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Case: The defendant (=def) backed his car into the plaintiff’s (=pl) car in a supermarket parking lot. Def apologized, agreed to pay 200 shekels, and refused to give pl his insurance information. Pl went to his auto dealership and received an estimate (2,940 shekels), after a professional appraisal (which cost 649 shekels) to do body work on the fender and paintwork on it and the adjacent door. Def said it was too expensive and told him to use a cheaper garage, but pl kept to his plan. Pl is also claiming 2,046 shekels for depreciation of the car (according to the appraiser) and compensation for missed work. Def now suggests that pl might have moved his car dangerously, which could have caused the accident. He also questions whether the damage to the door was not pre-existing and, either way, refuses to pay for painting the whole door, when only part of it was damaged.
Ruling: Regarding responsibility for the collision, pl is making a definite claim (bari) that his engine was not even on before the collision, and def is making a possible claim (shema) that pl was equally guilty. Even so, one cannot extract payment based on a bari vs. a shema claim (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 75:9). However, the fact that def made this claim only in passing (he focused on the cost of the repairs) and the fact that he admits that he offered to pay at the time of the accident, make it apparent that he is aware that he caused the accident.
We can learn from discussion of other examples of fixing damage (see Shulchan Aruch, CM 420:21-22) that a person has the right to a quality repair job. It is also appropriate that pl receive the same level of repair that def’s insurance company would have given (he admits that he had insurance coverage for this damage). This is not as a penalty to def for illegally withholding his insurance information but mainly because that refusal was tantamount to assuring pl that he would cover payment in place of the insurance. Using an appraiser and pl’s dealership is in line with standard insurance practice. It also shows that this is what society sees as a normal repair job, as rulings of the general court system also indicate. If pl himself was not usually in the practice of seeking such expensive service when he was paying himself, it might be different, but pl presented documentation that he used the dealership himself.
There are two ways to compensate for damage: paying depreciation; paying for repair. When it is possible/feasible, Halacha prefers repair (Shach, CM 387:1). However, if there is still depreciation even after the repair, that has to be paid as well.
Does def have to pay to paint the entire door, when only a small part of it was damaged, so as to avoid an unseemly change in color? Although painting the rest of the door seems like payment for indirect damage, since it is not possible to properly fix the damaged part without painting the whole door, this is considered fixing the door and is required. As above, it is significant that this is the standard way insurance companies and the courts treat such damages.
P'ninat Mishpat (829)
Various Rabbis
463 - Responsibility for Car Engine’s Damage
464 - Overdoing the Repairs?
465 - Disputed Commitment to Sell
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Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Multiple Agreements and Parties – part III
based on appeal of ruling 80082 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
