A person who digs or opens a pit into which an animal falls is liable for damages (Exodus 21:33–34). As a result of a hyper-literal reading of the term בַּעַל הַבּוֹר (baʿal ha-bor)—literally “the owner of the pit”—combined with abstract legal codification, the Talmud ends up suggesting that, in fact, a person who digs a pit on public property is actually exempt from paying damages.
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