כתובות 10 — Soncino English Talmud

¹It was stated: Rab Nahman said [that] Samuel said in the name of R. Simeon b. Eleazar: The scholars ordained for the daughters of Israel [as follows]: for a maiden two hundred [zuz] and for a widow a maneh [one hundred zuz]. And they trusted him, so that when he said, 'I have found an open opening', he is believed. If so, what have the Sages accomplished with their ordinance? — Said Raba: The presumption is [that] no one will take the trouble of preparing a [wedding-]feast and will then spoil it. One has taught: Since it is a fine [instituted] by the sages she shall collect only from the worst land [of the husband's estate]. [You say] a fine! Why a fine? — Say then: since it is an ordinance of the sages, she shall collect only from the worst land [of the husband's estate]. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: The kethubah of a wife is from the Torah. But did Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel say so? Surely it has been taught: [It is written in the Torah] He shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins; [this teaches us that] this is [as much] as the dowry of the virgins and the dowry of the virgins is [as much] as this. But, the Sages found a support for [the rule that] the kethubah of a wife is from the Torah. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel Says: The kethubah of a wife is not from the words of the Bible, but from the words of the Soferim! — Reverse it. And why does it appear to you right to reverse the latter [teaching]? Reverse the former [teaching]! — We have [already] heard that R. Simeon the son of Gamaliel said that the kethubah is from the Bible, for we learnt: Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: He gives her [the kethubah] in Cappadocian coins. And if you wish, you may say: The whole of it is [according to] Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel. only it is defective and it teaches thus: Here the Sages found a support for [the rule that] the kethubah of a wife is from the Torah. The kethubah of a widow [however] is not from the words of the Torah but from the words of the Soferim, for Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel Says: The kethubah of a widow is not from the words of the Torah but from the words of the Soferim. Someone came before R. Nahman [and] said to him: I have found an open opening. R. Nahman answered: Lash him with palm-switches; harlots lie prostrate before him. But it is R. Nahman who said that he [the husband] is believed! — He is believed, but [at the same time] one lashes him with palm-switches. R. Ahai answered: Here [it speaks] of a young man, there [it speaks] of one who was married before. Some one came before Rabban Gamaliel [and] said to him, I have found an 'open opening'. He [Rabban Gamaliel] answered him: Perhaps you moved aside. I will give you an illustration: To what is this like? To a man who was walking in the deep darkness of the night [and came to his house and found the door locked]; if he moves aside [the bolt of the door] he finds it open, if he does not move aside [the bolt of the door] he finds it locked. Some say [that] he [R. Gamaliel] answered him thus: Perhaps you moved aside wilfully and you tore away the door and the bar. I will give you an illustration: To what is this like? To a man who was walking in the deep darkness of the night [and came to his house and found the door locked]; if he moves aside [the bolt of the door] wilfully he finds it open, if he does Some one came before Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi [and] said to him, 'My master, I have had intercourse [with my newly-wedded wife] and I have not found any blood.' She [the wife] said to him, 'My master, I was a virgin.' He said to them: Bring me that cloth.45 They brought him the cloth, and he soaked it in water and he washed it and he found on it a good many drops of blood.46 [Thereupon] he [Rabban Gamaliel] said to him [the husband]: Go, be happy with thy bargain. Huna Mar the son of Raba of Parazika, said to R. Ashi: Shall we also do it? He answered him:^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ

^ᵃnote:V. Glos.
^ᵇnote:V. Glos.
^ᶜnote:As her kethubah. V. infra 10b.
^ᵈnote:And she loses the kethubah.
^ᵉnote:If he can make her lose the kethubah by the claim of an 'open opening'.
^ᶠnote:No one will go to the trouble and expense of a wedding and then waste it all by an invented claim. If he makes such a charge, he is, no doubt, telling the truth.
^ᵍnote:The kethubah.
^ʰnote:The wife.
^ⁱnote:Cf. also B.K. 7b and 8a.
^ʲnote:Why do you call it a fine? And why should it he a fine?
^ᵏnote:I.e., a Rabbinical, and not a Biblical, ordinance.
^ˡnote:I.e.. an ordinance of the Bible.
^ᵐnote:Ex. XXII, 16.
^ⁿnote:The payment for the enticement of the virgin.
^ᵒnote:I.e., fifty pieces of silver, the fine inflicted for violating a virgin, v. Deut. XXII, 27.
^ᵖnote:The 'silver pieces' referred to are shekels, not ma'ahs, v. infra 38a.
^ᵠnote:Lit., 'from here', i.e., from the phrase 'dowry of virgins'.
^ʳnote:The Soferim, or scribes, were the learned men who succeeded Ezra during a period of about two hundred years. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel therefore holds that the kethubah was a Rabbinical, and not a Biblical, ordinance.
