One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 24
Sefer Nashim · Whose deed made the marriage impossible, why the sum a husband added survives a prohibition she never chose, and every fence the law builds before a woman forfeits anything
2
Sums in a ketubah, and in a mistaken marriage she loses the fundamental one and keeps the amount he added on his own
6
Breaches of the Jewish faith, the customs of modesty, from a handkerchief without a veil to cursing his father in his presence
2
Witnesses to a willing act, the only thing that lets a court compel a man to divorce his wife
0
What an adulteress collects of ketubah, addition, conditions or lost property; she takes only what is still intact
Part 1Whose deed made it impossible
- He knew, so nothing changes. A man who knowingly married an aylonit and has no children by another wife is compelled to divorce her, yet she keeps the fundamental sum and all the conditions, and he keeps the financial privileges any husband holds. (24:1)
- He did not know, so the instrument has nothing to grip. An unrecognized aylonit, or a woman forbidden by an ordinary negative commandment, has no fundamental sum, no conditions and no support in his lifetime or after his death, the couple are forced apart, and the produce he ate is not recovered from him. (24:2)
- The addition survives, and here is why. She keeps the amount he added on his own, since the fundamental sum was instituted only so a man not treat divorce lightly, while she kept her side of the agreement and it is the Torah that forbids her, so what then can she do, for she was forbidden before the marriage and not by her deeds within it. (24:3)
- Where the full ketubah still stands. A sh'niyah is treated as unrecognized either way because the Sages reinforced their decree, but a man who knowingly married against a negative commandment damaged his resources willingly, and a positive commandment is a light prohibition, so both women keep the ketubah, are supported from his estate, have borrowed sustenance paid, and are reimbursed for the benefit he drew from their property. (24:4)
- Mi'un and adultery, opposite reasons. A minor who refuses the marriage forfeits the fundamental sum and keeps the addition, since he granted it knowing she could walk away, and he owes nothing for benefit taken by permission; an adulteress forfeits sum, addition and conditions alike, because it is her own deeds that made her forbidden. (24:5, 24:6)
RememberA prohibition that arrived from outside the marriage costs her the sum designed to discourage divorce, and costs her nothing she earned inside it.
Part 2The dowry follows the same fault line
- Whatever is intact, she takes. A woman leaving her husband's house takes every part of her dowry that still exists and is fit for use, and this holds even for a woman who committed adultery; only what is gone or ruined is in dispute. (24:7)
- The ordinary rule. For a sh'niyah, for a woman forbidden by a positive commandment, and for a recognized aylonit or one forbidden by a negative commandment, the husband answers for nichsei tzon barzel while she bears the loss of nichsei m'log that was lost or stolen. (24:7)
- Where he never knew, it inverts. He is not liable for tzon barzel lost, stolen, destroyed or damaged, since she gave him permission and his acceptance rested on false premises, but he is liable for m'log lost or stolen, the opposite of all other women, because a bond that never bound never gave him the right to use it. (24:8)
- Mi'un recovers nothing destroyed. A woman who dissolves the marriage by refusal takes what is intact and departs, and nothing is expropriated from her husband for m'log or tzon barzel, since the court gave him the right to use the property and made him liable only if he divorced her. (24:9)
- Four women in one place. An adulteress, a woman who violated the faith of Moses, one who violated the Jewish faith and one divorced on a scandalous report hold no ketubah, no addition and no conditions, and the husband owes nothing for what was lost or reduced in value. (24:10)
RememberEven an adulteress keeps the chair that is still a chair. The law charges a person for deeds, never for the existence of the ruin.
Part 3The fences, and the limits of blame
- Faith of Moses, and how it is proved. Going out with hair uncovered, vows and oaths she does not keep, relations while niddah, or feeding him untithed or forbidden food, established when she named the one who tithed, separated challah or ruled the stain pure and that person denied it. (24:11)
- Jewish faith, the customs of modesty. A handkerchief without a veil in the marketplace or a lane open at both ends, spinning with a rose on forehead or cheek, spinning in the market with forearms shown, frivolity with young men, demanding intimacy loudly enough for neighbors to hear, and cursing his father in his presence. (24:12)
- Two things that are not violations. Ezra's ordinance that a woman wear a belt at home does not forfeit a ketubah if she does not wear it, and walking from courtyard to courtyard with her hair under a handkerchief is no breach of the Jewish faith. (24:13)
- Warning, witnesses, and her oath. Nothing is forfeited without a prior warning and witnesses to both warning and act, and where the warning was unwitnessed and she denies it, he must pay the ketubah in full if he divorces her, after she swears; a scandalous report needs no warning, since witnesses saw an indecent act short of adultery. (24:14, 24:15)
- He is not compelled, and she is not believed against herself. In all three categories he may stay married while still owing no ketubah, since the enactment was made for modest women; a husband who alone saw or trusted a report must divorce and must pay unless she admits it, her own claim of willing adultery is disregarded though it costs her the money, and a court compels divorce only on two witnesses. (24:16, 24:17, 24:18)
- Force at the outset stays force. A woman raped or acting unwittingly remains permitted, even if she later consented, since her nature overcame her and she was taken against her will, and women seized by robbers are treated as captives, though a priest's wife is forbidden to him even so and is paid her full ketubah before he is compelled to divorce her. (24:19, 24:20, 24:21, 24:22, 24:23)
RememberCoerced at the beginning means coerced at the end. A later feeling does not convert what was done to a person into something she chose.