Or HaChaim on Exodus 22:5/אור החיים על שמות כ״ב:ה׳

1 כי תצא אש, If fire escapes (from someone's private domain), etc. The Torah means that even if one lights a fire in one's own private yard such a person is liable for damage caused by such fire outside his domain if the blaze was such that the owner should have foreseen it could extend beyond his own fence. If an individual lit a fire in his private yard which could not be expected to extend beyond his own boundaries he is free from responsibility if it happened unexpectedly. Such an accident would have to be considered an act of G'd (compare Baba Kama 61). When the Torah speaks about ומצאה קוצים, that the fire "finds thorns," it means that even if there were no other inflammables in its path, the fact that the stack of corn is consumed by fire results in the person starting the fire having to make repayment, שלם ישלם. He will have to pay for either the stack of corn or the field in which the corn is still growing, as the case may be. He will even have to pay for the stalks though the latter were a contributing cause to the corn being burned. All of this applies only if the fire "found" the thorns. If a person other than the one who started the fire contributed to its spreading, then that second person is liable for the entire damage which occurs as a result.

2The Torah repeats the words המבעיר את הבערה "he who kindled the fire," to hint that the guilty party has to pay even for the stalks which were the real culprits in spreading the blaze.

3Another aspect addressed by the word ומצאה, "and finds," is a situation where the person kindling the fire was unaware that there were any thorns in the vicinity, or where these thorns at least had not been present at the time the fire was kindled. It is presumed here that some third person came along and placed these thorns in a position where they created a hazard. In all of these situations the person kindling the fire is still liable for damage caused.

4There is, of course, also a moral/ethical approach to this whole paragraph. The Torah describes the wicked practicing their wickedness in order to awaken man from his lethargic and mindless sleep when he observes how evil takes root all around him. The Torah says כי תצא אש, "when fire spreads," a simile traditionally describing people's problems. We find a description of this in Yuma 77 [discussing certain aspects of the prophet Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel chapter 10, Ed.] where the archangel Gabriel is portrayed as asking the "man clothed in linen," (an angel in charge of fire) to prepare the destruction of Jerusalem by fire. This angel is to be regarded as a symbol of an intensified attribute of Justice at work.

5When the Torah speaks of ומצאה קוצים, this is a reference to the wicked who are considered nothing but painful thorns. The expression ומצאה may be understood in a sense similar to Deut. 31,21 that "trouble befell them." The justification for using the word מצאה is that the wicked have no one who is responsible for them, either benevolently or otherwise. Wickedness means rejection of authority. G'd is the only true authority, and He has abandoned them as a result of their deliberate wickedness. Anything that happens in their lives subsequently is in the nature of a מציאה, a find, something one comes upon accidentally. Anyone who encounters such a person may do to him what he wants without divine interference. The verse also informs us that once fire has been given permission to act destructively, i.e. as the attribute of Justice, it will not only burn the thorns but it will also consume the stack of corn (the good, the useful). The choice of the word גדיש is an allusion to youngsters studying Torah, children who have not yet attained the height of adults, i.e. קמה. They are swept away together with the guilty as part of the troubles sweeping society. According to Shir Hashirim Rabbah on Song of Songs 1,4, when G'd was about to give the Jewish people the Torah He demanded guarantors that the people would continue to observe it. After having turned down the patriarchs as suitable guarantors, the Midrash relates that G'd accepted the people's children as their guarantors. This is the meaning of Psalms 8,3: "from the mouths of infants and sucklings You have established strength, etc." As a result of this arrangement the attribute of Justice is entitled to include such children in retribution when these forces are at work.

6The Torah says: או הקמה, "or the standing corn;" this is a hint that on occasion when the destructive forces are about to engulf all of mankind, or all of the Jewish people, the choicest of the people are killed as an act of atonement for the members of their generation and in order to ensure that society as such can continue. This too is explained by Shir Hashirim Rabbah in connection with Song of Songs, 1,14 אשכל הכפר, the word הכפר being understood by the Midrash in the sense of כפרה, atonement. The Psalmist (Psalms 92,13) compares the upright posture of the righteous to that of a palm tree. Hence the term קמה describes צדיקים very aptly. On occasion the iniquities of the people have become so great that the death of the righteous is not enough to ensure the survival of the people. This is why the Torah mentions: או שדה, "or a field;" the field is an allusion to the totality of the Jewish people, i.e. there are circumstances when even the death of the children plus the death of the righteous are not sufficient atonement to give the rest of the people another lease on life.

7The Torah informs us that a day will come when G'd will make a reckoning with the forces who have initiated all this, and on account of whom G'd had to use the children and the righteous as atonement for the common people. This is the meaning of: שלם ישלם המבעיר את הבערה, "the thorns which have kindled the fire will certainly have to make restitution." Sanhedrin 100 tells us that when the time comes, G'd will make sure that the wicked are tough enough to be able to endure all the suffering G'd has in store for them as part of the restitution they have to make. We have it on the authority of Bereshit Rabbah 63,10 that when the sons of the righteous reach maturity so that they are no longer punished for the sins their parents may have been guilty of, their parents make a feast at which they bless the Lord for having freed their children from being guarantors of the conduct of their fathers. [This appears to be the reverse of fathers blessing the Lord on the day their sons become of age because they, the fathers, are no longer liable for mistakes made by their children. Anyone interested in pursuing this is referred to the commentary of Rabbi David Luria on this Midrash. Ed.] At any rate, G'd punishes the ones who by their actions have released the forces of retribution in the world. The way a person is able to vanquish all these potential fires of his evil urge which if allowed to rage is apt to consume both the children and the righteous together, is if he is truly concerned about all these consequences that his own conduct will evoke and suppresses his evil inclination as a result of such concern. Our sages have taught us in Kidushin 40 that one should always view oneself as if the world teetered on a scale of guilty and innocent and the next action one performs decides in which direction the scales will tilt so that one holds the fate of mankind in one's hands, figuratively speaking. Should one make the wrong move one not only carries the guilt of an untold number of souls but is also responsible for all the souls which will never be born (placed inside bodies) due to the premature death of their parents. Alternatively, the reason the Torah repeats שלם ישלם is an allusion that G'd does not only bring retribution on the person who has started the actual fire but also on the one who has been the ultimate cause of such a fire, i.e. Satan. We have been taught in Sukkah 52 that the day will come when G'd "slaughters" the evil urge, (angel of death). At that time the angel of death will not even be able to escape to Bazrah, a reference to Betzer [the first city of refuge mentioned in the Torah Deut 4,43 Ed.] seeing that he was an intentional killer and as such does not qualify for taking refuge in such a city (compare Makkot 12). The Talmud Baba Kama 60 has interpreted the passage in Isaiah 63 in a different but also homiletical way.