Kesubos 97a

כתובות צ״ז ע״א

Ketubot 97a

Learn Kesubos 97a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How an אלמנה sells her husband's property, whether a sale made for a need that falls away is undone, and when a widow must sell through בית דין.

Overview

The amud opens with the last line of an earlier comparison: someone collecting is better off calling what he takes a debt payment, not a gift. The גמרא then asks how an אלמנה sells property for her food. רב הונא says she sells once every twelve months, רב יהודה says once every six months, and in both views the buyer pays her every thirty days. אמימר rules like רב יהודה. Next, רב ששת is asked whether a widow who sold land for her מזונות can later seize it back for her כתובה. He proves from a ברייתא, read carefully, that she cannot: she may collect only from what she left unsold. The גמרא then asks whether a sale is undone if the seller ends up not needing the money. After two proofs are pushed aside, it rules that such a sale is undone. Finally, a new משנה teaches that a widow may sell without בית דין, while רבי שמעון requires בית דין for a widow from אירוסין. The גמרא begins to question the first opinion's ruling about her, and its answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. ConclusionA gift gives a weaker claim than a debt
2. QuestionHow does the widow sell?
3. Responseרב הונא: sell once a year, paid monthly
4. Responseרב יהודה: sell every six months, paid monthly
5. ProofA ברייתא supports רב הונא
6. ProofA ברייתא supports רב יהודה
7. Conclusionאמימר rules like רב יהודה
8. Questionרב אשי asks about רב הונא
9. ResponseI don't hold like it
10. QuestionCan a widow take back what she sold for food?
11. StatementThe background: רב יוסף's rule about the guarantee
12. QuestionThe two sides of the question
13. Responseרב ששת answers from a ברייתא: she cannot take it back
14. RejectionMaybe the ברייתא is only giving good advice
15. ResolutionThe words ״סמך לה״ show it is a real law
16. QuestionIs a sale undone if the seller ends up not needing the money?
17. ProofProof from רב פפא returning a field
18. Rejectionרב פפא went beyond the law
19. ProofProof from the drought in נהרדעא
20. RejectionThe drought sale was a mistake from the start
21. ProofSupport from רמי בר שמואל's challenge
22. Resolutionרב נחמן: droughts are not an everyday thing
23. Challengeרמי בר שמואל: in נהרדעא droughts are common
24. ConclusionThe final הלכה: the sale is undone
25. StatementNew משנה: a widow may sell without בית דין
26. Statementרבי שמעון splits the widow cases by whether she receives food support
27. ChallengeGranted: the married widow sells without בית דין because of her food