Talking Talmud
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Ketubot 87: Divorce Court (as it were)
October 01, 2022 21:21 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBWhat if a woman needs to take an oath to receive her ketubah? What if the husband stipulates that she'll never need to take an oath? And what do you do if you need to collect the debt from a case where no oath is possible? Especially if orphans are involved. Plus, when a woman gets a partial payment, for example, who is then responsible for proving either she is still owed more or that she is not? Also, what happens if the woman accepted a partial payment of her ketubah, and she did so before...
Ketubot 86: Forcing a Debtor to Pay Up
September 30, 2022 04:33 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBNOTE: If you count the pages of daf yomi, today is daf 1,000 in this cycle (if you count the days, the count didn't work as smoothly, go figure - assuming it's our (Anne's) human error. || Ameimar issues a ruling on a man paying his debts - who gets land, who gets money, when he owes both a creditor and the payment of a ketubah? What if funds are not available? Plus, 2 mishnayot: when a husband can make his wife swear to her honesty. And when a husband stipulates that he cannot make her take ...
Ketubot 85: To the Rightful Owner
September 29, 2022 04:07 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBHow do we establish ownership of property? Consider a good number of cases demonstrating practical financial law -- and precedent. Including what happens when one party is considered unreliable with regard to oaths. Note the role of the daughter of R. Hisda (wife of Rava). Plus, the weight of a judge's assessment. Also, cases of no designated heir, where it's surprising that the person who died had specific property in his possession (pearls, silver, silk). Or alternatively, when the person w...
Ketubot 84: When the Sages Disagree (Whom Do We Follow?)
September 28, 2022 03:33 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MBA new mishnah: what happens when a person dies and several people have claims on his money - whose claim is met first? Also, how the sages who debate the above the question accept or prioritize each other's views - with R. Tarfon and R. Akiva as the case in point.
Ketubot 83: A Cucumber Is Better Than a Gourd
September 27, 2022 18:23 - 18 minutes - 17.4 MB[Shanah tovah! This episode is for Tuesday, September 27, the second day of Rosh Hashanah] A new chapter! Can you relinquish something that is your right to own? Specifically, can a husband recuse himself, as it were, from his wife's property? Or does it remain his for the produce of it, as those are the Torah's terms? Plus, whoever owns the given document is at a disadvantage - to what extent does the husband retain his rights? Also, a brief reflection on mortality, given how people handle t...
Ketubot 82: The Day Resh Lakish Tweaked the Mishnah
September 27, 2022 18:22 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MB[Shanah tovah! This episode is for Monday, September 25, the first day of Rosh Hashanah] More connections between yibum and the granting of a woman's ketubah, and other property considerations, as the yavam technically gets his hands on the property of the dead brother. Plus, a question how the yavam can come into control of her property - isn't it hers? Resh Lakish responds definitively that, yes, it's hers (which emends the mishnah!). Also, how the ketubah puts a lien on the husband's prope...
Ketubot 81: Mishnaic Good Advice
September 27, 2022 18:21 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MB[Shanah tovah! This episode is for Sunday, September 25, Erev Rosh Hashanah] Who said halakhot were to be derived from the language of the ketubah? The mishnah connects the ketubah issues to that of sotah - the case of a woman suspected of adultery. The comparison leads to a dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, regarding the terms of one's ketubah. Also, the question of whether a yevamah can collect her ketubah from the first husband while the yavam is alive? What would it mean for t...
Ketubot 80: A Deep-Dive into Eating
September 24, 2022 20:36 - 19 minutes - 18 MBHow much food counts as "eating"? In terms of getting benefit from the property. What if one's animals eat? Also, back to husbands and wives and shared property - when it's worked by sharecroppers. Plus, a mishnah about a woman awaiting yibum, and in the interim, she inherits property. Who has the right to it?
