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When is one liable for damage caused after creating a changed circumstance (kol hamishaneh bo acher veshina)? The Gemara (גמרא) debates whether placing garments and vessels in the public domain creates liability when an animal eats them. Rav holds one is liable except in the case of siccing; Reish Lakish and Reb Yochanan dispute whether normal placement is considered a shinui that exempts from payment.
This shiur analyzes Bava Kamma 20a, exploring the fundamental principle of kol hamishaneh bo acher veshina—when one person creates a changed circumstance and another causes damage, who bears liability? The Mishna establishes that in reshus harabim (the public domain), there is generally exemption from liability for keren (goring/unusual damage). The Gemara (גמרא) debates whether this exemption applies when someone places garments (ksus) and vessels (keilim) in reshus harabim and an animal eats them. Rav states that one is patur (exempt) when there is kol hamishaneh bo acher veshina—if the owner of the garments created a shinui (change) by placing them in reshus harabim, and then the animal owner's animal created another shinui by eating non-food items, both changes combine to create exemption. Shmuel disagrees, holding that this exemption applies only to fruits and vegetables (peiros v'yerakos), but by garments and vessels one is chayav (liable).
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Bava Kamma 20a
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