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Kiddushin 4a

קידושין ד׳ ע״א

Learn Kiddushin 4a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The father's right to his daughter's קידושין money, and why the אמה העבריה goes free at both נערות and בגרות

Overview

The גמרא is proving that the money from a נערה's קידושין goes to her father. The source is the פסוק about the אמה העבריה who goes free ׳without money׳: no money for this master, but money for another master, the father. The גמרא defends this comparison and answers that the words are already used for another teaching. רבינא's answer is that the extra י in אין is free to teach about the father, and the גמרא shows that this י really is extra. Next it explains why the תורה had to teach both that her קידושין and that her earnings go to her father. Then it returns to the ברייתא and asks why the תורה needs to say she goes free at בגרות if she already went free at נערות. רבה, אביי and מר בר רב אשי each give an answer. The last answer, from מר בר רב אשי, is that the teaching shows that the sale of an אילונית counts at all.

Opening lines

יְצִיאָה דִּכְווֹתַהּ קָא מְמַעֵט.

It excludes a leaving that is like it.

וְהָא לָא דָּמְיָא

But it is not similar:

הַאי יְצִיאָה לְהַאי יְצִיאָה,

this leaving to that leaving.

הָתָם נָפְקָא לַהּ מֵרְשׁוּת אָדוֹן לִגְמָרֵי,

There, she leaves the master's control completely,

The steps (25)

  1. ResolutionThe verse only excludes a similar kind of leaving
  2. ChallengeThe two kinds of leaving are not alike
  3. ResolutionShe does leave her father's control for הפרת נדרים
  4. ProofProof from the משנה about a betrothed girl's vows
  5. ChallengeThe verse is already needed for another teaching
  6. Resolutionרבינא: the extra י in אין teaches about the father
  7. QuestionHow do we know an extra letter in אין can be expounded?
  8. ProofThe ברייתא reads זרע אין לה as עיין לה
  9. ChallengeThe word was already used for grandchildren
  10. ResolutionGrandchildren need no פסוק; the lesson is for זרע פסול
  11. QuestionHow did the תנא know to expound the י?
  12. ResponseOther פסוקים spell the same sound without a י
  13. StatementBoth rules about the father are needed: the betrothal side
  14. ConclusionBoth rules about the father are needed: the earnings side
  15. StatementReturning to the teaching on 'going out for nothing'
  16. ChallengeWhy mention adulthood if youth already frees her?
  17. Resolutionרבה: each phrase explains the other
  18. Proofרבה's parallel: the tenant and the hired worker
  19. ChallengeWhy write 'hired worker' at all?
  20. Resolution'Hired worker' explains what 'tenant' means
  21. Rejectionאביי: tenant and hired worker are two different people
  22. RejectionHere it is the same girl, so the extra teaching is pointless
  23. ResolutionThe teaching is needed for an אילונית who goes straight to adulthood
  24. ChallengeA קל וחומר from the father's authority should already teach this
  25. ResolutionThe teaching shows that selling an אילונית is a real sale