^ˢnote:The answer is: Reverse the reading and say that Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel said that in the Scriptural verse mentioned is to be found a support for the rule that the kethubah of a wife is from the Bible, and that the first Tanna said that it was not Biblical but 'from the words of the Soferim'.
^ᵗnote:Lit., 'And why do you see that you should reverse.'
^ᵘnote:Where it says that Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel holds that the kethubah of a wife is from the Torah.
^ᵛnote:The husband.
^ʷnote:The wife.
^ˣnote:They were more variable than the Palestinian coins. The husband has to pay in Cappadocian coins because the kethubah is from the Bible; v. infra 110b.
^ʸnote:Of the teaching of the Baraitha mentioned before.
^ᶻnote:Lit., 'and'.
^ᵃᵃnote:A clause is missing.
^ᵃᵇnote:I.e., the Baraitha should be read thus.
^ᵃᶜnote:According to this version of the Baraitha, R. Simeon b. Gamaliel holds that the kethubah of the maiden-wife is Biblical and that the kethubah of the widow-wife is rabbinical.
^ᵃᵈnote:He (the husband) raised this complaint about his newly wedded wife.
^ᵃᵉnote:Lit., 'said to him', i.e., concerning him.
^ᵃᶠnote:V. Levy, Vol. III, p. 2. Rashi: 'the harlots of Mabrakta'. [Mabrakta was a place in the neighbourhood of Mahoza. v. Obermeyer, p. 177.]
^ᵃᵍnote:I.e., such a man ought to be punished. for if he is such an expert in these matters he must have led an immoral life.
^ᵃʰnote:If the husband says that he has not found virginity in his wife. Why should he then be lashed for having complained to R. Nahman about his wife?
^ᵃⁱnote:Where R. Nahman ordered punishment.'
^ᵃʲnote:Who was not married before. He should not have known if he had not had intercourse with harlots before his marriage. There R. Nahman ordered lashing.
^ᵃᵏnote:And therefore he could know without having led an immoral life. He is therefore believed and receives no lashing (Rashi). It is also possible that according to R. Ahai both are believed R. Ahai only explains that it is the young man who gets the birch.
^ᵃˡnote:And thus performed the coition without tearing the hymen. V. Jast. p. 595.
^ᵃᵐnote:Lit., 'in the blackness of night and darkness'; cf. Prov. VII, 9.
^ᵃⁿnote:Some such words as these must be inserted.
^ᵃᵒnote:'He moved aside', and 'he did not move aside' refer apparently to the bolt of the door and not to the door itself. The simile is obvious: the bolt is compared to the membrum virile. He moved the membrum virile aside and therefore found 'an open opening'.
^ᵃᵖnote:Intentionally.
^ᵃᵠnote:The 'door', 'door-way', 'entrance', apparently refers to the vagina, or the entrance into the vagina, and 'the bar' to the hymen. He intentionally moved so forcibly that he tore open the entrance and swept away the hymen without feeling it.
^ᵃʳnote:The action must be intentional. The chief point of this version seems to be the wilful intention. The bolt of a door cannot, as a rule, he moved aside accidentally. There must be intention in the action.
^ᵃˢnote:Upon which they spent the night.
^ᵃᵗnote:The blood was covered by semen.
^ᵃᵘnote:Lit., 'take possession of' a phrase in which there is also an element of joy. 'Be happy with' expresses well the spirit of the decision. Rabban Gamaliel himself was happy that he could keep together and strengthen the bond of marriage between husband and wife.
^ᵃᵛnote:Faransag, near Bagdad.
^ᵃʷnote:I.e., apply in such cases the test applied by Rabban Gamaliel to the cloth.

