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Kiddushin 45a

קידושין מ״ה ע״א

Learn Kiddushin 45a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A minor betrothed without her father: the widow sold as a maidservant, the girl who falls to יבום, and a betrothal over a cup of wine

Overview

The גמרא finishes quoting a ברייתא that lets a father sell his young daughter as a maidservant even to a כהן she may not marry, such as an אלמנה to a כהן גדול. It asks how such a girl could be a widow and still be sold, and suggests this proves that a minor's self-betrothal counts, against עולא. רב עמרם answers that she became a widow through קידושי יעוד, following רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה. Next comes רב's ruling about a minor betrothed without her father whose husband died, leaving her for יבום. If the brother did מאמר, she needs a גט, חליצה, and מיאון, each covering a different doubt about which betrothal her father agreed to. If he did not do מאמר, she needs only חליצה. מיאון is not needed then, because everyone knows a חלוצה's sister is forbidden only מדרבנן, as ריש לקיש teaches. Finally, a story of two men betrothing their children over a cup of wine leads to a ruling by רבינא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְשָׁוִין שֶׁמּוֹכְרָהּ

And they agree that he may sell her

אַלְמָנָה לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל,

as a widow to a High Priest,

גְּרוּשָׁה וַחֲלוּצָה לְכֹהֵן הֶדְיוֹט.

as a divorcée or a חלוצה to a regular priest.

הַאי אַלְמָנָה הֵיכִי דָמֵי?

This widow, what is the case?

The steps (14)

  1. StatementThe end of the ברייתא: she may be sold even to a forbidden כהן
  2. QuestionWhat kind of widow is this?
  3. ChallengeSo it must be a girl who betrothed herself
  4. ResolutionThe case is a betrothal of יעוד
  5. Statementרב: she refuses his מאמר but not his זיקה
  6. StatementHow so? After מאמר she needs three things
  7. ResponseWhy a גט and why חליצה
  8. ResponseWhy she also needs מיאון
  9. StatementWithout the brother's betrothal, only release from levirate marriage is needed
  10. QuestionShould refusal be required here too?
  11. ResponseEveryone knows the חלוצה's sister is only rabbinically forbidden
  12. Proofריש לקיש's source: divorcée's sister is Torah-forbidden, חלוצה's sister is rabbinic
  13. StatementA betrothal made over a cup of wine
  14. Statementרבינא begins his ruling on the wine-cup case