Midrash su Deuteronomio 19:5
וַאֲשֶׁר֩ יָבֹ֨א אֶת־רֵעֵ֥הוּ בַיַּעַר֮ לַחְטֹ֣ב עֵצִים֒ וְנִדְּחָ֨ה יָד֤וֹ בַגַּרְזֶן֙ לִכְרֹ֣ת הָעֵ֔ץ וְנָשַׁ֤ל הַבַּרְזֶל֙ מִן־הָעֵ֔ץ וּמָצָ֥א אֶת־רֵעֵ֖הוּ וָמֵ֑ת ה֗וּא יָנ֛וּס אֶל־אַחַ֥ת הֶעָרִים־הָאֵ֖לֶּה וָחָֽי׃
come quando un uomo va nella foresta con il suo vicino per tagliare il legno, e la sua mano prende un colpo con l'ascia per tagliare l'albero, e la testa scivola dall'elve e illumina il suo vicino, che muore; fuggirà in una di queste città e vivrà;
Kohelet Rabbah
“As there are many matters that increase vanity, what remains for the person?” (Ecclesiastes 6:11).
“As there are many matters that increase vanity,” such as breeders of monkeys, cats, porcupines, chimpanzees, and seals; what benefit do they get from them? [They will eventually give their owner] either a bite or a sting. What benefit? It is either an injury or a wound.29If they escape and cause damage to others, those others will take action against the owner of the animals. Likewise, one who removes stones from his field and places them in the public domain, what benefit does he have? It [will be] either an obstacle or [cause] a scratch, and some say: A crippling injury. There was an incident involving a certain pious man30This took place before he was pious. who was removing stones from his field and placing them in the public domain. There was a certain other pious man who pursued him and said to him: ‘Why are you removing stones from a place that is not yours, and placing them in a place that is yours?’31Private fields are sometimes sold, while the public domain belongs to everyone forever. He laughed at him. Several days later, that pious man was in need and sold his field. He was walking in the public domain and stumbled. He said: ‘It was not for naught that this pious man said to me that I am placing it in my own property.’ “What remains for the person?”32What benefit does he get from engaging in vanity?
“As there are many matters that increase vanity,” such as breeders of monkeys, cats, porcupines, chimpanzees, and seals; what benefit do they get from them? [They will eventually give their owner] either a bite or a sting. What benefit? It is either an injury or a wound.29If they escape and cause damage to others, those others will take action against the owner of the animals. Likewise, one who removes stones from his field and places them in the public domain, what benefit does he have? It [will be] either an obstacle or [cause] a scratch, and some say: A crippling injury. There was an incident involving a certain pious man30This took place before he was pious. who was removing stones from his field and placing them in the public domain. There was a certain other pious man who pursued him and said to him: ‘Why are you removing stones from a place that is not yours, and placing them in a place that is yours?’31Private fields are sometimes sold, while the public domain belongs to everyone forever. He laughed at him. Several days later, that pious man was in need and sold his field. He was walking in the public domain and stumbled. He said: ‘It was not for naught that this pious man said to me that I am placing it in my own property.’ “What remains for the person?”32What benefit does he get from engaging in vanity?
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Sifra
12) Rabbi says: It is written (Devarim 19:5): "And one who comes with his neighbor in the forest to chop wood, and his hand swing the axe to cut the tree, and the iron slip from the haft and it find his neighbor and he die — he shall flee to one of these cities (or refuge), and he shall live." Scripture ordained the saving of the life of one who unwittingly slew another. Deduce therefrom: The collector of charity, the feeder of the poor, the doer of lovingkindness — how much more so will his life be granted him!
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Sifrei Devarim
(Devarim 19:5) "And one who comes with his neighbor in the forest": Just as a forest is a place that the slain and the slayer were permitted to enter, so all such places (are subsumed in the halachah) — to exclude the owner's courtyard, which the slayer had no right to enter.
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