Kesubos 50b

כתובות נ׳ ע״ב

Ketubot 50b

Learn Kesubos 50b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether daughters' support can be collected from movable property or only from land, and how the courts ruled in practice

Overview

רב המנונא teaches that just as sons inherit only from land, daughters are supported only from land. Everyone objects, because sons obviously inherit everything. רב יוסף explains that he meant the כתובת בנין דכרין, which is collected only from land, and רב המנונא agrees. The גמרא then asks whether רב's support of orphan girls 'from the wheat of the עלייה' was a dowry measured by the father's status, as שמואל taught, or actual food based on the attic ruling that daughters are fed even from movables. A story about שמואל is brought as proof, but it is pushed off as being about a dowry. Then a series of practical cases follows: רב נחמן forces judges to reverse collections from movables, רבי יעקב בר אידי stops רבי אמי and רבי אסי, and רבי שמעון בן אליקים warns רבי אלעזר that a ruling made out of compassion could become permanent הלכה. Finally, אביי challenges רב יוסף's order to pay a daughter from dates on the mats. רב יוסף explains that he meant ripe dates still on the tree, which count as land.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. Statementרב המנונא: daughters are supported only from land
2. ChallengeEveryone objects: sons inherit everything, not just land
3. Resolutionרב יוסף: maybe he meant the sons' כתובה inheritance
4. Conclusionרב המנונא confirms רב יוסף's reading
5. Statementרב supported girls from 'the wheat of the עלייה'
6. QuestionFirst possibility: it was a dowry, measured by the father
7. QuestionSecond possibility: real food, based on the attic ruling
8. ProofA story with שמואל seems to prove daughters are fed from movables
9. RejectionNo, שמואל meant a dowry, not food
10. Statementרב נחמן forces judges to undo collecting from movables
11. ConclusionDon't rule where רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש held back
12. Statementרבי אלעזר is warned not to rule from compassion
13. Statementרב יוסף orders support from the dates on the mats
14. Challengeאביי: Even a creditor could not collect this way
15. Resolutionרב יוסף: I meant dates ready for the mats