # 46.; after the Roman [soldiers] arrive it is forbidden.