Ketubot 79: Hiding Property in Plain Sight
September 23, 2022 14:53 - 20 minutes - 19 MBA woman on the verge of the second marriage who wants to keep her property from the clutches, as it were, of the new husband, and makes a gift of it to her unmarried daughter. Then the daughter gets married, the stuff goes to the husband, the daughter gets divorced, and the mother wants her property back. Can she get it back? R. Nachman tears up the document establishing the gift to the daughter. So is it really ever a gift? Also, a new mishnah: if a married woman inherits movable property an...
Ketubot 78: He Gets the Fruits of Her Property
September 22, 2022 18:35 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBChapter 8! With a new mishnah, of course. On usufruct property that a wife brings into the marriage, and the husband has the right of the produce of the property. For example, when a woman inherits prior to her betrothal. But what happens if she's already betrothed? It's a machloket between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Plus, an expressed discomfort with the halakhah as it's determined here. Plus, what if he doesn't know about the inheritance?! Also, a mishnah that is compared to Takanat Usha...
Ketubot 77: A Chat between God and the Angel of Death
September 21, 2022 15:14 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB3 mishnayot on the daf! The first continues the discussion of blemishes - this time, if the husband develops blemishes, and a possible distinction between major and minor blemishes. Plus, description of an illness, and how they dealt with contagion and efforts at prevention, via both medical and spiritual efforts. Also, the story of R. Yehoshua Ben Levi, and his encounter with the Angel of Death. [Who's Who: Rival/R. Yehoshua Ben Levi]. Including the possibility of death being suspended. And ...
Ketubot 76: The Case of the Extra Toe
September 20, 2022 14:08 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBMore on the blemishes. Noting that people with blemishes did indeed get married - even when there was knowledge of them in advance. Plus, some classic Gemara discussion and logic on a husband's claim regarding a preexisting blemish, and why preexisting alone doesn't decide the case. Also, the transactional basis of these marriages - and two parallel cases to them: 1. Transferring ownership of animals. 2. The status of an animal that is examined to be shechted. (With a hint to the much larger ...
Ketubot 75: Women on Display
September 19, 2022 07:15 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBPhysical blemishes that can negate a betrothal - parallel to those of the kohanim and service in the Beit HaMikdash. Which is itself parallel, to some degree, to the animals that are disqualified from being offered as sacrifices. Including - for the woman - sweat, bad breath, moles, a large gap between her breasts, or larger breasts to begin with. Also, a mishnah on these blemishes and when they invalidate the betrothal.
Ketubot 74: The Doctor and the Wise One
September 18, 2022 19:09 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBHow betrothal is brought into effect in expected (a ring) and unexpected ways - the benefit of forgiving a loan. Plus, the impact of sexual intimacy on the need for divorce. Also, the role of nedarim or blemishes as conditions in the betrothal. Which is where the chacham, a wise scholar, and a doctor might get involved to change the facts on the ground. Plus, protecting the integrity of the get.
Ketubot 73: When Is a Marriage a Marriage?
September 17, 2022 20:29 - 22 minutes - 21.1 MBA machloket between Rav and Shmuel on the previous mishnah: whether a conditional betrothal requires a get if the condition is not met. And the ramifications of those different approaches. Plus, several cases where it would seem clear that a get is not warranted - but that a get is required nonetheless. Possibly at a rabbinic level of requirement, which seems particularly difficult, as compared to the Torah standard that would leave her free to marry anyone.
Ketubot 72: The Hair-Covering Daf
September 16, 2022 14:50 - 20 minutes - 18.8 MBA mishnah on the practices of Dat Moshe and Dat Yehudit, and defining them by their practices, in the context of a woman who violates either category, and can then be divorced with her ketubah. Also, another mishnah! Conditional betrothal, and the ramifications when the conditions are not met.
