Bava Kamma 89b

בבא קמא פ״ט ע״ב

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Topic

Selling a wife's כתובה to pay for injuries, כתובת בנין דכרין, and whether תקנת אושא is a מחלוקת תנאים

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question about a wife who injured someone: why can't she sell the 'benefit value' (טובת הנאה) of her כתובה in a way where her later מחילה causes no loss? The גמרא answers that she will surely forgive whatever benefits her husband, so בית דין does not bother arranging a useless sale. It then asks why a wife who injured her husband cannot sell her כתובה to him, and answers that the ברייתא follows רבי מאיר, who forbids a husband to live with his wife without a כתובה. To make רבי מאיר's reason fit, the גמרא sets the case up first with a large כתובה, and then with a כתובה of only the Torah amount, where four זוזים of damages would not lead him to give up twenty-five. A later line of the ברייתא seems to contradict this. רבא explains that line as being about כתובת בנין דכרין, which a woman does not lose by selling her כתובה, because she sold only out of need for money. Finally, the גמרא asks whether תקנת אושא is a מחלוקת תנאים, based on two ברייתות about עבדי מלוג going free through שן ועין. It rejects this proof in two ways. The second way leans on a statement of רבא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. ChallengeHer forgiving would cause no loss here
2. ResolutionShe will forgive anything for her husband, so the court does not bother
3. ChallengeChallenge from the ברייתא about a wife who injured her husband
4. ResolutionThe ברייתא follows רבי מאיר
5. QuestionWhat is the reason for רבי מאיר's rule?
6. ResponseSo divorcing her will not be easy, and here he would divorce and collect
7. ChallengeEven now he can divorce her and collect
8. ResolutionHer כתובה is large, so he will not divorce her over a small injury
9. ChallengeThen let her keep the Torah amount and sell him only the extra
10. ResolutionHer כתובה is only the Torah amount, and his injury is worth four זוזים
11. ChallengeThe later part of the ברייתא says she never loses her כתובה while married
12. Resolutionרבא: the end of the ברייתא is about the sons' inheritance clause
13. Resolutionרבא rereads the ברייתא: a sale does not cancel the sons' right
14. QuestionIs תקנת אושא a מחלוקת תנאים?
15. ProofLinking the slave dispute to תקנת אושא
16. RejectionBoth ברייתות hold of תקנת אושא but speak of different time periods
17. RejectionBoth ברייתות are after the תקנה, and the wife's side has another reason