The Weekly Daf #20 
Bava Metzia 2-8 
Week of 15-21 Tamuz 5754/24-30 June 1994 
By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions           
 
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This issue is dedicated in the memory of 
D. Bernard and Pearl Klepner O.B.M.
 
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                             Power of an Oath 
 
The Case:
   A person is entrusted with guarding an animal for its owner.   
   When the owner comes to claim the animal the guardian claims  
   that it was stolen through no fault of his.  The owner brings  
   him to the Beit Din (court) where he is required to take  
   several oaths to prove his innocence.  One of these oaths is a  
   solemn declaration that the animal is no longer in his  
   possession. 
 
The Reason:
   The Beit Din suspects the guardian of having an interest in the  
   animal he was watching and therefore appropriating it for  
   himself by making up a lie about its being stolen.  Faced by  
   the need to take an oath it is expected that he will admit the  
   truth. 
 
The Problem:
   If we suspect a person of being dishonest enough to appropriate  
   someone else's property why don't we likewise suspect that he  
   will swear falsely in order to achieve his objective? 
 
The Answer:
   The assumption is that there is a greater fear of violating the  
   command against taking a false oath than there is of taking  
   someone else's property.  When the commandment of "you shall  
   not take My Name in vain" was spoken at Sinai as one of the Ten  
   Commandments the entire universe trembled.  It is this awe  
   which remains part of the human psyche and enables the court to  
   use an oath as a means of forcing a defendant to tell the  
   truth. 
 
Bava Metzia 6a 
 
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                            The Selfish Sinner 
 
No person sins for another's benefit. 
This principle of human psychology finds expression in the following legal  
dilemma and its resolution: 
 
The Rule:
  An ordinary shepherd is not eligible to testify in court as a  
  witness because he is suspect of leading his sheep to graze on  
  other people's property, thus rendering him a thief who is  
  disqualified from serving as a witness in court. 
 
The Problem:
  How do we ever entrust our animals to a shepherd when by  
  doing so we "put a stumbling block in his path" by enabling him  
  to commit a sin of dishonesty? 
 
The Answer:
  A shepherd is suspect of sinning only when he is tending his  
  own sheep and stands to gain from his dishonesty.  He is not  
  suspect of committing this same crime when he is in charge of  
  other people's cattle because "no person sins for another's  
  benefit." 
 
Bava Metzia 5b 

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Ohr Somayach Institutions is proud to present:

      A WAYWARD RAM
      A collection of thoughtful, heartfelt, witty and bittersweet songs,
      written and sung by Chaim Salenger

The complete lyrics for the album are availble for the first time on-line!
Including the songs:
o     (I Hate) Hebrew School
o     Kosher Food
o     American Exile
o     A Wayward Ram

This file is available from the following sources:
o	The Jerusalem1 Gopher under the heading "Religious 
	Institutions" and the sub-heading "Ohr Somayach"
o	CompuServe Religion Forum, Judaism Library (2), filename 
	WAYWAR.TXT
 
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