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Kesubos 23a

כתובות כ״ג ע״א

Ketubot 23a

Learn Kesubos 23a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Conflicting witnesses about קידושין and גירושין, and when a woman permitted on her own word can lose that permission, including the story of שמואל's captive daughters

Overview

The amud opens by asking why a ברייתא treats conflicting witnesses about קידושין differently from conflicting witnesses about גירושין. אביי says the case is one witness against one, so the status both witnesses agree on wins. רב אשי says it is two against two, with the rulings switched. Witnesses who only say 'we didn't see' prove nothing, because people may do both קידושין and גירושין in private. Next the גמרא asks which clause of the משנה the rule 'if witnesses came after she married, she does not leave' belongs to. רבי אושעיא and רבה בר אבין disagree, and the גמרא explains their dispute through רב המנונא's rule that a woman will not lie to her husband's face. אבוה דשמואל adds that once the court permits her to marry, later witnesses cannot take that permission away, and a ברייתא about a captive woman fits this. The amud ends with the story of שמואל's daughters, who were captured, declared themselves pure before רבי חנינא and were permitted. רב אשי explains that only witnesses who saw actual violation could undo such a permission.

Opening lines

מַאי שְׁנָא רֵישָׁא,

What is different in the first clause,

וּמַאי שְׁנָא סֵיפָא?

and what is different in the latter clause?

אָמַר אַבָּיֵי, תַּרְגְּמַהּ בְּעֵד אֶחָד:

Abaye said: Interpret it as a case of one witness:

עֵד אֶחָד אוֹמֵר ״נִתְקַדְּשָׁה״,

one witness says, "She was betrothed,"

The steps (30)

  1. ChallengeWhy do the first and second cases of the ברייתא differ?
  2. Resolutionאביי: the case is one witness against one, and both agree she was single
  3. Resolutionאביי continued: in the גירושין case, both agree she was married
  4. Resolutionרב אשי: two against two, but switch the rulings
  5. ChallengeIsn't it obvious that 'we did not see' proves nothing?
  6. ResolutionNeighbors in one courtyard, and private betrothals
  7. QuestionWhat does the divorce clause add?
  8. ResponseEven when they live in one courtyard
  9. ChallengeBut that is the same lesson again
  10. ResolutionDivorce can also be done privately
  11. StatementWhich clause of the משנה does 'she does not leave' refer to?
  12. StatementHow the two views relate to each other
  13. QuestionSuggestion that the dispute depends on רב המנונא
  14. RejectionBoth accept רב המנונא; they argue about when he is not present
  15. Statementאבוה דשמואל: 'married' means permitted to marry
  16. ChallengeBut the משנה says 'she does not leave'
  17. ResolutionShe does not lose her first permission
  18. StatementA captive who says she has witnesses is permitted right away
  19. StatementLater witnesses who don't know do not cancel her permission
  20. Challengeשמואל questions why his father guarded the captive women
  21. ResolutionHis father answers: treat them as you would your own daughters
  22. Statementשמואל's daughters are taken captive and go to רבי חנינא's study hall
  23. StatementEach daughter says 'I was captured and I am pure' and is permitted
  24. ConclusionThe captors arrive, but the permission stands; רבי חנינא praises the daughters
  25. Statementרבי חנינא tells רב שמן to marry one of the daughters
  26. Challengeרב שמן objects that there are witnesses overseas
  27. ResolutionFar-away witnesses who are not here do not count
  28. StatementInference: if witnesses came, the daughters would be forbidden
  29. ChallengeChallenge from שמואל's father: once permitted, she stays permitted
  30. Resolutionרב אשי: the talk was about witnesses who saw actual violation