Kiddushin 50a

קידושין נ׳ ע״א

Learn Kiddushin 50a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Searching for a source that דברים שבלב אינן דברים (thoughts kept in the heart don't count): five attempted proofs; four are pushed off, and the מעילה proof stands

Overview

The גמרא looks for a source for the rule דברים שבלב אינן דברים: a thought a person keeps in his heart, without saying it out loud, has no legal effect. The first four proofs are each pushed off. These are the forced קרבן, the forced גט or freeing of a slave, רב יוסף's mistaken groom, and אביי's woman who says she wanted the קידושין anyway. The fifth proof, רב חייא בר אבין's case of מעילה, is also pushed off at first: maybe the owner is lying to escape a קרבן. But the גמרא then shows he had an innocent excuse he did not use, so the proof stands. Next come two stories of men who sold their property planning to move to ארץ ישראל, with two versions each of what רבא and רב אשי ruled. Then new משניות begin. The first is about an agent who makes קידושין in a different place, with a parallel rule for a גט and an explanation of why both are needed. The second is about conditions concerning נדרים and מומין, with an explanation of why the same rule also appears in כתובות. The amud ends with the start of a משנה about קידושין with less than a שווה פרוטה.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. ProofThe ברייתא: a man is forced to bring his קרבן, yet it must be 'by his will'
2. ResolutionHow both parts fit: force him until he says 'I want'
3. ProofThe proof: his heart disagrees, yet his words count
4. RejectionRejected: deep down he does want the כפרה
5. ProofSecond proof: a forced גט or forced freeing of a slave
6. RejectionRejected: deep down he wants to obey the חכמים
7. Proofרב יוסף's proof: the man who was mistaken about his bride
8. Rejectionאביי rejects it: she is מקודשת only as a stringency
9. Proofאביי's proof from the woman who says she wanted the betrothal anyway
10. RejectionHer thought cannot cancel his spoken condition
11. ProofA real case decided from the agent who brought from the window
12. RejectionMaybe he is just trying to escape a קרבן
13. ChallengeHe could have just said he did it on purpose
14. ResolutionNo one wants to call himself wicked
15. ChallengeHe could have claimed 'I remembered'
16. StatementSold to move to ארץ ישראל but could not settle
17. StatementSecond version: he went, so the sale stands
18. StatementSold to move but never went
19. StatementSecond version: said as a question
20. QuestionWhat is the difference between the versions?
21. ResponseThe difference: something stopped him on the way
22. Statementמשנה: Agent makes קידושין in a different place
23. StatementThe same rule appears for a bill of divorce
24. ResolutionWhy the divorce case is needed beyond betrothal
25. ConclusionWhy the betrothal case is needed beyond divorce
26. StatementBetrothal on condition that she has no vows
27. StatementA condition that she has no blemishes
28. ChallengeWhy repeat what the משנה in כתובות already says?
29. ResolutionEach משנה needed only its own half
30. StatementNew משנה: קידושין with too little value, followed by gifts