One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 23
Sefer Nashim · What a husband may give up and when, why one dried fig closes the account on everything he spent, and the single promise the law binds on speech alone because of a father's joy
1
Dried fig, eaten in a respectful manner, and the husband may claim nothing for all he spent on her field
150
Zuz written in the ketubah where custom inflates a dowry of 100, and the woman collects only the 100
3
Layers named in the fruit of the fruit's fruit, a chain he keeps eating from until he renounces every by product
2
Husbands who owe a stepdaughter support, of whom one feeds her and the other pays her its value
Part 1What a husband gives up, and when
- The timing sets the form. A provision waiving one of the husband's privileges binds by writing alone if written after consecration but before nisu'in, and needs an act of contract if written after nisu'in. (23:1)
- No say, but still the produce. A husband who stipulates that he has no say over her property cannot undo her sale or gift, yet eats its produce while she holds it, unless he confirmed it with an act of contract before nisu'in, in which case he gave up the land and its produce and is not heard claiming he meant only to allow a sale. (23:2)
- The fruit of the fruit's fruit. A husband who waives the produce eats from land bought with it, and if he waives that too, from land bought with the next produce, until he renounces every by product, after which he has nothing during her life and still inherits her. (23:3, 23:4)
- An inheritance waived before it falls. A waiver of inheritance, of part of it, or a provision that a childless estate returns to her father's house binds only if made before nisu'in, because a man may forgo an inheritance from another source before he acquires the right to it. (23:5, 23:6)
RememberBefore nisu'in he can give away what is not yet his. After it, some rights are already his and a waiver cannot reach them.
Part 2What he spent, and what the town writes
- What he spent, he spent. A husband who invested in her nichsei m'log collects nothing and owes nothing, whether he spent little and gained much or the reverse, once he ate one dried fig respectfully, a dinar's worth carelessly, or took even a bundle of twigs. (23:8)
- Less than a fig, and the court appraises. Where he took less than that measure, the increment is assessed against his expenses, and he swears holding a sacred object and is repaid his expenses if the increment is greater, or only as much as the increment if it is less. (23:9)
- The rebellious wife and the minor. Against a wife who rebels, whatever benefit he had is appraised and deducted and he collects on oath, since he did not spend so she could leave of her own accord, and after mi'un he takes a sharecropper's share because he worked with permission. (23:10)
- Custom writes the numbers. Places inflate the dowry by a third, a fifth or a half, understate it, or write it plainly, and a man who marries without conditions writes, and a woman collects, according to the widespread custom of the place, which is a fundamental principle for judgment. (23:11, 23:12)
RememberOne fig eaten with dignity ends the ledger. The law is not weighing the fruit but the way it was received.
Part 3Promises made by speech alone
- Named at the engagement, then betrothed. Where the groom and bride each name what they will give and he then consecrates her, the commitments bind without an act of contract, and so does a father's commitment for his son or daughter. (23:13)
- Only a father, only the first marriage. A father's word binds for a first marriage because of his inner connection and his happiness, while a brother for his sister, a mother for her daughter, other relatives, and a father at a second marriage bind only with an act of contract and a stated sum. (23:14)
- Joy has an address. The child does not acquire the gift until the marriage is consummated, so if the groom dies before it and his brother comes to perform yibbum, the father may withdraw, even if the brother is a Torah scholar and the woman wants him. (23:15)
- Her own promise holds her. If her father promised and moved away, an adult bride may demand that the groom marry her without a dowry or divorce her, but if she promised and cannot pay she remains betrothed until she raises it or dies, and a minor is protected by compelling him to marry or divorce. (23:16)
- A stepdaughter and two husbands. A commitment at consecration to support her daughter binds, the first husband must send support to where she lives, one husband feeds her and the other pays its value, and a written commitment lets her collect even from sold property. (23:17, 23:18)
RememberThe law trusts a father's happiness at his child's first wedding more than a brother's sincerity, and it binds that happiness to one particular groom.