²Our laundry work is like their washing. And if you will say let us do laundry work, [my answer is] the smoothing stone will remove it. Someone came before Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi [and] said to him, 'My master, I have had intercourse [with my newly-wedded wife] and I have not found any blood.' She [the wife] said to him, 'My master, I am still a virgin.' He [then] said to them: Bring me two handmaids, one [who is] a virgin and one who had intercourse with a man. They brought to him [two such handmaids], and he placed them upon a cask of wine. [In the case of] Someone came before Rabban Gamaliel the elder [and] said to him, 'My master, I have had intercourse [with my newly-wedded wife] and I have not found any blood. She [the wife] said to him, 'My master, I am of the family of Dorkati, [the women of] which have neither blood of menstruation nor blood of virginity.' Rabban Gamaliel investigated among her women relatives and he found [the facts to be] in accordance with her words. He [then] said to him: Go, be happy with thy bargain. Happy art thou that thou hast been privileged [to marry a woman] of the family of Dorkati. What is [the meaning of] Dorkati? — A cut-off generation. — R. Hanina said: Vain consolation Rabban Gamaliel offered to that man, for R. Hiyya taught: As the leaven is wholesome for the dough, so is blood wholesome for a woman. And one has [also] taught in the name of R. Meir: Every woman who has abundant blood has many children. It has been said: R, Jeremiah b. Abba said: He [Rabban Gamaliel] said to him [the husband]: Be happy with thy bargain. But R. Jose b. Abin said: He said to him: thou hast been punished with thy bargain. We quite understand Someone came to Rabbi [and] said, 'My master, I have had intercourse [with my newly-wedded wife] and I have not found any blood.' She said, 'My master, I was [and am] still a virgin, and it was [a period of] years of dearth.' Rabbi saw that their faces were black, [and] he commanded concerning them, and they brought them to a bath and gave them to eat and to drink and brought them to the bridal chamber, and he had intercourse with her and found blood. He26 [then] said to him: Go, be happy with thy bargain. Rabbi applied to them the verse: Their skin is shrivelled upon their bodies,' it is withered, it is become like a stick. MISHNAH. A MAIDEN — HER KETHUBAH IS TWO HUNDRED [ZUZ], AND A WIDOW — A MANEH. A MAIDEN, WHO IS A WIDOW, [OR] DIVORCED, OR A HALUZAH FROM BETROTHAL — HER KETHUBAH IS TWO HUNDRED [ZUZ], AND THERE LIES AGAINST THEM THE CHARGE OF NON-VIRGINITY. GEMARA. Why [is a widow called] 'almanah'? R. Hana of Bagdad said: because of the maneh.35 But what can be said with R. Hana of Bagdad also said: The rain waters, saturates and manures [the earth] and refreshes and enlarges [the fruits]. Raba the son of R. Ishmael, and some say R. Yemar the son of Shelemiah, said: Which is the verse? [It is this:] Thou waterest the ridges abundantly, thou settlest the furrows thereof, thou makest it soft with showers, thou blessest the springing thereof. R. Eleazar said: The altar removes and feeds, makes beloved, atones. Have not 'atones' and 'removes' the same meaning? It removes [evil decrees] and atones for sins R. Hana of Bagdad also said: Dates warm, satisfy, act as a laxative, strengthen and do not make [one] delicate. ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ^ᵇʷ^ᵇˣ^ᵇʸ^ᵇᶻ^ᶜᵃ^ᶜᵇ

^ᵃˣnote:Babylonian.
^ᵃʸnote:[H] is fine laundry' work.
^ᵃᶻnote:Palestinian.
^ᵇᵃnote:[H] is plain washing. In Palestine the plain washing was better than in Babylonia. because the water in Palestine was better or because they had in Palestine better ingredients (Rashi). In order to get the same results they would have to do fine laundry work in Babylonia, and that would include smoothing the cloth with a stone, according to Rashi, with a gloss-stone.
^ᵇᵇnote:Let us apply [H] to the cloth on which the bride and bridegroom slept.
^ᵇᶜnote:The blood. In the process of [H] the stone with which the cloth would be smoothed would cause the drops of blood, which would be seen after plain washing, to disappear. The test of Rabban Gamaliel could therefore not be employed in Babylonia.
^ᵇᵈnote:Heb. Dor. Katu'a.
^ᵇᵉnote:Lit., 'consoled him.'
^ᵇᶠnote:Lit., 'Be punished with thy bargain,' that is, the marriage stands, although it is not to thy advantage.
^ᵇᵍnote:From hunger.
^ᵇʰnote:Those who carried out Rabbi's commands.
^ᵇⁱnote:The young couple.
^ᵇʲnote:Rabbi.
^ᵇᵏnote:Lit., 'read concerning them.'
^ᵇˡnote:Lam. IV, 8.
^ᵇᵐnote:V. Glos.
^ᵇⁿnote:One hundred zuz.
^ᵇᵒnote:A woman released from a leviratical marriage, by halizah; v. Deut. XXV, 5-10.
^ᵇᵖnote:She was only betrothed (arusah, v. Glos.) but not married, and became a widow or was divorced, or released by halizah from marrying her deceased fiance's brother.
^ᵇᵠnote:Lit., 'their kethubah'. The kethubah of either the widow', or the divorcee, or the halizah.
^ᵇʳnote:The husband who marries one of these women has a right to complain if he does not find signs of virginity. As they were only betrothed but not married they are expected to be virgins.
^ᵇˢnote:The value of the kethubah of a woman who married when she was a widow. This is no attempt at proper etymology.
^ᵇᵗnote:Or 'softens.'
^ᵇᵘnote:Lit., 'causes to extend.'
^ᵇᵛnote:That can be referred to in support of R. Hana's saying regarding the rain.
^ᵇʷnote:Ps. LXV, 11.
^ᵇˣnote:A play on the word [H] (altar).
^ᵇʸnote:'Removes' apparently also refers to sins!
^ᵇᶻnote:The answer is that 'removes' refers to evil decrees.
^ᶜᵃnote:Lit., 'loosen', (the bowels).
^ᶜᵇnote:The body.