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Kesubos 49a

כתובות מ״ט ע״א

Ketubot 49a

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Topic

Once a father hands his daughter over to the husband's messengers, she leaves her father's authority for good. Even if she later goes back to his house, she does not return to her old status.

Overview

The גמרא asks whether a girl whose father handed her to the husband's שלוחים goes back to her old status if she returns to her father's house. רבא answers from a ברייתא of the school of רבי ישמעאל about the vows of an אלמנה and גרושה: once she leaves her father's רשות even for a moment, he can never cancel her vows again. רב פפא brings support from a משנה that a נערה המאורסה gets סקילה only while she is 'in her father's house'. רב נחמן בר יצחק brings another משנה: once she enters the husband's רשות for marriage, she counts as an אשת איש and the punishment is חנק. Then a new משנה begins. It rules that a father is not obligated to support his daughter, based on רבי אלעזר בן עזריה's teaching in the vineyard at יבנה. The גמרא infers that sons are an obligation and daughters a מצוה, then finds that this fits none of the three opinions in a ברייתא: רבי מאיר, רבי יהודה and רבי יוחנן בן ברוקא. It answers that the משנה can fit any of them. It begins with רבי מאיר, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאֵימָא: הֵיכָא דְּהָדְרָא לְבֵי נָשָׁא

But say: where she returns to her family's house

הָדְרָא לְמִילְּתָא קַמַּיְיתָא?

she returns to the original situation?

אָמַר רָבָא: הָהוּא כְּבָר פַּסְקַהּ

Rava said: That was already decided by

תַּנָּא דְּבֵי רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל,

the tanna of the school of Rabbi Yishmael,

The steps (15)

  1. ChallengeMaybe going back home restores her old status
  2. Resolutionרבא says this was already decided
  3. QuestionWhy does the Torah need to mention a widow's and a divorcée's vows?
  4. ResponseOnce she leaves her father's authority even briefly, he can never cancel her vows again
  5. Proofרב פפא brings support from the משנה about a betrothed girl
  6. Proof'In her father's house' must exclude a girl handed to the husband's messengers
  7. ProofAnother proof from a משנה about a married woman
  8. ConclusionMerely entering his authority is enough
  9. StatementNew משנה: a father need not support his daughter
  10. StatementReading the משנה closely: son obligated, daughter a מצוה
  11. ChallengeWhose opinion fits this משנה?
  12. ProofThe ברייתא with the three opinions
  13. ChallengeThe question again: the משנה fits none of the three opinions
  14. ResolutionThe answer: the משנה can fit any of the three
  15. ResolutionReading the משנה like רבי מאיר