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Kesubos 75a

כתובות ע״ה ע״א

Ketubot 75a

Learn Kesubos 75a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Public vows, remarrying a wife divorced over a vow, a woman's extra blemishes, praise of ארץ ישראל, and who must prove when a bride's blemishes began

Overview

This amud opens by asking how many people make a vow 'public', so that it cannot be released, as with the oath to the גבעונים. רב נחמן בר יצחק says three and רבי יצחק says ten. Next comes a משנה where רבי מאיר and רבי אלעזר argue about remarrying a wife who was divorced over a vow. The גמרא explains that the real question is whether a husband is willing to have his wife embarrassed in בית דין. רבא then explains a ברייתא about a woman betrothed on condition that she has no vows. The גמרא challenges him, and the answer is that a woman is happy with almost any husband, which several sages show with popular sayings. The גמרא then lists blemishes that count in a woman but not in a כהן: sweat, bad breath, a hidden mole, a dog-bite scar, a deep voice, and unusual breasts. A short aggadic passage praises ארץ ישראל and those who go up to it. Finally, a new משנה begins on who must prove when a bride's blemishes started, and the view of the חכמים continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

״וְלֹא הִכּוּם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

"And the children of Israel did not smite them,

כִּי נִשְׁבְּעוּ לָהֶם נְשִׂיאֵי הָעֵדָה״,

for the princes of the assembly had sworn to them."

וְכַמָּה רַבִּים?

And how many are 'many'?

רַב נַחְמָן בַּר יִצְחָק אָמַר: שְׁלֹשָׁה.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Three.

The steps (40)

  1. ProofThe oath to the גבעונים could not be undone
  2. QuestionHow many people count as 'many'?
  3. Responseרב נחמן בר יצחק: three people
  4. Responseרבי יצחק: ten people
  5. StatementThe משנה: רבי מאיר and רבי אלעזר on remarrying after a vow
  6. QuestionWhat is the root of their disagreement?
  7. ResponseIs a husband willing to have his wife embarrassed in court?
  8. Resolutionרבא: the ברייתא is about an important woman
  9. ChallengeChallenge from the ברייתא's second half
  10. ResolutionA woman is happy with almost any husband
  11. ProofMore sayings showing women prefer any husband
  12. StatementA side remark about these women
  13. StatementThree extra blemishes that count for women
  14. ChallengeDon't these blemishes disqualify כהנים too?
  15. ResolutionSweat that washes off versus sweat that stays
  16. ResolutionSweat is different from filth, and a כהן can cover it for a short time
  17. ChallengeWhat kind of mole counts only for a woman?
  18. ProofA ברייתא shows the rules for moles
  19. ResolutionA small mole on her forehead
  20. ChallengeA mole on the forehead was already seen
  21. ResolutionA mole under her head covering, sometimes seen
  22. StatementA scar from a dog bite is a blemish
  23. StatementA deep voice is a blemish in a woman
  24. Statementרבי נתן בירָאָה: a טפח between a woman's breasts
  25. Statementרב אחא בריה דרבא: a טפח is a mark of beauty
  26. Rejectionרב אשי: the ברייתא is about blemishes
  27. QuestionHow wide is normal?
  28. Responseאביי: three fingers
  29. Statementרבי נתן: breasts larger than normal are a blemish
  30. QuestionHow much larger counts as a blemish?
  31. ResponseThe measure is a handbreadth
  32. QuestionCan such a thing really happen?
  33. Responseרבה בר בר חנה's story of the Arab woman
  34. StatementTwo kinds of children of Zion
  35. Statementאביי: one of them is worth two of us
  36. Statementרבא: a Babylonian who moves there is worth two of them
  37. ProofProof from רבי ירמיה
  38. StatementNew משנה: blemishes found while she is in her father's house
  39. StatementBlemishes found after she enters the husband's home
  40. StatementThe Rabbis begin to limit רבי מאיר's rule