Bava Metzia 5: Types, Responsibilities and Consequences of Bailees

What are the responsibilities of a bailee?  And what are the consequences if a bailee does not do meet those responsibilities?  We learn about the four types of bailees:

• unpaid bailee: one who is responsible for items belonging to others that are in their own care
• not liable to cover the costs of those items if they are lost or stolen 

• paid bailee: one who cares for items belonging to another person for a fee
• liable to cover the cost of those items if they are lost or stolen

• borrower: one who uses another person's items with permission and without paying a fee
• Torah law says that he is responsible if the item is lost, stolen, destroyed, etc. - the only exception is if the item breaks in the course of ordinary use

• renter: one who uses another person's property for a fee
• The rabbis debate whether a renter has the obligations of a paid or unpaid bailee - they decide that a renter is treated as a paid bailee if the property is damaged in any way

The rabbis show us examples of people who partially or fully deny the claim that they caused damages.  In cases where they admit to a part of the claim, they are meant to pay for what they have admitted to and to take an oath regarding what they deny.  In a case where one fully denies the charges levied against him/her, s/he takes a shevuat heyset, an oath of inducement.  Such a person is not required to take an oath to something that s/he does not believe.  Instead, s/he takes this oath of inducement.  

The rabbis discuss whether the shevuat heyset is an actual oath or whether it is a rabbinic ordinance. After this discussion, the rabbis note that a person's history is significant as well.  If a person has a bad reputation when it comes to financial matters, their oath will not be meaningful and thus an oath is not administered.  A number of examples show us that the rabbis feel strongly about the past history of a person's financial dealings.  

At the very end of our daf, Rav Acha of Difti suggests to Ravina that paying for a deposit rather than returning it breaks the prohibition of lo tachmod, do not covet your neighbour('s wife, slave, maidservant, ox, donkey nor anything that is your neighbour's).   The Gemara teaches that 'lo tachmod' refers to taking an item without paying money for that item.  If the bailee was unaware that s/he was acting criminally, his/her oath is deemed credible.