Bava Kamma 95: Theft and Enhancement; Inheritance, Debts and Enhancement

Today's daf continues our rabbis' discussions about damages for stolen items in different circumstances.  We begin with a reminder about what to do when a stolen item should be given back but is not available - it has been 'used up', it has become part of another structure that cannot be unbuilt, or it is gone.  In such cases the thief pays for the cost of the item's value when it was stolen.  If an item has been 'enhanced' - a cow has had a calf or a sheep's wool has been dyed and used - both the stolen item and the enhancement are returned to the owner.  Rabbi Yehuda adds that the thief pays additional monies in the amount of the enhancement between the time of stealing and the time of the original's return.

Rabbis debate the how these laws might apply differently to a number of different situations:

• servants and to animals that have been stolen and changed over time 
• whether stolen wool has been dyed or has been left natural
• when a stolen field is improved over time by the thief
• how one collects money to provide for his wife's children from a previous relationship
• a stolen animal that becomes pregnant or grows wool after the theft, etc.

One of the more interesting examples is that of two brothers who inherit their father's land and improve it together after his death.  Traditionally the first born son is offered a double-portion of inheritance.  In this case, the older brother must pay half of the worth of the enhancements to his younger brother.  This is done with money and not by redistributing the land itself, which is still inherited by the older brother.

Compensation via money rather than land is repeated in other similar situations/examples.