The dangers of
fire. Fire was an ever-present serious danger in cities and town from time
immemorial until the early 20rth century. Conflagrations regularly leveled
larger cities and small towns alike: Rome, London, Vienna, Chicago and hundreds
more were destroyed by fire and rebuilt over the centuries. The cost in human
suffering is truly incalculable. This Mishnah reflects only one very small
instance of the dangers posed by open flames in a crowded town.
Translation:
A spark flies from (the
smith’s) hammer (igniting flammable material, e.g., thatch) and causes damage;
the (smith) is liable (for the damage caused.)
If a camel loaded with flax (a highly
combustible material) passed along a public road, and the load of flax intruded
into a shop, and caught fire from the shopkeeper’s (open flame) lamp and the
building (subsequently) caught fire (from the flaming flax), the camel’s owner
is liable (for the damage thus caused.)
If the shopkeeper had places
the (open flame lamp) outside hid establishment in or adjacent to the public
way) the shopkeeper is liable for the damage.
R. Judah (b. Ilai ) said, if
the lamp outside the shop were a Hannukah lamp, the shopkeeper is not held
liable for the damage.
Comment:
Smiths and
other tradesmen who regularly used fire in their work—brickmakers, potters,
bakers, etc.—had to be very careful. Open flames were a constant danger in
crowded towns often built with large amounts of flammable materials. The least
errant spark could mean the loss of life as well as property. Further, the lamp
in the Mishnah was undoubtedly the small oil lamp with a burning wick; and that
was also the nature of the Hannukah lamp—the now familiar eight-branched
candelabrum was unknown as a Hannukah lamp to the ancients. Finally the public
road need not have been a broad thoroughfare. I t was probably what we would see
as a narrow alleyway. The “public road” designation simply means that the public
had access to it and could traverse it at all times. There was probably just
enough room for the loaded camel to squeeze through, a tight fit. The camel’s
load could easily intrude into the “private space” of the shop. The Mishnah
depicts the close quarters in which people, in towns, lived and
worked.
R. Judah (b. Ilai) piously
suggests that the religious duty of showing a Hannukah light—an open flame! --
to advertise the miracle of the eight days was more important than assessing
liability for damages if the little lamp caused a fire. A pious wish indeed, but
the law does not follow R. Judah.
Questions:
What fire safety rules
might you suggest for an ancient town?
Fire is one of the four
principal causes of damage according to Bava Kamma 1:1—do you recall what makes
it unique and thus one of the four?
On Shabbat one is by law
prohibited from kindling a flame or extinguishing a flame. What do you think
Jews in the ancient towns (or medieval towns for that matter) did if a fire
broke out on Shabbat?
The Hannukah lamp, or in
our day the hannukiah, is supposed to be displayed publicly; that is why the
shopkeeper may have placed his lamp where the flax on the camel could catch
fire. What fire safety rules are proper in the modern “public” display of
Hannukah lights at home?
Rabbi Stephen
Passamaneck is Professor Emeritus of Rabbinic Literature at Hebrew Union College
- Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles.
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