Ketubot 71: "Place a Finger between Her Teeth"
September 15, 2022 14:46 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBA puzzle of language. In the context of a discussion about the husband who vows in such a way that his wife is sworn off something to such a degree, and in an unspecified way, that they are supposed to divorce and she gets her ketubah. Namely, the idiom that kicks the oath into effect... Also, a new mishnah! On other vows that the husband might make for his wife - when the vow stands, for how long, and when it leads to divorce/her getting her ketubah. Plus, consideration of the protection of ...
Ketubot 70: Absurd, Outlandish Vows and the Third-party Loopholes around Them
September 14, 2022 10:29 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBA new chapter, a new mishnah! If a man takes a vow that his wife won't get any benefit from him, they divorce and she gets the ketubah - with some dispute over the time frame. Likewise, if he swears her off eating from produce, they divorce, she gets the ketubah, and there's dispute over the timeframe. Likewise, a case where he swears her off adornment or perfume. Also, various parallel cases (Gittin, Nedarim) that inform what the husband swears off in these cases - including when one writes ...
Ketubot 69: Last of the Tannaim, First of the Amoraim
September 13, 2022 15:30 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBA dispute and conversation between R. Yehudah HaNasi and Rav on the inheritance and transference of property - with an eye to dowries. Also, the right of a daughter to receive the dowry from the estate when she marries - is she an heir? Or is she a creditor? Plus, another story between R. Huna and a letter - on inheritance from elsewhere. And one final mishnah - using a third party to pay his daughter's dowry.
Ketubot 68: You Don't Have to Be Homeless to Need Help
September 12, 2022 14:12 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBThe discussion of charity begins in Pe'ah, with a focus on how poor one must be to receive tzedakah, when the expectation is that one downgrade, and when one doesn't have to go that far. Plus, an underage girl who is married off by her mother or brothers can come back and collect the funds from her respective family members. Also, financial advisories for those who don't have money, but live as if they do. Plus, the politics of inheritance. When is a lien placed on property by the court and w...
Ketubot 67: Buffet's Giving Pledge and Talmudic Tzedakah
September 11, 2022 16:15 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBA husband's requirement to provide clothing for his wife, even when her father has written her off. Also, stories illustrating these issues. Including those of Mar Ukva, plus [Who's Who: Mar Ukva] With a focus on inheritance, and how to do so in a dignified way.
Ketubot 66: Why a Wife's Humiliation Shames Her Husband
September 10, 2022 20:13 - 25 minutes - 23.9 MBA new chapter! A new mishnah! Which provides the text of the "equation" for what each spouse owes the other, including what funds paying back humiliation might come directly to the woman. Except that R. Yehudah Ben Beteira revises that position wholly. Which opens a good deal of discussion in the Gemara. Plus, a variety of humiliating practices that lead to compensatory payment. Also, adding conditions to the ketubah, based on the movable property, and more. Plus, the economics of the ketubah...
Ketubot 65: Real Wives of Abaye and Rava
September 09, 2022 14:15 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBTo what extent do the provisions for a woman include wine? The answer seems to depend on whether she's accustomed to drinking wine - clearly, some women did drink and others did not. The implications of "too many" cups of wine for her behavior are presented rather dramatically. Plus, a story of Homa, Abaye's widow, who puts in the request with Rava for her wine, even though her husband wasn't accustomed to drink. That interaction leads to drama with Rava's wife, who was the daughter of R. His...
Ketubot 64: A Woman's Provisions
September 08, 2022 17:17 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBMore on wives deemed "rebellious." An assortment of rabbis needed to adjudicate a case of a moredet and whether she needs to give up her wardrobe. [What's What: Ika de-amrei] And the answer is not clear at all. Plus, the question of when the moredet can get divorced. Also, a mishnah on what it means to provide for a wife's food, including specifics about the kinds of foods and their amounts. Plus, the implications for a house with tzara'at, food with tzara'at, etc.
