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Kesubos 104a

כתובות ק״ד ע״א

Ketubot 104a

Learn Kesubos 104a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The death of רבי, and how long a widow has to collect her כתובה

Overview

This amud finishes the story of רבי's death. The רבנן fasted and prayed for him to live. His maidservant saw how he suffered and prayed for him to rest, and she broke their prayer by throwing a jug from the roof. בר קפרא reported the death with a parable so that he would not be the one to announce it. רבי's last prayer, about toiling in Torah with all ten fingers, was answered by a בת קול, and the גמרא explains how צדיקים and angels greet a צדיק, while destroying angels meet a רשע. Then a new משנה asks how long a widow has to collect her כתובה: רבי מאיר and the חכמים give opposite 25-year rules for her father's house and her husband's house. The גמרא defends both views, with 'the load matches the camel' and the exact measure of a מקוה. רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי says the limit applies only without a written כתובה, while רבי אלעזר disagrees. Challenges from a lender and a divorcée are answered by saying the debtor admits the debt. A new ברייתא from the school of בר קזא begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּמִדַּלְיָא וּבְסִים אַוֵּירָא.

which is high up, and the air is pleasant.

הָהוּא יוֹמָא דְּנָח נַפְשֵׁיהּ דְּרַבִּי,

On that day that Rabbi died,

גְּזַרוּ רַבָּנַן תַּעֲנִיתָא,

the Sages decreed a fast,

וּבְעוֹ רַחֲמֵי, וְאָמְרִי:

and begged for mercy, and they said:

The steps (30)

  1. StatementWhy ציפורי was a good place for the sick רבי
  2. StatementThe רבנן fast and pray on the day רבי died
  3. StatementThe maidservant first prays that רבי stay alive
  4. StatementSeeing רבי suffer, the maidservant changes her prayer
  5. StatementThe jug breaks the prayers and רבי dies
  6. Statementבר קפרא discovers that רבי has died
  7. Statementבר קפרא hints at the news with a parable
  8. StatementThe רבנן ask if רבי died, and בר קפרא lets them say it
  9. Statementרבי's last prayer with his ten fingers raised
  10. StatementA heavenly voice answers רבי with a verse
  11. ChallengeWhy does the verse say 'their beds' instead of 'your bed'?
  12. ResolutionThe צדיקים come out to greet a new צדיק, then go back to rest
  13. StatementThree groups of angels greet a צדיק
  14. StatementThree groups of destroying angels meet a wicked person
  15. Statementרבי מאיר's view on a widow's time limit
  16. StatementThe חכמים hold the opposite view
  17. StatementIf the widow dies, her heirs have twenty-five years
  18. Challengeאביי asks how one 25-year limit fits both poor and rich
  19. ResolutionThe load matches the camel
  20. QuestionDoes she lose part of her כתובה if only part of the time passed?
  21. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
  22. ChallengeCan one moment after sunset really cost her the whole כתובה?
  23. ResolutionEvery measure of the חכמים is exact, like a מקוה
  24. StatementWith a כתובה document in hand, she collects forever
  25. StatementEven with the document, only 25 years
  26. ChallengeA lender collects late, but a widow is assumed to give up
  27. ResolutionThe lender's case is where the borrower admits
  28. ChallengeA גרושה is like a lender, but a widow gives up
  29. ResolutionThe husband admits the debt
  30. StatementA teaching from the school of בר קזא begins