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Kesubos 21b

כתובות כ״א ע״ב

Ketubot 21b

Learn Kesubos 21b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Witnesses serving as judges (עד נעשה דיין) and how a court of three ratifies a שטר

Overview

The amud opens with a short story. רבנאי quotes שמואל saying that a witness and a judge can join together. אמימר praises the ruling, but רב אשי answers that רבא already refuted it. Next comes a ruling of רב about three judges ratifying a שטר when only two of them recognize the signatures: the two may testify before the third so he can sign with them. A challenge from רבא's rule, that a ratification written too early 'looks like a lie', leads the גמרא to correct the deadline from 'before they signed' to 'before they wrote'. The גמרא draws three lessons from this ruling, but רב אשי shows that only one holds up: עד נעשה דיין, a witness can become a judge. רב ספרא challenges that lesson from the new-moon משנה, and רב answers that עדות החודש is Torah law and stricter, while קיום שטרות is only rabbinic. Finally, רב rules on a judge whose fitness is challenged, and the גמרא begins asking what kind of challenge is meant. That question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אִיקְּלַע רַבְנַאי אֲחוּהּ דְּרַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא

Ravnai, the brother of Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba, happened to come

לְמִזְבַּן שׁוּמְשְׁמֵי

to sell sesame,

וַאֲמַר: הָכִי אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל:

and he said: This is what Shmuel said:

עֵד וְדַיָּין מִצְטָרְפִין.

A witness and a judge join together.

The steps (14)

  1. Statementרבנאי reports a ruling of שמואל
  2. Statementאמימר praises the ruling
  3. Rejectionרב אשי rejects the praise: רבא already refuted it
  4. Statementרב: two judges may testify before the third, but only before they sign
  5. ChallengeChallenge: writing the ratification early looks like a lie
  6. ResolutionCorrect the wording: 'before they wrote' instead of 'before they signed'
  7. ConclusionThree lessons learned from the ruling
  8. Rejectionרב אשי rejects the second lesson
  9. Rejectionרב אשי rejects the third lesson
  10. Statementרבי אבא teaches that a witness can become a judge
  11. Challengeרב ספרא challenges from the new-moon משנה
  12. ResolutionTorah law is stricter than rabbinic law
  13. StatementA challenged judge on a court ratifying a document
  14. QuestionWhat kind of challenge is meant