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Why does the owner pay kofer when his ox kills, but not when he kills directly? The shiur develops the fundamental disagreement between Rashi (רש"י)/Rambam (רמב"ם) and Ramban (רמב"ן): kofer is either a mitzvah (מצוה) to compensate the victim (which prevents Divine punishment from taking effect), or a payment driven by the obligation to atone for one's chiyuv misah bidei Shamayim. This yesod reshapes the entire sugya of eidim zomemim on kofer.
This shiur examines a fundamental machloket Rishonim regarding the nature of kofer—the payment an owner makes when his ox gores a person to death. The Gemara (גמרא) in Bava Kamma 4a presents a logical difficulty: if the Torah (תורה) obligates payment when one's *animal* causes damage (shor she'hizik shor), surely one should be obligated when *he himself* causes damage (adam she'hizik shor). The Gemara responds that one cannot derive the law from animal-to-animal damage because there is a stringency by animals—the owner pays kofer when his ox kills a person—whereas a person who kills directly does not pay kofer. This seems paradoxical: how can liability for one's animal be stricter than liability for one's own actions? Rabbi Zweig frames the fundamental question: what is the nature of the kofer obligation, and why is there no eidim zomemim (conspiring witnesses) liability for kofer? The Gemara in Makkos states that eidim zomemim who testified that someone's ox killed (which would obligate kofer) are exempt from payment because "lo bnei kaparah" — they are not subject to atonement. Rashi (רש"י) explains "she'ein shoro haragah es ha'adam" (his ox did not kill the person). But this explanation is cryptic: why should the fact that the ox didn't actually kill exempt the witnesses from payment, when in all other cases of eidim zomemim we apply "ka'asher zamam la'asos"?
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Bava Kamma 4a
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