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Why does stealing an ox require five-fold payment while stealing a sheep only four-fold? Rab Meir explains that an ox is a working animal, but this seems redundant since market price already reflects work value. The distinction is that depriving someone of work capacity causes psychological harm beyond monetary loss, since humans need productive work to avoid depression and find fulfillment.
This shiur analyzes a fascinating halacha (הלכה) from the laws of theft: one who steals an ox pays five times its value, while stealing a sheep requires only four times payment. The Gemara (גמרא) in Bava Kamma offers two explanations. Reb Yochanan Ben Zakkai suggests the Torah (תורה) shows compassion for human dignity - since a thief must carry a sheep on his shoulders (causing shame), he pays less than for an ox that walks on its own. Rab Meir offers a different approach: 'Great is the power of work' - an ox is a working animal, so stealing it deprives the owner of both the animal and its labor capacity, hence the higher penalty. The speaker struggles with Rab Meir's explanation: if an ox's work capacity is already reflected in its higher market price, why should this justify an additional penalty beyond the standard four-fold payment? The resolution comes through distinguishing between monetary productivity and psychological fulfillment. While the ox's economic value accounts for its work capacity, there's a separate consideration - the owner's personal need to feel productive and fulfilled through work.
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Bava Kamma (theft penalties)
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