Ketubot 63: Rabbi Akiva: Shepherd, Scholar, Husband
September 07, 2022 15:01 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBPart of the famous story of Rabbi Akiva - the story of his years of Torah study and his wife's possibly surprising years of support. Also, a new mishnah: a woman who rebels against her husband (or a man who rebels against his wife) is penalized financially, with regard to the ketubah. What is the rebellion? It's a dispute whether she's refusing the marital bed or refusing to fulfill her responsibilities at home (and likewise, a man's refusal would be either conjugal relations or the sustenanc...
Ketubot 62: Those Special Friday Nights
September 06, 2022 08:42 - 33 minutes - 31.3 MBA few disputes between Rav and R. Yochanan, including how a groan can break your whole body, and how that's a matter of the Jewish condition, in terms of perpetual anguish. Also, a man's obligation for the frequency of a wife's conjugal rights, depending on his profession. Plus, stories of sages who prioritized their studies over the families and the dramatic (and sometime dire) outcomes.
Ketubot 61: Mommy Wars and Whetting a Waiter's Appetite
September 05, 2022 14:55 - 34 minutes - 32 MBDedicated in the memory of Dr. Dodi Tobin z"l. || A series of what amounts to recommendations by the sages for a healthy diet during pregnancy. Including how a mother's diet of etrogim made the child smell good, to the extent that the child was used to spice. Plus, more marriage politics around nursing, which are apparently eternal. Also, just how delectable all kinds of food, meat and wine and mushrooms and turnip and even pomegranates can be, to drive people beyond distraction in their desi...
Ketubot 60: A Mother and Child Reunion
September 04, 2022 20:46 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBThe Gemara discusses its understanding of some developmental milestones and explains how infants recognize their mothers. When can nursing mothers remarry?
Ketubot 59: A Wife's Responsibilities
September 03, 2022 20:55 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBA husband cannot consecrate a wife's earnings after all. How is this case parallel to swearing off the use of something? Is it really comparable to the terms of marriage? Also, shifting to what the woman has to provide in marriage - with great specificity. Plus, nursing.
Ketubot 58: Did the Kohen Cook Dinner?
September 02, 2022 14:51 - 18 minutes - 17.6 MBWhat if a wedding is delayed and one of the couple is a kohen? What happens to the terumah and the woman's ability (or lack thereof) to eat from it? Also, a new mishnah: on whether a husband can consecrate his wife's earnings before she's earned them.
Ketubot 57: Using Rivka's Story to Explain No Child-Marriage
September 01, 2022 13:29 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBMore on the chuppah, and the end of the marriage ceremony. Also, a new mishnah: preparation for the wedding and marriage could easily take a year in advance. Likewise, can he provide her mezonot from terumah? What happens when kohanim marry non-kohanim? Plus, the Gemara's study of the preparatory period prior to marriage as understood from the biblical Rivka. Also, the given here seems to be planning a marriage to a minor that will take place once she's reached the age of majority, which seem...
Ketubot 56: Love of the Chuppah - Or of the Wedding Night
August 31, 2022 14:23 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBReactions to R. Elazar ben Azariah's opinion regarding "umdana," assessment of intent, specifically with regard to the ketubah. Plus, the sages on the sages, specifically on their respective halakhic expertise. Plus, the focus on different scenarios of how those views might play out - including the emotions surrounding the wedding night... Which is normally, indeed, at night, even when the chuppah itself is not necessarily. But pinpointing the moment of being required to pay the additional su...
Ketubot 55: Intent to Marry
August 30, 2022 06:08 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBA new chapter (5), a new mishnah: on the value of the ketubah, and the possibility that the husband add to the baseline sums of 200 dinar for a virgin and 100 for a widow/divorcee. The question of whether she'd get that extra if they were only betrothed is a machloket. Also, the question of whom to follow in that machloket -- spoiler: R. Elazar ben Azariah, on his convincing presumption about the intent to marry. Plus, terumot and ma'aserot, and R. Shimon Shizuri's on intent and assessments.
