We are continuing in siman 5, where the Chayei Adam is discussing the use of an animal (eg, a dog) as part of the process of tzad. It is interesting to point out that the Chayei Adam presents this case differently than its source in the Rambam. The Chayei Adam presents the case as the dog tiring out the animal, but at the end, the person takes hold of the animal in order to actually trap it. The potential argument was that if one accepts that the human is not responsible for the action of the dog, once the animal is tired, the human did not do any melacha. Nevertheless, the Chayei Adam’s conclusion was that the human is responsible for the entire scenario, and is chayav for trapping it.
The Rambam’s presentation is where the dog not only tires out the animal, but also traps it. The contributions of the human were to give the command to the dog, and to block any escape of the animal. Thus, the human plays no active role in the trapping of the animal.
The Mishnah Berurah writes that if the human plays no active role at all, even in the preliminary steps, it is only assur miderabanan. However, if the person chased the animal and the dog captured it, or even if the human stood in the way and prevented the animal from escaping from their dog, it is assur mideoraysa.
In other words, in the case of the Rambam, the dog eventually captured the animal, and the person’s role was to tire the animal or block its escape. In the case of the Chayei Adam, the human eventually captured the animal, and the person’s role was to tire the animal or block its escape. The Nishmas Adam grapples with how the person can be chayav in the Rambam’s case, since the dog was the one who performed the final melacha.
We will clarify this opinion of the Rambam, that one can be held responsible for melacha done by their animal, in the upcoming shiur, be’ezras Hashem.
Summary
According to the Chayei Adam, if a dog tires out an animal or blocks its escape, and the human is the one who captures it, it is assur mideoraysa. The Rambam holds that even in a case where the animal the one who finished the capture, it is assur mideoraysa, provided that the person was actively involved in the process. We will discuss this case further, be’ezras Hashem.
