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Kesubos 55b

כתובות נ״ה ע״ב

Ketubot 55b

Learn Kesubos 55b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Does רב follow אומדנא (judging by a person's likely intent)? The case of a שכיב מרע's gift that was also made with a קנין.

Overview

This amud opens with the last item in a list of rulings where the הלכה follows a certain view: the case of תרומת מעשר taken from דמאי. The גמרא then challenges the earlier assumption that רב does not go by אומדנא, meaning judging by a person's likely intent. To build the challenge, it quotes a מחלוקת between רב and שמואל about a deathbed gift that was also made with a קנין. בי רב say the giver 'made him ride on two horses.' The gift is like a healthy person's gift, so the giver cannot take it back if he recovers. It is also like a deathbed gift, so a loan owed to him passes on by words alone. שמואל says he does not know how to rule. Perhaps the extra קנין shows the giver wanted the transfer done by a שטר, and a שטר cannot take effect after death.

Opening lines

וּבִתְרוּמַת מַעֲשֵׂר שֶׁל דְּמַאי.

And with regard to the teruma of the tithe of demai.

וְרַב לָא אָזֵיל בָּתַר אוּמְדָּנָא?

And does Rav not follow assessment of intent?

וְהָא אִיתְּמַר:

But it was stated:

מַתְּנַת שְׁכִיב מְרַע שֶׁכָּתוּב בָּהּ קִנְיָן,

A deathbed gift in which an act of acquisition is written,

The steps (5)

  1. StatementThe last case in the list: separating from doubtfully tithed produce
  2. ChallengeChallenge: does רב really ignore a person's likely intent?
  3. StatementExplaining 'two horses': like both a healthy person's gift and a deathbed gift
  4. StatementThe two benefits: the giver cannot retract, and a loan transfers by words
  5. Statementשמואל: Maybe the giver wanted a document, and a document cannot work after death