Ketubot 54: Respecting Respective Rabbis' Views: On Inheritance
August 29, 2022 06:34 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBEnding chapter 4: beginning with some of the geographic differences in talmudic times - and how different places had different practices. Which leads to a dispute between Rav and Shmuel, which each paskened like the practice in either Jerusalem or Yehudah - that is, the Babylonian communities followed the various Israel practices. With a divide between Nehardea and Mehoza. Plus, a series of cases of what happens when there's a conflict over who inherits how.... Including when different rabbis...
Ketubot 53: When a Girl Becomes a Woman (financially speaking)
August 28, 2022 07:15 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MBPre-wedding negotiations, and how they were manifest back in the day. Plus, the economic focus of marriage. Also, the question of how long a man or his estate provides for female children - until she's an adult, until she's married, or both?!
Ketubot 52: Captives, Bloodletting, and Tailoring a Standardized Ketubah
August 27, 2022 19:09 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBWhen is a husband obligated to redeem his wife? To be sure, it depends, and it's a machloket. Also, more generally, redeeming people for ransom, including the question of redeeming captives for more than they're even worth. Likewise, the discussion veers to whether a husband would need to pay more than the ketubah value. Plus, what does a husband have to pay for a wife's medical treatment? Is there a cap on his monetary obligation? Note also: bloodletting of the world then. Also, a new mishna...
Ketubot 51: Rape Is Rape (Or: Where Shmuel's Father Goes Wrong)
August 26, 2022 10:26 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBTruly, a doozy of a daf (again, rape). But first, establishing the minimum standard of the ketubah (a mishnah!). Likewise, the standard that a man has to redeem his captive wife. Note the planning for the captive wife scenario - which seems far beyond the pale today. Also, the Gemara on rape, on Shmuel's father's take on rape, and Rava's sharp and extensive rejection of Shmuel's father's view.
Ketubot 50: Age-Appropriate Curriculum
August 25, 2022 17:44 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MB[What's What: Usha] Also, not giving TOO much tzedakah, and the source for that. Plus, the decree that a man's obligation to educate his son is more gentle before the child is 12, though from 12, the father should harass his son, within every inch of his life. Plus, what should be taught at the age of 6, and when kids start fasting. (Note the "neis nistar," as we have a daf about school curricula as schools start in some US locales, a week before Israel should start, and more). Plus, how Rav ...
Ketubot 49: Even the Jackal Feeds Its Young
August 24, 2022 04:53 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBA new mishnah! On "mezonot" - sustenance - that a father turns out not to be obligated to provide for his daughter. But how can that possibly be? The Gemara distinguishes between obligation and mitzvah. Also, the discussion of a decree that a man provide for his children while they're minors. Which leads to a list of complaints to various sages by community members about particular fathers in their midst who aren't providing for their children. At what point does the court insist that a fathe...
Ketubot 48: The Transactional Equations of Marriage
August 23, 2022 16:30 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBWhat does a wife owe her husband? What does a husband owe his wife? From her earnings to her conjugal rights. Which term means what? Each sage who weighs in has rationale and verses to back himself up. Plus, how the Jewish couple is enjoined to avoid the "Persian practice," of sexual relations while fully dressed. Also, a new mishnah: granular details on the chuppah, and responsibility.
Ketubot 47: A Wife's Monies
August 22, 2022 10:07 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MBContractual relationships that a woman (even a girl) has with her father and then, presumably, eventually, her husband. Including the source for the father's "right" to his daughter's earnings. Also, the "sustenance" (mezonot) that a husband provides for his wife. And again, the transactional dynamic of earnings for provisions, dowry for burial, etc.
Ketubot 46: The Triangle of Husband, Wife, and Her Father
August 21, 2022 11:45 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBMore on the case of defamation of a woman by her husband. What happens, practically, when one brings such a case? The husband goes to the court, and then the question is whether there are witnesses to the effect that she was had an affair. Also, doesn't the death sentence on her head contradict her collecting the ketubah money?! Also, what is the relationship between the daughter and the father? What about the relationship with the husband?
