Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Bava Kamma 198:7

למה ליה למימר מזיק הוא פושע הוא אי אמר מזיק הוא הוה אמינא הני מילי היכא דקא עביד בשכר אבל היכא דקא עביד בחנם לא קמ"ל פושע הוא

Now, the difference between the first Tanna and R. Nathan is on the question of the liability for hire [whether or not it is progressive from the very commencement],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [R. Nathan holding that it is, whereas the first Tanna holds that there is no liability except at the very end.] ');"><sup>10</sup></span> while the difference between R. Nathan and R. Judah the Prince is on the question [what is her attitude when the betrothal is made both by the foregoing of] a debt [and the giving of] a <i>perutah</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [R. Nathan maintains that the woman thinks primarily of the debt, while, according to R. Judah the Prince she thinks more of the perutah.] ');"><sup>11</sup></span>

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

The Talmud illustrates this point by various examples. In Baba Kama 99b we are told that a woman came to Rabbi Chiyah asking him to determine if a certain coin was sound. He told her that it was. The next day the same woman came back to him complaining that others had refused to accept the coin at full value. Thereupon Rabbi Chiyah instructed Rav, the keeper of his money, to give this woman a coin of his own to compensate her for what he perceived to be an error of judgment on his part. He asked Rav to record this transaction as a loss. The Talmud questions why this instance was different from the previously mentioned example of a professional money-changer who erred in his judgment and who had given his opinion without charging. Such a money-changer does not have to compensate the enquirer. The Talmud answers that Rabbi Chiyah did not have to make restitution, but that he acted לפנים משורת הדין, beyond what was demanded of him legally. He took his cue from Rav Yossi who interpreted Exodus 18,20: "You will inform them of the path they should take and the practices they are to follow" to mean that one should go beyond the demands of the law in dealings with fellow human beings.
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit

We next have the injunction not to go about slandering people (19,16) This is also directed at judges. It includes a judge who did not preside over a certain litigation and who says that if he had been the judge in that case the decision would have been different. When the Torah phrases this injunction as "do not walk…" it is an allusion to people who are in the habit of going from one house to another exchanging gossip, etc. The Torah suggests to such people that if they do not want to become guilty of slander they should not keep "walking" around so much. Staying at home is a self-imposed "fence" around this law.
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