Yitzchak Meystelman asks:
Gemara is discussing whether kofer payment is an additional payment for loss of life of the victim; or whether it is an atonement payment for the mazik. If it's an atonement payment, then why is this payment going to the nizik? Shouldn't this payment go to tzedaka or Beis Hanukkah's?
Yitzchak Meystelman, Phoenix, AZ
The Kollel replies:
We know that if Reuven's ox wounds Shimon, Reuven must render payment for damages to Shimon, obviously, and not to Tzedakah or to Bedek ha'Bayis. Why, then, should it be any different if the ox kills Shimon, where those same reasons apply? Whether the payment is assessed according to the value of the Mazik or the Nizak is a separate issue and is unrelated to who receives it.
B'Virchas Kol Tuv,
Eliezer Chrysler