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Item in dangerous situation accidently damaged

Question:

have a question that I’ve been having a difficulty trying to find an answer to. I had a Halacha question. Last week in gym class we were playing a game in which we had to get to the ball first. A friend and I were both running towards the ball. As we are running I pushed him and his phone fell out of his pocket and broke. Who needs to pay? And if I need to pay, what do I need to pay for? I said I don’t need to pay because he put his phone in a dangerous situation. It was in a shallow pocket in gym and he was running so he should accept if his phone fell. I had my phone in my pocket but when he pushed me it didn’t fall out. I also don’t think it is entirely my fault as it was both our actions mixed together that made the phone fall. If I had pushed him when he was standing still, or if his phone was in a secure pocket (like mine was when he pushed me back and It didn’t fall) then my push wouldn’t have broken his phone. He says I need to pay because since there wasn’t supposed to be any pushing he was not prepared for it and shouldn’t need to be. And I should have taken responsibility that if I push him I face whatever the consequences of it will be. We understand we should both go to a Dayan but this is very out of our way and inconvenient. we saw bava kamma 48b where it looked like I need to pay but we also saw page 18a where I looked like I would only need to pay half What is your opinion who needs to pay and how much for what? Thanks

Answer:

You would have to pay. The reason is because you’re not supposed to push someone when you play. See Gemara in Bava Kama 62A

Best wishes

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2 Comments

  1. Would he need to pay the value of a new phone? To fix the one that broke? The price difference between before it fell to after it fell?
    Please clarify. Thanks.

    1. No. HE wold have to pay the amount of the value of the phone at the time that it broke, depending on how old it was and it.
      s condition.

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