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KESUVOS 52

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SUMMARY

Abaye: A Kohen Gadol who married a widow must ransom her if she is taken captive, but a Yisrael married to a Mamzeres does not have to ransom her. (1)
 
Rava: A Kohen Gadol who married a widow does not have to ransom her.
 
Rebbi Eliezer: A man who makes a Neder that his wife may not derive benefit from him must ransom her if she is taken captive. (2)
 
Rebbi Yehoshua: A man who makes a Neder that his wife may not derive benefit from him is not obligated to ransom her. (3)
 
If a wife is taken captive and her husband dies before he has a chance to ransom her, the heirs are not obligated to ransom her.
 
Tana Kama: The first time a wife is taken captive, the husband must ransom her for even ten times her value. (4)
 
The second time a wife is taken captive, the husband is not obligated to ransom her.
 
Raban Shimon ben Gamliel: The husband is not obligated to ransom his wife for more than the value of her Kesuvah.
 
A widow is given food and medical care from the property of the orphans.
 
Raban Shimon ben Gamliel: A widow who has a fixed expenditure for medical care must pay for it from her Kesuvah.
 
Letting blood in Eretz Yisrael is regarded as a non- fixed medical expenditure.
 
Although it is commendable to grant a relative legal advice, a Talmid Chacham should refrain from doing so.
 
The sons inherit their mother's Kesuvah even if the father did not include such a clause in the Kesuvah.
 
The daughters and widow receive food from the inheritance even if it was not written in the Kesuvah.
 
The people of Yehudah maintained that the widow receives food from the inheritance only until the heirs give her the Kesuvah. (5)
 
The Rabanan decreed that the sons inherit their mother's Kesuvah in order to encourage the father to give a large dowry.
 
The father should give up to 10% of his property for the dowry of his daughter. (6)
 
Only sons, and not daughters, inherit the Kesuvah of their mothers. (7)
 
The sons inherit their mother's Kesuvah only from land, and only if there is at least one Dinar left for the inheritance.

A BIT MORE

1. The Kesuvah of a Kohen says that he must ransom his wife and bring her back to the country. It does not say that he will take her back as a wife. Therefore, even though he is forbidden to her, he must ransom her.
 
2. Although he must divorce her because of his Neder, he must ransom her and then give her the Kesuvah. Even though she is forbidden to him as a result of the Neder, since she was originally permitted to him he obligated to ransom her.
 
3. Since she is forbidden to him as a result of the Neder, there is no obligation to ransom her. However, if he made the Neder after she was already taken captive, he must ransom her, because otherwise any man can get out of ransoming his wife by making a Neder after she is taken captive.
 
4. Raban Shimon ben Gamliel: It is forbidden to ransom captives for more than their value. This prohibition is intended to discourage captors from demanding exorbitant ransom.
 
5. However, the people of Galil and the people of Yerushalayim maintained that she continues to receive food even after she receives the Kesuvah.
 
6. Any more than 10% is regarded as taking away from the inheritance of the sons and is discouraged.
 
7. Even if there are no sons and the daughters inherit the property, they do not inherit the Kesuvah of their mother.

BRIEF INSIGHT

AN EXORBITANT RANSOM
 
The Tana Kama says that the first time a wife is taken captive, the husband must ransom her even for ten times her value. Raban Shimon ben Gamliel says that it is forbidden to ransom captives for more than their value. The Rosh quotes Rabeinu Meir ha'Levi who says that the Tana Kama agrees with Raban Shimon ben Gamliel that in other cases it is forbidden to ransom captives for more than their value. However, in the case of a wife, it is permitted. The wife is an exception for the same reason that a person may ransom himself for all of the money in the world. A wife is the same as the husband himself. Just as a person may ransom himself for any price, he may do the same for his wife.

QUICK HALACHAH

A WOMAN WHO STRAYS FROM HER HUSBAND
 
A woman who was Mezanah b'Shogeg or was raped is permitted to her husband, whether she was raped by a Jew or a Nochri. If she was raped but it became consensual to the point that she said that had he not raped her she would have hired him, she still is permitted to her husband because she was overcome by the evil inclination. Women who were kidnapped by bandits are permitted to their husbands. If the bandits let them go and they stayed anyway, they are forbidden to their husbands. All of this applies only to the wife of a Yisrael. The wife of a Kohen who was raped is forbidden to her husband because she has become a Zonah, and a Zonah is forbidden to a Kohen. (Rambam, Hilchos Ishus 24:19-21)

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