Gittin 89a

גיטין פ״ט ע״א

Learn Gittin 89a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 89a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When a rumor (קול) affects a woman's status: which rumors are ignored, what makes a rumor of קידושין count, when an אמתלא can cancel it, and whether courts cancel rumors.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a case: a rumor of קידושין that comes together with a rumor of divorce does not bind her, because the rumor 'carries its own receipt.' רבא rules that a rumor that a woman was a זונה is ignored, since people probably saw only פריצות. This matches רבי יוחנן בן נורי, who proves from the word 'דבר' that only a clear matter proven by witnesses counts. A ברייתא then lists rumors about status and property that we ignore. עולא, לוי, רבי יוחנן and רב each define the kind of rumor of קידושין that does count. It needs visible signs such as lit candles and made-up beds, or a trail of named sources who went overseas. רבי יוחנן adds that an אמתלא can cancel only a rumor that was not stated firmly. אביי and רב יוסף ask whether a court can cancel a rumor, and conclude that סורא does and נהרדעא does not. Real cases follow: רב חמא refuses a late explanation, and אביי cancels a rumor of betrothal with a mat of dates. A third case begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. StatementThe woman counts as divorced
2. ResponseWhy: the rumor comes with its own receipt
3. Statementרבא: a rumor that she was promiscuous is ignored
4. ResponseWhy: they probably just saw loose behavior
5. ProofA dispute among תנאים: when must she leave her husband
6. Challengeרבי יוחנן בן נורי: no marriage would survive
7. ProofProof from the word 'דבר': only a clear matter counts
8. StatementA list of rumors we ignore
9. StatementWhat kind of rumor of betrothal counts
10. ChallengeChallenging the words 'is getting betrothed'
11. ResolutionFixing the wording to 'was betrothed today'
12. Proofלוי's ברייתא gives the same picture
13. ChallengeThe same wording problem in לוי's ברייתא
14. Resolutionרב פפא fixes the wording of the ברייתא
15. Statementרבי יוחנן: when it is a real rumor and when an explanation works
16. ChallengeIf nothing was said, why is an explanation needed?
17. Resolutionרבי יוחנן is arguing against רבה בר רב הונא
18. Statementרב defines a real rumor as one that can be traced
19. ChallengeIf it ends in a clear fact, that is real testimony
20. ResolutionThe corrected version: the sources went overseas
21. Questionאביי asks whether a rumor can be cancelled
22. Responseרב יוסף proves from רב חסדא that we cancel a rumor
23. Rejectionאביי counters from רב ששת that we do not cancel a rumor
24. ResolutionIt depends on the local custom
25. QuestionA rumor about a yeshiva student, and רב חמא asks the father
26. ResponseThe father says the betrothal was conditional
27. StatementA later explanation cannot undo the rumor
28. QuestionA betrothal with a mat of dates is brought to אביי
29. ResponseEven the strict view cancels this rumor
30. StatementA third rumor case begins