but even
A
prior to llie assiitilt. made his Heeomi)lice for all dtiniages resultini; Iherefioni. lie is imt Ijoimd to keep .Mciicover, where at Insown sollcilalion his promise. .1 bus a inutilatinii inllieted on himself by /', assuring: />' beforehand that no daniaires will be claimed. .1 has the legal rifrht toclaim, and />' will be required bv law to pay (15. K. !):!": see Hashi, /id hic, and >iainioni(les. ""lli'.kot' Hobel u-.Ma/./iU," v. 11). In all thrse eases, the instrument of Ihe offense has his option to do or not to do the biddiiiir of the abcllor: " If hesoehooses. heobeys. ami if he ehooses assault,
if
himself responsible
liad.
If)
olhiTwise, he obeys not" (li. .M. Ill/'): and where there is option there can not be said to exist any a^reney, since the orderof the master must supersede On the other hand, where the that of the si'rvant. abettor has a lejral rifjlit to commaml and to exact obedienee, he will be held responsible for the misdeeds of his iiislriiment. Thus, aecordinir to the Bible (K.. xxii. 7), as interpreted bv rabbinic law (Mishnah. B. M. vii. 8; Gem. Ih. il*(, ill//), the gratuitous bailee, if he has taken only ordinary care of the deposit, is not responsible for it even when lost by theft. Now ,1, beinj; such a ffratuitous bailee, orders his slave to abstract the deposit; when the plot is discovered, -1 is held responsible for the slave's deed, ami is subjected to the laws conecrninj; con victed thieves. In this case the slave was oblifred to comply with the command of his master: therefore his act is eonsidired to be the act of his aliettor, or as the Talmud (Hi. !Mi./) expresses it, "The hand of the slavi' is like the hand of his master" {ih. Wh.iin; " i^hulhan 'Aruk, Hosheu :Mislipat," ^ 292, 5, § 34S, 8, Hairahot). It is a principle in Talmudi<- juris|inidince, "One must not siive himself at the expense of another" Aeeordin.i.dy. when (H. K. 604 fl al. ) one's iiremises are invaded by unlawCivil ful taxpilherers, and he informs them Causes. of the whereabouts of another's property which he holds in bailment, his responsibility wiil dipend on his circumstances. If he be known to be wealthy, the court will a.ssunie that the alien taxgatherers were attraited by his ijoods: therefore, his pointinj; out the fjoods of another will be considered as an elTort to save his own at the expense of anotluTs. and hi' will bereipiired to pay to Ihe injured ^Vh(n, on thi> con])arty compensalory damanes. iniiy, there is no reason for such an assumiition. he to be a poor man. then the court will beini: know n assume that the deposit was Ihe attraction, and he Again, will not be recpiired lo make good its lo.ss. when a place is invaded by pillagers, and one citizen iioiiits out to llieni Ihe properly of anolher. the informer's responsibility for the properly carried olV will depend on Ihe pnseneeor abseiieeof duress. If force be used lo compel him lo reveal he hiding-place of Ihe property, he will not be held responsible: but where no for<-e is us<'d on him, and he voluntarily exposes to Ihe pillagers another's iiroperty, Ihe court will adjudge him responsible for its loss. .iid even where force is usicl. the court will clear him only when his Abelnient is eonlined lo the bare pointing out; but where he personally hands over the property to the pillagers. h<' will be held re sponsible lo its right ful owner. In ease a man be expressly reipiired to surrender his own properly, and he reveals Ihe wheivabouls of his neighb(.r's, in aildilion to his own, after physical force had been exercised on him lo wrest from iiini the disclosure regaiiling his own, even though be personally lays no hands on his neighbor's properly be- will still be .
I
rei|uirc
Abensur, Jacob Abi and Ab in Proper Names
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
55
il
bv law
(Mi-shnah,
"U.
