Gemara Clarity

Nedarim 88b

נדרים פ״ח ע״ב

Learn Nedarim 88b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Does a married woman's acquisition automatically go to her husband (יד אשה כיד בעלה)? רב's ruling is tied to רבי מאיר, challenged from the rules of שיתופי מבואות, and answered by רבא.

Overview

The גמרא asks which תנא רב's ruling follows. רב's ruling is that whatever a married woman acquires goes to her husband. The answer is רבי מאיר, who said that 'the hand of a woman is like the hand of her husband.' A משנה about merging an alleyway (שיתוף מבואות) seems to contradict this. It says a man may give the shared food to the residents through his wife, but if her hand is his hand, the food never leaves him. רבא answers that רבי מאיר agrees she can acquire from her husband when she does it for others. רבינא challenges this with a ברייתא that puts the wife on the list of people who cannot acquire for others. So רב אשי gives a new answer: the משנה is about a wife who owns her own courtyard in that alley, and since she acquires for herself, she acquires for the others too. Then a new משנה begins. A widow or divorcée who vowed to be a נזירה starting in thirty days, and married within that time, keeps her vow, because her new husband cannot annul it.

Opening lines

כְּמַאן אָזְלָא הָא שְׁמַעְתָּא דְּרַב —

In accordance with whom does this ruling of Rav go?

כְּרַבִּי מֵאִיר, דְּאָמַר:

In accordance with Rabbi Meir, who said:

יַד אִשָּׁה כְּיַד בַּעְלָהּ.

The hand of a woman is like the hand of her husband.

וּרְמִינְהוּ: כֵּיצַד מִשְׁתַּתְּפִין בְּמָבוֹי?

And raise a contradiction: How does one merge an alleyway?

The steps (8)

  1. QuestionWhose opinion does רב's ruling follow?
  2. Responseרב follows רבי מאיר: a wife's hand is like her husband's
  3. ChallengeA משנה: a man may merge the alley through his wife
  4. ChallengeIf her hand is his, the food never left him
  5. Resolutionרבא: acquiring for others is different
  6. ChallengeA ברייתא says a wife cannot acquire for others
  7. ResolutionThe wife owns her own courtyard in the alley
  8. StatementNew משנה: the vow of a widow or divorcée stands