Kiddushin, Daf Kaf Daled, Part 4
Introduction
The sugya continues to deal with setting a slave free because his master struck him and caused loss of limb.
ת"ר הכהו על עינו וסמאה על אזנו וחרשה עבד יוצא בהן לחירות נגד עינו ואינו רואה כנגד אזנו ואינו שומע אין עבד יוצא בהן לחירות
Our Rabbis taught: If he smites his eye and blinds it, [or] his ear, and deafens it, the slave goes out [to freedom] on their account; near his eye, so that he cannot see, [or] near his ear, and he cannot hear, the slave does not go out [free] on their account.
For the slave to go free, the blow must be on the eye or ear. If the master strikes something and doing so makes a loud noise which causes the slave to become so afraid he goes blind or deaf, the slave does not go free. (I do not know how it is possible to cause blindness by making a loud noise. This is how Rashi interprets the statement, probably because Rashi cannot imagine that if a master actually strike s the slave s body, and the slave goes blind or deaf, the slave would not go free. Furthermore, this is how the Talmud seems to interpret below. However, a source referred to below refers only to deafness, which makes more sense).
אמר רב שמן לרב אשי למימרא דקלא לאו כלום הוא והתני רמי בר יחזקאל תרנגול שהושיט ראשו לאויר כלי זכוכית ותקע בו ושברו משלם נזק שלם
ואמר רב יוסף אמרי בי רב סוס שצנף וחמור שנער ושברו כלים בתוך הבית משלמים חצי נזק
R. Shemen said to R. Ashi: That is to say sound is nothing? But didn t Rami b. Yehezkel teach: If a rooster stuck its head into the cavity of a glass vessel, and crowed there and broke it, he [its owner] must pay for it in full.
And R. Yosef said: They said in the house of Rav: If a horse neighs or an ass brays and breaks utensils in a house, he [their owner] must pay for half the damage!
The above tradition does not seem to consider making a noise that causes damage equivalent to physically doing the damage onto the damaged object. But R. Shemen quotes two amoraic statements that refer to animals that cause damage by making noise and in both of them, makes the person liable. Thus making a loud noise does cause liability. This seems to be a contradiction.
א"ל שאני אדם דכיון דבר דעת הוא איהו מיבעית נפשיה כדתניא המבעית את חבירו פטור מדיני אדם וחייב בדיני שמים כיצד תקע באזנו וחרשו פטור אחזהו ותקע באזנו וחרשו חייב
He said to him: A person is different since he is an intelligent being, he frightens himself. As it was taught: If one frightens his neighbor, he is exempt by the law of man, yet his liable by the law of Heaven. How so? If he makes a loud noise into his ear and deafens him, he is exempt; but if he seizes him, and makes a loud noise into his ear, and deafens him, he is liable.
R. Ashi explains that the case of a noise damaging an object is different from the case of a person being damaged. A person is intelligent, and to a certain extent, brings this damage on himself by being frightened. This is proven by a case of a person who makes a loud noise and thereby deafens another. He is not liable unless he physically seizes the other person.