I.v.
lo x.
make iroml Gem. /'>
•-);
Ins neiirhbor's losses HI'- U7/.; Maimoni
I
"Hilkot Hobel,"
des.
Hoshen Mishpat,"
1-8; " Shullmn •Anik,
viii.
"Semag."
S :W«. 2-ft.
S 70).
The Bible sjiys, "And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, when lie doeth any one I'f
Ritual Matters,
Ihe |)rohihitions," etc. (I,ev.
iv. 27.
From thisthenibbisdedueethe
llili.).
following two legal maxims with regard lo ceremonial sins; "When one person conunits a ceremonial sin. he is ginlty when two persons conunit it. they are not guilly": ami the one is guilty "when he d<Hs the whole, but not when he does a part only " (Shah. '.ii. Ver. ih. i. 2'"). A third legal maxim reads; "Abetment has no reality": that is, is not considered (Shah. ii;i</). Now, if on a Sabbath day one transfers an inanimate object from private premises to the public thoroughfare, or rice nrsii, he is guilty of a violation of the Sabbath, and if the deed was the result of ignorance of the sanctity of the day, he is obliged to make a sinoffering (.Mislmah, Shab. i. 1) but if two able-bodied men transfer an object which each of them could manage by himself, neither incurs guilt: each of them having perpetiat<(l but half of the transgres;
Only when the performance of the task
sion.
rc-
both does the Law declare both guilty. And when one of the two persons is able to accomplish the task by himself, while the other is not, the weaker aecomi>lice goes free: his Abetment does not constitute a ])unishable net. inasmuch as the other could accomplish the task without his assistance, while he could not do so without theassistanceof theother(Mishnali. Shab. x. 5: Gem. Q'iii). The following is an exception to these rules: In case an Israelite lias the corners of bis hail cut away (compare Lev. xix. 27), both Ihe barber, if he also is an Israelite, and Ihe one whos*' hair is cut are punishable. In this ease, while the subject i>f the transgression does virtually nolhing. as heinenly offers himself lo Ihe barber's shears, he is mverlhetpiires the services of
less
amenable
vi.
Naz.
f<ir
Finally,
it
Abetment
Tos.
57//;
ih. n.r.
(Sifra. Kedoshim, chap, " K. Adda").
should be stated that
in all the cases cited
or Moral Guilt.
in rabbinic law, in all similar ones, the
held not guilty before the tribunal, but guilly before Ihe Iiibunal of heaven (Kid. 42/>; H.
abettor
Physical
and is
human
•")()<( ,1 (il.): in other words, the perpetrator is not guilly legally, but is guilly morally. The s;ime is Ihe case with any one in whose power it is to prevent the violation of anv law, but who fails to exert bis inlluence in that diOn this bead Ihe Talmud says; "Whosorection. ever has it in his power to prevent a tninsgressicMi by his liousehohl, and does not prevent it. is answerable for his housi'liold if he has like power over a comniiinily, he is answ<rable for Ihe community ami w here his power extends over the whole worhl, he is answerable for Ihe w hole world " (Sbab. 54A). Elsewhere the Talmud (•onslrues Ihe Biblical saying (Lev. xxvi. ;i7) literally, " . d they shall stumble, a man over bis brother," as "They shall stumble, a man on account of the sins of his brolher"; ami the "This proves that all men are morally rabbis adil On the responsible for one luiolbir" (Saiih. 27/'). oilier hand, where nuTit iseoneerned, rabbinic ethics teaches; " H<' who induces others to do a giXMl diiil slanils in the sight of heaven higher than the one chap, xiii, that iloes the deed " (B. U. 9.1 Num.
K.
s«'e
also AccKssoniKst.
ABI
AND AB
IN PROPER
R
S.
NAMES
M. ('2S
are used liolli as the lirsl i lemeiil, as in .bijali. .Miishur. .bimniiii, .bner, and as the sieuml element, as in Kliab. .loab, and Abub, Tluir
3X)
-I'"
»"d
.1
