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Week 62 - Friday - 2 February 2001

KETUBOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 2

They grant a virgin twelve months, from when her husband requested of her, to provide for herself. And just as they grant the woman so do they grant the man to provide for himself. And for a widow -- thirty days. If the time arrived and they did not wed -- they eat from his and they eat of the terumah. Rabbi Tarfon says, They give her everything of terumah. Rabbi Akiva says, Half of hullin and half of terumah.

Kehati

At the beginning of our tractate, we explained that in former times the betrothal (kiddushin) and the marriage (nisu'in) ceremonies were not performed at the same time as is our practice today. Rather it was customary for the bridegroom to first betroth his bride and make her his arusah (betrothed) and only later did he take her to the huppah (bridal canopy) for the marriage ceremony. During the period intervening between the betrothal and the marriage, the arusah lived in her father's house, and the arus was not liable for her maintenance, and if she was the daughter of an Israelite, who had been betrothed by a kohen, she was not allowed to eat terumah, although, by Torah law, the daughter of an Israelite betrothed to a kohen is allowed to eat terumah, as it is written, "But if a kohen buy any soul, the acquisition of his money, he may eat of it" (Lev. 22:11), and the arusah is an "acquisition" effected by him with the money of the kiddushin, nevertheless, since she lives in her father's home, the Sages prohibited her from eating of the terumah, "lest they pour a cup of terumah for her in her father's home, and she offer it to her brothers and sisters" According to another opinion the prohibition was enacted "because of a blemish," i.e., if he found a physical defect in her, her kiddushin would be considered erroneous, and would be annulled retroactively and thus a non-kohen will have partaken of terumah. Our mishnah discusses the case of one who betroths a woman without specifying a marriage date and teaches how they set the marriage date subsequently, and the law regarding an arusah whose bridegroom (arus) does not wed her when the marriage date arrives.

They grant a virgin -- who was betrothed, a time period of twelve months -- before her marriage from -- the day -- when her husband requested of her -- to marry him, so that she will have time -- to provide for herself -- to prepare clothing and jewelry for her wedding. And just as they grant the woman -- a time period of twelve months to provide for needs, so do they give to the man -- twelve months from the time that she, his arusah asks that he marry her, to provide for himself -- to prepare the wedding ceremony and the banquet.

And for a widow -- who was betrothed, they give a period of only -- thirty days -- she does not require such lengthy preparations since she already has clothing and jewelry from her first marriage.

If the time arrived -- for the marriage -- and they did not wed -- because, as the Gemara explains, the bridegroom (arus) delayed the wedding, they eat from his -- he is liable for her maintenance, and they eat of the terumah -- if he is a kohen, she is permitted to eat terumah. The Gemara explains that since he must support her, she can no longer eat in her father's house, but rather he designates a place where she eats alone and there are no grounds to fear that she will give her brothers and sisters to drink from the cup of terumah. According to the opinion that the reason she does not eat terumah is that he might find a blemish, as explained in the introduction to this mishnah, since the time of the wedding has arrived, and he is liable for her maintenance, he will be careful and have his female relatives examine her.

Rabbi Tarfon says, They give her everything of terumah -- if the bridegroom so wishes, he may give her all of her maintenance from terumah; and when she is unclean and forbidden to eat terumah, she can sell it and purchase hullin, i.e., non-consecrated food.

After her marriage, however, her husband is obligated to provide her with hullin when she is unclean. Rabbi Akiva says, the same law applies to her as to a woman who is already married to a kohen and they give her half of hullin to eat when she is unclean, and half of terumah -- for the rest of the time.

KETUBOT: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 3

The yavam does not confer terumah. If she spent six months with her husband, and six months with her yavam, and even all of them with her husband, less one day with her yavam, or all of them with her yavam, less one day with her husband -- she does not eat terumah. This is the first mishnah. The Court of those following them said, The woman does not eat terumah until she enters the bridal canopy.

Kehati

Continuing the preceding mishnah, our mishnah deals with the case of a betrothed woman whose bridegroom (a kohen) died during the twelve months which she was given to prepare herself for the wedding and who is now bound to his brother for yibum. (A Levirate marriage with a childless brother's widow (Deut. 25:5-10).

The yavam -- the dead kohen's brother who is required to perform yibum (see introduction), does not confer -- to his dead brother's wife who is bound to him for yibum, if she is the daughter of an Israelite, the right to eat terumah -- as long as he has not performed yibum, for it is written, "But if a kohen buy a person, the acquisition of his money, he may eat of it" (Lev. 22:11), and she is not the acquisition of his money, but rather the acquisition of his brother's money (Gemara). However, after he performs yibum, she is his wife in all respects. If she -- the betrothed of a kohen, who was given twelve months to provide for herself, as taught in the preceding mishnah, --

