Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Responsa for Bava Batra 331:7

מעשה ועמדו קינים בירושלים בדינרי זהב אמר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל המעון הזה אם אלין הלילה עד שיהו בדינרין נכנס לבית דין ולימד האשה שהיו עליה חמש לידות ודאות חמש זיבות ודאות מביאה קרבן אחד ואוכלת בזבחים ואין השאר עליה חובה

in Jerusalem had risen<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'stood'. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> to gold <i>denarii</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The price had risen owing to the large demand on the part of women who brought separate sacrifices for each confinement. ');"><sup>19</sup></span> [Thereupon] R. Simeon b. Gamaliel exclaimed, '[By] this Temple!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An oath. ');"><sup>20</sup></span> I shall not go to rest this night before these [can] be [obtained] for silver denarii'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Dinrin, implying silver denarii, while gold denarii were previously described (v. supra n. 13), as denari. Thus it has been shewn that a distinction was made between the two names, denari and dinrin. ');"><sup>21</sup></span> He entered the <i>Beth din</i> and issued the following instruction:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'he taught'. ');"><sup>22</sup></span> 'A woman who had<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'there were upon her'. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> five certain [child] confinements, [or] five certain issues, brings one sacrifice and may [subsequently] eat of sacrificial meat, and there is no obligation upon her to bring the rest'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The other four sacrifices. ');"><sup>24</sup></span>

Teshuvot Maharam

Q. The ketubah of a widow contained the following clause: "you shall collect whatever you have brought in, as your dowry, over and above the amount you are entitled to as your ketubah" without description of what the dowry consisted. The widow seized some articles stating that her late husband had given them to her as a present. Are we to believe her statement (in accordance with the rule of Miggo), since if she had wanted to lie she might have claimed that said articles were part of her dowry?
A. A mere claim to the effect that the articles had formed part of her ketubah would have been insufficient. Since her ketubah did not enumerate the articles and valuables that made up her dowry, she would have to prove what the dowry consisted of before she would be entitled to collect any part thereof. Therefore, we do not have to believe her statement.
SOURCES: L. 243.
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Teshuvot Maharam

Q. A woman produced for collection a ketubah in which the sum of two hundred pounds was stipulated. But the ketubah did not specify whether the coin "pound" [the value of which differed in each locality] was meant, or the weight "pound" [which equalled two marks, or sixteen ounces of silver] was meant. How much is the woman entitled to collect?
A. It all depends upon the custom of the place where the woman married. In Würzburg and its surrounding country, the one hundred pounds of the ketubah are interpreted to mean two hundred marks. On the Rhine, there are places where the one hundred pounds of the ketubah are interpreted to mean one hundred pounds Heller. If the woman comes from a place where there is no established custom, she receives two hundred pounds of the coin current in her locality.
SOURCES: Pr. 284; Mord. Ket. 281; Tesh. Maim. to Nashim, 13.
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