One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 11
Sefer Nashim · Why the Sages fixed a sum in advance rather than ever inquire into a particular woman, how many exits the law offers before it will accept a claim denying virginity, and the presumption built entirely out of a wedding feast
200
Zuz for a virgin bride, and the only ketubah against which a claim denying virginity may be raised
100
Zuz for a woman already wed, freed, converted or redeemed above the age, whether or not she ever had relations
30
Days he may still raise the claim, and only where the couple never entered privacy
3
Years and a day, the age below which a girl will heal and be a virgin like all others
Part 1Who is owed what, and why nobody is asked
- Two hundred, one hundred, and the line between them. A virgin widowed, divorced or released by chalitzah out of erusin alone carries 200 zuz into her next marriage while one who had been wed carries 100, and a freed maidservant, a convert or a redeemed captive carries 200 only where that happened before she reached three years and one day. (11:1)
- A presumption applied whether or not. The Sages set 100 because it is a presumption accepted as fact that a woman who has been wed engaged in relations, and likewise a maidservant, a gentile woman and a woman held captive, and the sum stands whether they engaged in relations or not, so that for all matters they are treated as non virgins. (11:2)
- Youth is permitted to undo the fact. A girl who had relations below the age of three receives 200 zuz because she will ultimately heal and be a virgin like all others, and a woman who had relations with a boy below nine likewise receives 200, since relations before that age are of no consequence. (11:3)
- A deprivation that functions as a protection. A bogeret, a blind woman and an aylonit all receive 200, while a woman who is a deaf mute receives no ketubah, no livelihood and none of the ordinary conditions of the marriage contract, expressly so that a man would not refrain from marrying her, and everything vests at 100 if her difficulty is remedied. (11:4)
- A floor and never a ceiling. A man who writes such a wife a marriage contract of ten thousand zuz is bound by it, since it was he who desired to diminish his assets. (11:5)
RememberThe numbers are fixed in advance so that no court will ever have to inquire into a particular woman. The chapter pays for that with unfairness in the individual case, and does not pretend otherwise.
Part 2The claim, and every door out of it
- Who may even be accused. A claim denying virginity can be raised only where the bride is entitled to 200, never where she is entitled to 100 or to nothing at all, and never where the groom entered into privacy with his arusah before the wedding. (11:8)
- Her word, against a claim that is not absolute. A woman who says she was damaged by a fall is believed and takes 100, and one who says she was raped after her consecration is believed and keeps 200, since his objection that it may have been otherwise is a guess rather than an absolute claim, and he is left with a conditional ban of ostracism. (11:10, 11:11)
- The order in which the court asks. Where he claims there was no hymenal bleeding, the court checks her family for a known absence of bleeding, then a serious infirmity that has parched her body's fluids, then hunger, having her bathe, eat and drink until she is healthy before the couple try again, and only then accepts his claim. (11:12)
- The Rambam against the geonim. Geonim ruled that for a bogeret the claim of absent bleeding fails while the claim of an open passageway stands, and the Rambam answers that they had inaccurate versions of the text, that he investigated many manuscripts including those of an early era, and that for a bogeret the only valid claim is the absence of hymenal bleeding. (11:13)
RememberEvery innocent explanation is looked for before the accusation is accepted, and the last of them cost the Rambam a search through old manuscripts.
Part 3The presumption, the window, and what survives it
- Believed because of the feast. Where he claims and she disputes it, his word is accepted and the responsibility to bring support falls on her, on the assumption that a man will not labor to prepare a wedding feast and then mar it, turning his celebration into mourning. (11:14)
- A window that closes fast. Where the couple went into privacy he may raise the claim only immediately afterwards, and only where they did not enter into privacy does he retain the option even after thirty days. (11:15)
- The presumption reaches the fundamental sum alone. The geonim ruled that his accepted word nullifies only the fundamental requirement of the marriage contract, so the additional amount he committed himself to survives unless there is clear proof or her own admission, and she collects it after swearing while holding a sacred article, while she cannot be made to swear regarding the fundamental sum. (11:16)
- Not one moment without a ketubah. A husband who wishes to remain married after causing her to forfeit the fundamental requirement must write her a new contract of 100 zuz, since it is forbidden for a man to live with his wife for even one moment without a ketubah. (11:17)
RememberHe wins the claim and still cannot spend another moment in the house until a fresh obligation is in her hand.