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Kesubos 88a

כתובות פ״ח ע״א

Ketubot 88a

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Topic

A husband's trick to force a Torah-level oath, orphans collecting with an oath, and collecting a כתובה or a loan while the other side is away

Overview

The גמרא first shows how a clever husband can bring his wife to a שבועה דאורייתא about her כתובה. He pays the full כתובה in front of witnesses and then calls the earlier payment a loan. רב שישא בריה דרב אידי and רב אשי each find a problem with the earlier version and refine the plan, and רב אשי's version is the final one. Next the גמרא brings a משנה in שבועות that says orphans collect only with an oath, and explains that it means the lender's orphans collecting from the borrower's orphans. רב יהודה's limit on that rule is restated after רבא shows that saying 'I never borrowed' counts as saying 'I never repaid.' Then the גמרא discusses a woman collecting while her husband is away. רבי יצחק says this applies only to a כתובה, and רב נחמן says even a lender may collect this way. Finally, רבי ירמיה explains that רבי שמעון limits the heirs' oath to when she claims her כתובה, not her food support.

Opening lines

אִי פִּיקֵּחַ הוּא,

If he is clever,

מַיְיתֵי לַהּ לִידֵי שְׁבוּעָה דְּאוֹרָיְיתָא.

he can bring her to a Torah-level oath.

יָהֵיב לַהּ כְּתוּבְּתַהּ

He gives her her כתובה

בְּאַפֵּי חַד סָהֲדָא,

in front of one witness,

The steps (16)

  1. StatementThe clever husband's trick: turning the first payment into a loan
  2. ChallengeHow can two witnesses to different payments be combined?
  3. ResolutionPay her in front of both witnesses together
  4. ChallengeShe can claim there were two כתובות
  5. ResolutionThe husband tells the witnesses there is only one כתובה
  6. StatementNew topic: liened property, and the משנה about orphans
  7. QuestionFrom whom do the orphans collect with an oath?
  8. ResponseIt means orphans collecting from orphans
  9. Statementרב יהודה limits the oath rule
  10. Challengeרבא: saying 'I never borrowed' is like saying 'I never repaid'
  11. Resolutionרב יהודה's statement restated the opposite way
  12. StatementThe גמרא quotes the next line of the משנה
  13. Statementרבי יצחק limits the rule to a wife's כתובה
  14. Statementרב נחמן says even a lender may collect
  15. QuestionWhich line of the משנה is רבי שמעון responding to?
  16. Responseרבי ירמיה: רבי שמעון responds to the oath rule