daf bit: Bava Metzia 33

[cellio]

The torah teaches: if you meet your enemy's donkey gone astray you must return it to him, and if you see the donkey of one who hates you overwhelmed by its load you must help unload it. The g'mara discusses the latter and asks what distance "see" represents -- how far must you go to help the animal? The rabbis juxtapose these verses and say "see" is like "meet", and (through reasoning not explained here) conclude that the distance in question is two-fifteenths of a mil, which in modern terms is 200 feet. If you're at least that close, you must go and help. A tanna teaches that one must then accompany it a short distance (a parsang, whatever that is) lest it fall again. (33a)

Comments

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid, with no writings to back it up, I was simply told "the heck with what you think of the parent or owner, critters and kids come first, even before your own comfort (but not safety) because they have no wherewithal to do for themselves".
Seems pretty clear for me, though the idea of legislating distance of responsibility is a little too rules-lawyer for my tastes.

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

Two fifteenths of a mil

A mil is 2000 amot (cubits). So 2/15 therof would be 266 2/3 amot, or 266 amot and 4 tefachim (handsbreaths). By all accounts an ama is more than a foot, so I have no idea how you arrived at 200 feet. The usual conversion of the ama is 1.5 or 2 ft. The Chazon Ish (which will be on the large end) said a t efach was 9.6 cm (3.78 in), I think. This makes an ama of 22.67 inches.

Mil is also used to be an approximation of time. In these cases it means the time it takes to travel that distance. Since the Talmud says an average daylight period (12 hrs) is 40 mil, a mil comes out as 18 minutes (this is the source of every 18 minutes you have heard of in halakha...matza, candlelighting, etc) However, this assumes a ridiculously slow walking pace unless the largest distance and shortest time are assumed (even here 2.375 mph, which seems a slow walking pace).

[cellio]

A mil is 2000 amot

A footnote in the Soncino translation says 1000 cubits. I assumed the conventional 18" cubit to get 200 feet.

Thanks for the time information! Agree on the slow walking pace, though.

[cellio]

I was taught the same about animals, yes. (And I guess kids implicitly, though these days with hyper "how dare you touch my kid! I didn't think it was a problem!" parents I'm less inclined to intervene there unless the consequences are dire.)

Seems pretty clear for me, though the idea of legislating distance of responsibility is a little too rules-lawyer for my tastes.

I wonder if this is because the action will bring you in immediate contact with someone who hates you and thus might pose a danger? (I'll have to see if I can find anything about range for returning a lost animal, which you can presumably do with less personal exposure.)

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

I've understood a parasang (note spelling) to be a Persian measure equaling about "a league" -- i.e. three miles. Various googlages confirm that. One says "equal to the distance walked in 1 hour or 30 Greek stadia or 5540 metres".

[cellio]

Thanks! (Footnote says Persian but doesn't elaborate.)

Chag sameach.