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Kiddushin 65b

קידושין ס״ה ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 65b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

קידושין in front of one witness, and when a single witness or no witness is enough

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the מחלוקת between בית שמאי and בית הלל on whether witnesses who saw a divorced couple alone together count as witnesses that they lived together. Both agree this does not apply after a divorce from אירוסין. Next, רב (or רבי, in another version) rules that קידושין done in front of one witness has no effect, even if both sides admit it. רב אחדבוי בר אמי challenges this with a ברייתא about two men and a woman arriving from overseas. The גמרא answers that a contradicted single witness is not believed anyway, so the two גיטין are needed only so she can collect her כתובה, following רבי מאיר. רב כהנא and רב פפא then disagree on the final הלכה. רב אשי tests רב כהנא's comparison to money law, and רב כהנא answers that an admission about קידושין affects other people. After that, רב אשי tells two brothers that witnesses exist only for liars, and אביי rules that a single witness is believed when the other person stays silent, supporting this from משניות about חלב and טהרות.

Opening lines

אָמְרִינַן הֵן הֵן עֵדֵי יִחוּד,

[do not] say: these very witnesses of seclusion

הֵן הֵן עֵדֵי בִיאָה.

are the very witnesses of intimacy.

וּבֵית הִלֵּל סָבְרִי:

And Beit Hillel hold:

אָמְרִינַן הֵן הֵן עֵדֵי יִחוּד,

We do say: these very witnesses of seclusion

The steps (21)

  1. StatementFinishing the disagreement on seclusion as proof of intimacy
  2. StatementBoth sides agree about a woman divorced from betrothal
  3. StatementBetrothal with one witness does not take effect
  4. StatementThe same rule attributed to the Great Court, meaning רב
  5. StatementAnother version: the Great Court is רבי
  6. ChallengeChallenge from the case of two men and a woman from overseas
  7. ChallengeThe case must involve only one witness each
  8. RejectionA contradicted single witness is not believed anyway
  9. ResolutionThe two גיטין are only for collecting her כתובה
  10. QuestionWhat is the final ruling?
  11. Responseרב כהנא and רב פפא disagree
  12. Questionרב אשי asks for רב כהנא's source
  13. ChallengeThen an admission should count like a hundred witnesses
  14. ResolutionAn admission about קידושין affects other people
  15. QuestionTwo brothers ask whether a property split needs witnesses
  16. ResponseWitnesses are only needed for liars
  17. StatementOne witness about eating חלב is believed if the person stays silent
  18. ProofA משנה supports אביי about חלב
  19. StatementOne witness about impure טהרות is believed if the owner stays silent
  20. ProofA משנה supports אביי about impure טהרות
  21. Statementאביי opens another ruling about one witness