Maritime Law in Halacha

The Torah contains many laws about ships

Jettisoning

1. If a ship is caught in a storm- it may be necessary to throw cargo into the water to stabilize the boat.
2. The Gemara says that in such a case- everyone throws off a percentage of cargo equaling their percentage of weight
   1. for example- if one person's luggage is ten percent of the total cargo by weight aboard the ship, this person must throw off ten percent of the luggage thrown off
   2. After the fact, even if the luggage was not thrown off according to this method, the passengers compensate one another for luggage they should not have had to throw
3. The Gemara also says that if someone brings a donkey aboard a small ferry boat and the donkey goes crazy, all the passengers are permitted to throw the donkey in the river to save the other passengers
   1. The Gemara says that it is permitted to throw the donkey in the river since the donkey is a rodef to the passengers
4. These halachot present a seeming contradiction
5. One Halacha says that everyone has to throw luggage, the other halacha says only the most dangerous cargo has to be thrown off.

This contradiction is fleshed out in a halachic dispute between the Rambam and the Raavad

Rambam vs. Raavad

The Rambam says that if a ship is about to break and one passenger throws cargo overboard to save the ship, the passenger who throws the cargo is not liable. The Rambam says that the passenger is permitted to throw the cargo overboard since "the weight in it is like a pursuer (rodef) going after them to kill them."

The Ravaad argues the baggage is not considered a rodef. The Talmud only considered a donkey a rodef, and the case of luggage is not comprable to a rodef.

The Magid Mishnah, a commentator on the Rambam, explains that the Rambam is referring to a specific luggage case. There are two situations when luggage needs to be thrown overboard

1. the ship is in a storm and needs to be lightened
2. the ship is overweight

The Magid Mishnah explain that the Rambam refers to the luggage as a rodef where the ship is overweight. If the ship is overweight, then the luggage is the key reason for the boat being in danger, and therefore the luggage is a rodef. If the luggage is thrown overboard while the ship is in a storm- the Rambam would agree that the costs of the thrown over luggage has to be distributed equally.

The Nimukei Yosef argues that the Maggid Mishnah's answer simply doesn't cut it. Even if we were to say that the Rambam is referring to a case where the ship is overweighed with luggage, it does not give carte blanche to throw pieces of cargo overboard. No cargo is no more of a rodef than any other piece of cargo- we are not sure which piece of cargo was the one that made the ship overweight. In the donkey case, we consider the donkey a rodef since the wild donkey was clearly the chief cause of the danger onboard the ship. In short- the Nimukei Yosef and the Ravad argue that in order for something to be considered a rodef it must be clearly distinguishable in it danger.