Kesubos 48a

כתובות מ״ח ע״א

Ketubot 48a

Learn Kesubos 48a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A wife's clothing and intimacy rights, her funeral and burial costs, and the court supporting the family of an insane or absent husband

Overview

The amud opens with רבי אליעזר בן יעקב, who reads the words of the פסוק (שמות 21:10) as rules about a wife's clothing: the clothes must fit her age and the season. רב יוסף then teaches a ברייתא that reads שְׁאֵרָהּ as closeness of body during intimacy, which supports רב הונא's ruling about a husband who insists on staying clothed. Next the גמרא explains the משנה's argument over funeral flutes and a mourning woman. תנא קמא holds that a wife shares her husband's higher status only while alive. רבי יהודה holds that she shares it even after death, and the הלכה follows him. The גמרא then discusses how the בית דין uses an insane man's property to support his family, and why that differs from a man who went overseas. It also explains what 'something else' (jewelry or charity) means. It adds that an absent husband's wife is buried at least by his dignity. It ends by teaching that a man cannot order that his own burial not be paid from his property. Finally a new משנה begins about a daughter staying under her father's authority.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. StatementReading all three words of the פסוק as rules about clothing
2. Statementרב יוסף: שְׁאֵרָהּ means closeness of body
3. ProofThe ברייתא supports רב הונא
4. StatementQuoting רבי יהודה and inferring the view of תנא קמא
5. ChallengeWhat case are they arguing about?
6. ResolutionThe case: his family's custom, not hers
7. Resolutionרבי יהודה's side: even after death
8. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי יהודה
9. StatementSupporting the family of a man who became insane
10. Challengeרבינא's challenge from the man who went overseas
11. ResolutionLeaving by choice versus not by choice
12. QuestionWhat is 'something else'?
13. ResponseJewelry or charity
14. ConclusionWhat each view means in practice
15. StatementThe court buries the wife of an absent husband from his property
16. ChallengeWhy his dignity and not hers?
17. ResolutionRead it as 'even according to his dignity'
18. ConclusionShe rises with him and does not go down, even after death
19. StatementA man who says 'don't bury her from my property' is listened to
20. ChallengeHis words add nothing, since the property belongs to the orphans anyway
21. ResolutionChanged case: a man who says not to bury himself from his property is ignored
22. StatementA daughter stays under her father's authority until she enters