One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 22
Sefer Nashim · When a husband's right to inherit begins, which sales a wife may retract as made only for peace, and why his share is always the produce and almost never the root
100
Zuz ketubah a yavam must write when his brother's widow had none, after which all his property is on lien for it
2000
Zuz value of two items first appraised at 1000, of which she takes one at divorce and may buy the other
3
People from whom a deposit should not be accepted: a wife, a servant and a minor
2
Sellers, husband and wife together, whose joint sale of nichsei m'log is binding in either order
Part 1When the husband inherits, and when he does not
- From her father's domain, not from the chuppah. The husband takes precedence in inheriting his wife once she leaves her father's domain, so where she was handed to him or his agents and died on the way he inherits, while if her father or his agents still accompany them the father inherits, even with the dowry already in the husband's home. (22:1, 22:2)
- Travelling alone. A bogeret, an orphan or a widow who goes to her husband's home on her own initiative, unaccompanied by him or his agents, and dies on the way, is not inherited by her husband. (22:3)
- Consent is what he inherits. A capable man who marries a deaf mute does not inherit her, while a deaf mute man who marries a capable woman does, since she understood and married him voluntarily and so gave him a right to her property. (22:4)
- No divorce from a sickbed. The geonim ruled that a sick woman asking for a divorce so that he will not inherit is not heeded, even if she forfeits her ketubah or says she hates him, and the Rambam calls this a desirable ruling. (22:6)
RememberThe dowry's location decides nothing. What decides is whose escort she was travelling under.
Part 2Sales that stand, and sales made only for peace
- Void on both sides. A wife's sale of nichsei tzon barzel after marriage is of no consequence, as is a husband's sale of her landed property of either kind, while a joint sale of nichsei m'log is binding in whichever order it was made. (22:15, 22:16)
- Nichsei m'log to the husband is final. When she sells or gives her nichsei m'log to her husband it is binding, and she cannot claim that she did it only to appease him. (22:17)
- Everything else may be retracted. Tzon barzel, a field designated for her ketubah, a field named in it, or his own gift to her dowry, sold or given to him even by willing contract, may be retracted whenever she desires, since she is assumed to have acted for peace in her home. (22:18)
- The Rambam's own view. It appears to him that where tzon barzel was lost or stolen and she waived the debt, even before witnesses, she cannot claim appeasement, since he only frees himself of a claim, but tzon barzel that still exists and is handed to him is not acquired. (22:19)
RememberHanding over what still exists is presumed to be for peace. Letting go of what is already gone is presumed to be meant.
Part 3The produce is his, the root is guarded
- A right that follows its purpose. A husband's sale of the benefit of her land is void, since it was granted so he would spend generously on the household, but if he sells it to invest in a business he may. (22:20)
- Turned into land. Her nichsei m'log funds, and movable property she inherits or receives, are used to purchase land whose benefit he takes, while inherited servants are not sold, even old ones, because they bring honor to her family's household. (22:21, 22:23)
- Funds found with her. Her claim that found funds were a present is accepted, with a conditional ban against false statements, but a claim that they came with a provision excluding him requires proof, and a claim that he gave them requires a Rabbinic oath. (22:30, 22:31)
- Nothing that does not renew. In a dispute over what to buy, property with large revenue and little upkeep is purchased, never an article that does not renew itself, though he may take the milk, wool and dates of what she brought even as the principal dwindles. (22:33, 22:34)
RememberFruit may be shared and used up. The root that renews it is what the court protects.