Q&A: An A Fortiori Inference
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
An A Fortiori Inference
Question
Hello Rabbi, can an a fortiori inference be refuted by reasoning alone, or do you have to bring some concrete datum that refutes it? I’d be glad for an example if so.
Answer
Of course it can be refuted by reasoning alone. The primary categories of damages are characterized by factual features, such as its usual way being to move and cause damage, the beginning of its action being for damage, and so on. And the Talmud in the first chapter of Bava Kamma raises refutations from all of these considerations (already in the first Mishnah: this case is not like that case…).