One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 4
Sefer Nashim · Where the kiddushin money has to land and in whose keeping, who is capable of binding and who is not believed at all, and why the last word of the chapter measures nearness by who could have guarded the coin
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Prutah, the floor below which money is not kiddushin at all
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Witnesses, since one plus both parties' admission is worth nothing
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Years, below which a girl's acceptance binds nothing and needs no mi'un
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Years, above which her acceptance binds even if she is very foolish
Part 1Consent, and where the money actually went
- Only she has to be willing. A woman is consecrated only voluntarily and a forced consecration binds nothing, while a man who is forced to consecrate has consecrated; a man may consecrate many women at once with money provided there is a prutah for each, and one of them or an outsider may receive it for all of them with their consent. (4:1)
- And you as well, against and you. Where a man gives the kiddushin to a second woman with the first woman's consent and says and you as well, both are consecrated; where he places it in the second woman's hand and says only and you, the kiddushin are in doubt, since he may have been asking her opinion rather than acting. (4:2)
- A destination or an extension of her. If she takes the dinar and throws it away, into the sea or a fire or anywhere it will be destroyed, she is not consecrated, and telling him to give it to her father or his father or a named man leaves her unconsecrated; telling him to give it to that man so that he will receive it on her behalf consecrates her. (4:3)
- Her rock, her dog, and the poor man she feeds. Put it on that rock consecrates nothing unless the rock is hers, and a rock they own together leaves the matter in doubt; give it to a poor person leaves her unconsecrated even where she supports him, and give it to a dog leaves her unconsecrated unless the dog is hers, while a dog chasing her leaves the matter in doubt. (4:4)
- The tone of the answer decides. Where a man selling produce or pouring wine asks whether she will be consecrated by what he gives and she says yes, she is consecrated on receiving it, and where she answers only that he should hand it over, heave it across, serve her or dish it out, she is not consecrated although she holds the goods, since her words mean that he should stop fooling around and give her what she asked for. (4:5)
RememberThe coin does not change. What changes is whether it entered her keeping or somebody else's.
Part 2Who can bind, and whose word counts for nothing
- Their own admission is worth nothing. Kiddushin before a single witness are of no consequence even when both parties acknowledge them, and all the more so with no witnesses at all; witnesses disqualified by Scriptural law void the act entirely, while witnesses disqualified only by Rabbinic law, or of doubtful fitness, oblige a get out of doubt even where she denies the whole matter. (4:6)
- The girl below majority, and mi'un. A minor's kiddushin bind nothing; an orphan girl or one out of her father's authority is not consecrated below six even if she is unusually discerning, is consecrated Rabbinically above ten even if she is very foolish, and between six and ten is assessed for discernment, so that she leaves by mi'un before two witnesses without a divorce and the kiddushin finalize on their own if she stays to majority. (4:7, 4:8)
- Rabbinic bonds yield to Scriptural ones. Marriage between a deaf mute and a mentally competent partner is only Rabbinic, so a competent man who consecrates the competent wife of a deaf mute has consecrated her, must give her a get and may leave her married to her deaf mute husband; where either party is mentally incompetent nothing binds on any level. (4:9)
- Bound absolutely where nobody expects it. A seris chamah or seris adam consecrates absolutely and an aylonit is consecrated absolutely, a tumtum or an androgynus leaves the matter in doubt requiring a get, an apostate who willingly worships idols consecrates absolutely, and a niddah is consecrated absolutely though the act is improper, alone among the arayot, whose kiddushin are otherwise of no consequence. (4:10, 4:11, 4:12, 4:15)
- Brazenness in front of a husband. A married woman who accepts kiddushin from another man in her husband's presence is consecrated to the second man, since her claim that she was divorced is believed to her husband's face; outside his presence the kiddushin do not bind unless she brings proof of the divorce, because she may act brazenly where he cannot hear her. (4:13)
RememberThe chapter is far less impressed by sincerity than by whether the act reached the world.
Part 3Worth, delivery, and the definition of closer
- Forbidden by a lesser prohibition still binds. Kiddushin given to the shniyot, or to a woman forbidden by a plain negative or positive commandment, or by a yavam to a woman married to his yevamah's husband, bind absolutely, while a stranger's kiddushin to a yevamah leave the matter in doubt; in all of them the marriage may not be consummated and the bond is ended by a get. (4:14)
- Half free, and completed by freedom itself. A woman half maidservant and half free is not fully consecrated until she is freed, at which point the kiddushin complete themselves without a second act, as a minor's do at majority; a second man's kiddushin in the interval leave both in doubt, and a man half servant and half free leaves his own kiddushin in doubt. (4:16, 4:17)
- Drunk binds, and the Rambam pauses over it. A man very drunk consecrates validly and only a drunkenness of the order of Lot's voids the act, a ruling the Rambam ends by saying requires ample deliberation. (4:18)
- Less than a prutah, and the object that cannot travel. Money below a prutah is not kiddushin, and food or a utensil below a prutah leaves the matter in doubt because it may be worth a prutah elsewhere; the Rambam then writes that it appears to him that cooked food or a vegetable that will not keep binds nothing at all, since it will spoil before reaching another place, and that one may rely on this inference. Later wedding presents cannot repair kiddushin that were invalid. (4:19, 4:20)
- Closer is guarding, not distance. With her consent he may throw the money or document into her hand, bosom, courtyard or field, but in his domain he must place it in her hand or bosom, and a domain they share leaves the matter in doubt; in the public domain or a domain belonging to neither, closer to him means a place he can guard and she cannot, closer to her means a place she can guard and he cannot, and where both or neither can guard it the money is halfway and the kiddushin are in doubt. (4:21, 4:22)
RememberNearness here is not measured in handbreadths. It is measured by which of them could have kept the coin safe.