Kesubos 104b

כתובות ק״ד ע״ב

Ketubot 104b

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Topic

An אלמנה's twenty-five-year limit on her כתובה, the case of רב חייא אריכא, and the start of the משנה of אדמון and חנן

Overview

This amud finishes the discussion of an אלמנה who waits about twenty-five years without claiming her כתובה. If she holds the actual שטר כתובה, everyone agrees she can collect forever. The מחלוקת between רבי מאיר and the חכמים applies only when she has no שטר, and the הלכה follows the חכמים. Next, בר קפרא and רב say the twenty-five years cost her only the basic מנה or מאתים, so she keeps the תוספת. רבי יוחנן says she loses the תוספת too, because a תנאי כתובה is like the כתובה itself. The גמרא then tells the story of רב חייא אריכא, who supported his widowed sister-in-law in her father's house for twenty-five years. רבה בר שילא ruled that she kept her כתובה, because embarrassment had kept her from asking, and רבא agreed. But רבא denied her claim to the produce of the land, because her אדרכתא failed to say which fields had belonged to her late husband. That was a real mistake, not a טעות סופר. The פרק הנושא then ends, and a new chapter opens with the משנה of the two judges אדמון and חנן בן אבישלום.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. StatementThe count restarts, and a written כתובה is collectible forever
2. QuestionWhere does the dispute apply, and who is the הלכה like?
3. ResponseThe dispute is only without a שטר, and the הלכה follows the חכמים
4. StatementThe time limit covers only the basic כתובה, not the תוספת
5. Statementרבי יוחנן says she loses the extra amount too
6. Statementרב agrees she keeps the extra amount
7. Questionרבי אבא asks whether רב really said this
8. Responseרבי אבא admits he disagrees
9. StatementThe story of רב חייא אריכא and his mother-in-law
10. StatementShe demands support and her כתובה, and he refuses both
11. QuestionShe takes him to court, and the judge asks for the facts
12. ResponseHe supported her personally for twenty-five years
13. StatementThe ruling: she was too embarrassed to ask, so she collects
14. StatementHe ignores the ruling, and the court lets her seize his property
15. Conclusionרבא approves the ruling
16. StatementThe widow demands the produce since her authorization
17. Rejectionרבא finds a missing line in the authorization
18. ChallengeShe asks for produce from the end of the announcement period
19. ResolutionA document with an error gives no rights at all
20. ChallengeShe cites רבא's own rule about scribal error
21. ResolutionThis omission was a real mistake in judgment, not a slip
22. StatementWhy רבה בר שילא left the line out
23. RejectionWhy it does matter which fields are written in the document
24. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק הנושא
25. StatementTwo judges of decrees in ירושלים
26. StatementFirst case: a husband overseas and a wife asking for support