Ketubot 45: Stoning at the Entrance to the City
August 20, 2022 21:16 - 20 minutes - 19 MBThe case of Motzi Shem Ra - defamation - from a husband against his wife. Namely, his accusation that she has had an affair and has not slept with the husband. She gets a death sentence, and the question is whether she'll be strangled or stoned. This dynamic of his defamation and her (potential) adultery is both concerning and dramatic. Also, the terms and setting of her stoning. Plus the parallel to one who committed idolatry.
Ketubot 44: Tailor-made Ketubot
August 19, 2022 05:36 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBThe woman's ketubah can function as a lien, fundamentally, on the man's property. In the case under discussion, of a woman who is betrothed/married twice, do the terms of the second ketubah supplement or replace the terms of the first one? When it comes to regular (non-ketubah) documents, R. Nachman says the second replaces the first. But is that the case for ketubah? Also, a new mishnah: the defamer. Specifically, the implications of defamation for converts - namely, in the case of a husband...
Ketubot 43: Halakhic Estate Planning
August 18, 2022 08:04 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBR. Avina asks R. Sheshet about the case where a girl's brothers provide for her from the father's estate. Since her father would have gotten her earnings, maybe the brothers should as well... But that's not so clear. Plus, does a man care more for his daughter or his wife, in the precarious circumstances after his death? Also, when the woman has been injured physically in the event if rape.... Plus, to what degree can the sons stand in for their father, with regard to their sister? Plus, a ne...
Ketubot 42: Seduction Is Not Consent
August 17, 2022 14:40 - 19 minutes - 18 MBA new chapter, a new mishnah. In the event of a seduction or rape, the compensation for degradation, humiliation, and the fine go to her father. Unless he has died and then there's a machloket whether the funds go to her brothers or to herself. Plus, the Gemara's assumption that seduction involves her decision to participate - and yet he must pay compensation. Which calls into question the assumption that she's a willing participant. Also, the ongoing machloket between R. Yosef and Rabbah [Wh...
Ketubot 41: Partial Payments and a Goring Ox
August 16, 2022 11:45 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBClosing the chapter, with a new mishnah. If someone stole, and then comes clean, he doesn't have the pay the additional fine (eg: 2x the object stolen. Basically, those compensation packages that include payment plus fine, the perpetrator can be exempted from the knas (fine). Why isn't rape on this mishnah? Also, the second half of the mishnah takes us into the Laws of Damages, and a goring ox.
Ketubot 40: Putting a Price on Humiliation
August 15, 2022 15:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MB3 mishnayot: 1. An orphan who is betrothed and then gets divorced - and is then raped, what penalty does the rapist get? [Who's Who: R. Elazar ben Shamua] Also, defining "boshet"/humiliation. And how to determine the paymenyin compensation for having caused boshet. Plus, the fixed sum as established in the Torah. Also, a father who can sell his minor daughter... and why he can't receive any penalty in the event of her rape.
Ketubot 39: Trigger Warning: Rape
August 14, 2022 06:04 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MBThere are women who might use the talmudic era version of barrier birth control, including a pregnant woman, a nursing woman, and especially with concern for the minor... So the Gemara defines who is a minor. Plus: "God protects the fools." Also, a new mishnah: what is the difference between a seducer and a rapist? Including the rapist marrying the woman he raped. Plus, the Amoraim consult the women in their lives - an interesting recognition that the "women's voice" was necessary.
Ketubot 38: She Can't Go Home Again
August 13, 2022 23:40 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBA new mishnah! A young woman who is betrothed and then divorced - in the event of rape, would she receive a fine? And who would receive it, if yes? It's a machloket, of course. Also, assessing whose view is represented in the mishnah - beginning with R. Akiva. What do the verses about the fine teach? Plus, juggling source material....