spent six months with her husband -- the arus died after six months, and -- she spent the remaining -- six months with her yavam, and even -- if she spent -- all of them -- the entire twelve months, with her husband -- the arus, less one day with her yavam -- the arus died, and she spent one day with her yavam, or -- and certainly if she spent -- all of them with her yavam, less one day with her husband -- before he died (Gemara) -- she does not eat terumah -- for the arus did not become obligated to maintain her, and she was not permitted during his lifetime to eat terumah. The same applies even if she spent all the twelve months with the arus, and although the arus has already become liable to provide maintenance and she ate during his lifetime (as was taught in the preceding mishnah: "If the time arrived and they did not wed -- they eat from his and they eat of the terumah"), even so, when he dies and she becomes liable to yibum, she is prohibited from eating terumah, while waiting for yibum, for the reason cited above, because she is not "the acquisition of his money," but rather the acquisition of his brother's money (as taught in Yev. 7:4); our mishnah, however, teaches a case in which she does not eat terumah at all, either during the lifetime of the arus or after his death, for if she had spent the entire twelve months with the arus, she would, at the very least, have eaten of the terumah during the lifetime of the arus (Rashi).

This -- law which was taught in the preceding mishnah, "If the time arrived and they did not wed -- they eat of the terumah," is the first mishnah; but --

The Court of those following them said, The woman does not eat terumah -- even after the time has arrived and they did not wed, until she enters the bridal canopy -- the Gemara explains that we fear lest he find a blemish in her and the marriage will be annulled retroactively (because it is considered an erroneous transaction), and as a result a non-kohen will have eaten terumah. The Sages of the First mishnah, however, did not fear lest he find a blemish in her, and thus only prohibited the betrothed woman from eating terumah in her father's house, lest she give it to her brothers and sisters; however, once the time of the nisu'in has arrived and they did not wed, then since the arus has become liable to provide her maintenance, he designates for her a place where she will eat alone, and we no longer fear lest she offer any to her brothers and sisters. They therefore said, "If the time arrived and they did not wed -- they eat terumah" (as was explained in the previous mishnah). We have already mentioned (ibid.) that according to another opinion in the Gemara, even according to the First mishnah the reason why they prohibited the arusah from eating terumah is that we fear lest he find a defect in her; however, according to the first mishnah, if the time arrived but they did not wed, since he has become liable to provide her maintenance, he asks his female relatives to examine her, and she therefore may eat terumah. The later mishnah, however, did not consider this examination sufficient for it is an external examination, and we still fear that after the marriage he might find an internal defect, which was not apparent to his relatives, and the marriage will be considered contracted in error, and thus a non-kohen will be eating terumah (Gemara).

We have interpreted the mishnah according to Rashi and Bartenura. Rabbeinu Tam, however, questions Rashi because the text of the mishnah does not imply this. Rather, according to the first mishnah, if the time arrived and they do not wed, she eats terumah even after the arus dies, since since she already ate during her bridegroom's lifetime. However, if she did not eat terumah with her husband, the yavam (his brother) does not give her terumah either. This is the meaning of the passage, "The yavam does not confer": i.e., if a woman was widowed after the erusin and has not yet eaten of the terumah, the yavam does not give her to eat of the terumah, as long as he has not performed yibum, for her bond to the yavam came about through his brother. Since she did not gain the right to eat terumah from his brother, she cannot now gain this right from him. The mishnah proceeds to interpret the first section: "If she spent six months with her husband, and six months with her yavam ... she does not eat of the terumah," and the text of the mishnah implies that if she did spend the entire twelve months during the lifetime of the arus, and she ate of the terumah during his lifetime, then she eats even after his death, when she requires yibum. However, the ruling of our mishnah -- according to Rabbeinu Tam -- is merely a Rabbinic restriction; according to Torah law every woman who requires yibum eats of the terumah on account of her yibum attachment to a kohen, and the Gemara's reference to the verse, "the acquisition of his money," whereas the woman requiring yibum is the acquisition of his brother -- is a mere asmakhta, a Biblical support for the Rabbinic law. However, "This is the first mishnah" -- i.e., the law taught in the previous mishnah and in this mishnah, that if they did not wed at the set time, she eats terumah, even if the arus died and she requires yibum, she continues to eat on account of her attachment to the yabam -- all this represents an early mishnah. But "The Court of those following them said, The woman does not eat terumah until she enters the bridal canopy," and similarly: the yevamah does not eat of the terumah until she has undergone yibum, even if she ate during his brother's lifetime. This is also taught in a tosefta: "This is the first mishnah, but our Sages said, The woman does not eat of the terumah until she enters the bridal canopy, nor the yevamah until cohabitation" (Tosafot, Ket. 58a, s.v., "Ve-Afilu"; see also Tosefot Yom Tov; Shitah Mekubetzet).

Summing up, there are two interpretations of this mishnah, that of Rashi and that of Rabbeinu Tam. According to Rashi, whether according to the first mishnah or according to the later mishnah, the yavam does not give her terumah, even if she ate during her husband's lifetime. According to Rabbeinu Tam, there is a difference between the first and later mishnayot, not only regarding the arus, but also regarding the yavam. Thus, according to the first mishnah a woman requiring yibum who ate terumah during her husband's lifetime may eat terumah from the yavam, and only according to the later mishnah may the yavam not give her terumah until he weds her, even if she had eaten during her husband's lifetime.

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