המניח את הכד
One who puts down the ‘Jug’
The ‘Jug’ is a reference to “the” twenty-four (24) books of the Torah[1] (see Kabbalistic commentaries on the verse[i] וכדה על שכמה) – as the Mishna does not state המניח את כדו but rather “the (known) jug”. Here we are talking about one who puts this ‘Jug’ down, rather than carrying it on their shoulders – at the level of their head. In other words, he lowers the wisdom of the Torah to the level of action, instead of pure intellect.
ברשות הרבים
in the public domain,
The public domain is the area where there exist forces in opposition. Where the idea of a non-unity, like that found in רשות היחיד – the Private Domain, is allowed to exist. It is open to all. The Torah is being brought down from its level as the wisdom of the Unity of G-d to the place of its complete opposite – the Public Domain, where feet treat.
ובא אחר
and ‘another’ comes,
The term אחר – the Other, is commonly used to refer to the powers of evil, which receives its life force from G-d like a person tossing food over his shoulder[2]. With the lowering of the Torah to the place of the feet in the public domain, the ‘Other’ comes.
ונתקל בה ושברה
and he stumbles over it and breaks it.
Since the Torah is the Wisdom of G-d, even when it is lowered to this state, it remains a force that is פנימי and therefore, the ‘Other’ does not have the ability to draw directly from it. Instead, in attempting to do so, he will cause himself to stumble and fall. This fall can cause a breakage in the Torah itself, it no longer remains in the pure state in which it was lowered, but now, by being broken, becomes a source for sustenance of evil. The word שבר can mean both to break something into shards, as well as to provide sustenance.[ii]
פטור
Exempt.
Even though the Torah has technically now experienced שבירת הכלים, and its shards are being used by the ‘Other’ in the Public Domain, at the level of the ‘feet’, nevertheless, the Mishna states פטור, without defining who is exempt – because the word means both ‘exempt’ and ‘unbounded’ by the evil – meaning the Torah does not get corrupted with the Other attempts to pervert it by breaking that which contains the Torah. Furthermore, although the intent of the one who put down the jug was to elevate the ‘feet’ in the public domain – literally causing people to step over it by lifting their feet up, the ‘Other’ is also not held responsible for failing to do so, because it is the evil nature of the ‘Other’ that causes them to kick like an animal, rather than elevating themselves.
ואם הוזק בה, בעל החבית חייב בנזקו
However, if damage was caused by it, the owner of the barrel is guilty of his damages.
The Torah is not intrinsically capable of causing damage, even when lowered to this world. Therefore, if damages were caused by the ‘Barrel’ [note the change in subject from Jug to Barrel], then the fault is with the owner of the barrel – not the ‘Jug’, which we talked about previously in the Mishna. The difference between a barrel and a jug is; a jug exists to only hold liquid temporarily. It is the means by which drinks are conveyed in amounts appropriate for each individual drinker. A barrel is there for long-term storage and is not meant to be used by a single individual. By failing to cultivate the teaching to the appropriate individual, when applying the Torah to their level, one in effect renders the Torah inaccessible, and therefore, the one who did so is liable for the damages caused by the means of transmission – by failing to properly teach Torah in a way that can transform instead of damage.
[1] Five (5) books of Moshe, Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel, Melaĉim, Yirmiya, Yeĉezkel, Yeshaya, Book of Twelve = כד (24). Alternatively, the Book of Twelve counts as one book, and we add the Writings as well: 3 Emes, 5 Megillahs, Daniel, Ezra – Neĉemya, Divrei Hayamim. The splits between Shmuel I and II, Melaĉim I and II, Divrei Hayamim I and II, and the split between the books of Ezra / Neĉemya was introduced by the gentiles and are not counted.
If you count all the books and count each prophet in the Book of Twelve as his own book, the number of books equal thirty-five (35), the Gematria of וכדה.
[2] Presumably, this the source of the common superstitious custom of the gentiles to throw salt or other food behind them and over their shoulder.
[i] Beraishis 24:15
[ii] See Beraishis 42:1