Kesubos 41b

כתובות מ״א ע״ב

Ketubot 41b

Learn Kesubos 41b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether חצי נזק is ממון or קנס and what that means in practice, then the new פרק on who receives the payments for a seduced נערה.

Overview

The גמרא asks whether the half-damages paid by the owner of a שור תם (פלגא נזקא) is ממון or a קנס. If it were a קנס, the owner would not pay when he admits it himself. First the גמרא explains that the list of differences between תם and מועד follows רבי יוסי הגלילי. Then it tries proofs from our משנה. The 'המית שורי' proof is pushed aside because the whole משנה is about a מועד. The 'זה הכלל' proof finally works on its wording, and the view that half-damages is a קנס gets a תיובתא. Even so, the גמרא rules that the הלכה is that half-damages is a קנס, because the משנה avoided the broader wording only on account of צרורות, which is ממון. As a result, unusual damage like a dog eating lambs is not collected in בבל. Still, a victim who seizes payment keeps it, he can demand a hearing in ארץ ישראל, and the owner is put in שמתא until he removes the danger, following רבי נתן. After the הדרן, a new פרק opens with a משנה about who gets the payments for a seduced or forced נערה: the father, the brothers, or the girl herself. רבי שמעון's view continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. RejectionThe list of differences follows רבי יוסי הגלילי
2. ProofProof from 'my ox killed so-and-so'
3. RejectionNo, the case is a forewarned ox
4. ChallengeWhy didn't the משנה split the case itself?
5. ResolutionThe whole משנה is about a forewarned ox
6. ProofProof from 'זה הכלל': paying less than the damage
7. RejectionRead it as 'exactly what he damaged'
8. ChallengeThen the משנה should have used a broader rule
9. ConclusionThe view that half-damages is a fine is refuted
10. ConclusionThe הלכה: half-damages is a fine
11. ChallengeHow can a refuted view be the halacha?
12. ResolutionThe broader wording was avoided because of pebbles
13. StatementPractical result: unusual animal damage is not collected in בבל
14. StatementSeizing payment and demanding a hearing in ארץ ישראל
15. StatementEither way, the owner of a dangerous animal is put in שמתא
16. Proofרבי נתן's source: do not keep dangers in your house
17. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק אלו נערות
18. StatementNew פרק: the payments for a seduced girl belong to her father
19. StatementIf the father died before the court case, the money is hers
20. StatementThe same timing rule applies when she becomes a בוגרת
21. Statementרבי שמעון: collection, not the court case, is what counts