AccidentalPlug

Dear Vudes and Tus,

My husband and I went to Colorado for "business" and left our 16 year old child, whose gender will not be specified, home alone. Of course, the human that we refer to as Lester, threw a party for his/her/other non-binary gender's friends. One of his/her friends went into our bar and took a bottle of our Miller Lite™. The friend then operated a 1738 Horse & Buggy, and drove it directly into the canal. The friend is in the hospital and I feel terrible. My lawyer told me that he needs to determine if this is Garmi, and we are obligated, or Grama, and we're off the hook. What do you think?

Sincerely,

AccidentalPlug

Dear AccidentalPlug,

Tell your offspring that we would like an invite to the next shindig. Just so you know what you're dealing with, a few cases of Grama that we have dealt with in the past are when someone breaks the fence of an animal and it causes damage, or if someone hires false witnesses for a friend. Some cases of Garmi we have dealt with are when a Rabbi says food is Kosher when it isn't, or when someone tells someone that a coin is worth money when it isn't. On that note, it honestly depends on who you follow. The Meiri would say your case is Grama, because you didn't intend for the damage to happen. The REEEE is kind of confusing though. He says that your case is Grama, because someone else did the damage, but he also says it is Grama, because the damage wasn't immediate. The Ritzva would say your case is Garmi, because it is a common case, and therefore is always punishable. The Rambam doesn't really care about the details of the case, he says you're obligated no matter what.

Sincerely,

Vudes and Tus