Gemara Clarity

Kesubos 2a

כתובות ב׳ ע״א

Ketubot 2a

Learn Kesubos 2a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kesubos 2a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why a בתולה marries on Wednesday, and when a groom whose wedding is delayed must start feeding his bride

Overview

The opening משנה of כתובות says a בתולה marries on Wednesday and an אלמנה on Thursday, because courts sit on Monday and Thursday and a husband with a טענת בתולים can go to court the next morning. רב יוסף first reports that שמואל tied this rule to a later משנה about when a groom must start feeding his bride, and then objects. Why explain a rule whose reason is stated openly through a rule whose reason is not stated? So the גמרא gives a corrected version of שמואל: Wednesday is for the court day. The גמרא then asks why Sunday would not work just as well. It answers that the חכמים wanted the groom to spend Sunday through Tuesday preparing the wedding feast (שקדו). From this the גמרא learns that a groom whose wedding date falls on Sunday does not owe food until Wednesday. One version extends this to illness and נדה. Another version turns these cases into a ladder of questions: his illness, her illness, and her becoming a נדה. The amud ends by setting aside the case of a period at her expected time, and the question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּתוּלָה נִשֵּׂאת לַיּוֹם הָרְבִיעִי

A virgin is married on the fourth day (Wednesday)

וְאַלְמָנָה לַיּוֹם הַחֲמִישִׁי.

and a widow on the fifth day (Thursday).

שֶׁפַּעֲמַיִם בְּשַׁבָּת

For twice a week

בָּתֵּי דִינִין יוֹשְׁבִין בָּעֲיָירוֹת:

courts sit in the towns:

The steps (15)

  1. StatementThe משנה: Virgins Marry on Wednesday, Widows on Thursday
  2. Questionשמואל Asks Why a Virgin Marries on Wednesday
  3. Responseשמואל Links Wednesday to When Support Begins
  4. Challengeרב יוסף Objects in Amazement
  5. ChallengeBut Both Sources Are Taught!
  6. ResolutionWhat רב יוסף Really Meant
  7. StatementThe corrected version of שמואל's teaching
  8. ChallengeWhy not marry on Sunday instead?
  9. ResolutionThe חכמים wanted a proper wedding feast
  10. ConclusionA Sunday deadline does not obligate food yet
  11. ConclusionExtending the exemption to illness and נדה
  12. QuestionAn open question about the groom's illness
  13. QuestionWhat if the bride is the one who gets sick?
  14. QuestionWhat if the bride becomes a נדה?
  15. QuestionNarrowing the question: her expected time needs no question