Kiddushin 13

and I will become betrothed to thee,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And he does, and says to her, 'Thou art betrothed unto me by the maneh I gave to So-and-so.'');">¹</span> she is betrothed by the law of a surety:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One who stands surety for the repayment of a debt by the debtor.');">²</span>

a surety, though he personally derives no benefit [from the loan], yet obligates himself [to repayment]; so this woman too, though she personally derives no benefit [from the money], obligates and cedes herself [in betrothal]. [If a man says,] 'Take this maneh and be betrothed to So-and-so,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who had deputed him, but that the agent gave his own money instead of that of the principal.');">³</span>

she is betrothed by the law of a Canaanite slave:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 22b.');">⁴</span> a Canaanite slave, though he himself loses nothing,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When another gives his master money for his freedom.');">⁵</span>

yet acquires himself [his freedom]; so this man too though he personally loses nothing, acquires this woman. [If the woman declares,] 'Give a maneh to So-and-so, and I will become betrothed to him,' she is betrothed by the laws of both: a surety, though he personally derives no benefit, obligates himself, so this woman too' though she personally derives no benefit, cedes herself.

[And should you object:] How compare: as for a surety, he who acquires a title<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Viz., the creditor, to the obligation of the surety.');">⁶</span> loses money,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he first gives money to the debtor.');">⁷</span>

- but shall this man acquire the woman at no cost to himself? Then let a Canaanite slave prove it, who loses no money<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When another gives his master money for his freedom.');">⁵</span>

and yet acquires himself. [And if you demur:] How compare: there, he who gives possession<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sc. the master, who cedes the slave to himself.');">⁸</span>

acquires [the money given for the slave's freedom]; but here, shall this woman cede herself though she acquires nothing whatsoever? Then let a surety prove it: though he personally receives no benefit, he obligates himself.

Raba propounded: What [if a woman declares,] 'Here is a maneh and I will become betrothed unto thee? '<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the man accepted it, saying: 'Be thou betrothed unto me therewith'.');">⁹</span> Mar Zutra ruled in R'Papa's name: She is betrothed.

R'Ashi objected to Mar Zutra: If so, property which ranks as security [real estate] is acquired as an adjunct to property which does not rank as security [movables];<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A creditor could collect his debt out of the debtor's real estate, even if sold after the debt was contracted, but not out of movables, if sold; hence the former is termed property which ranks as security, the latter, property which does not rank as security. Human beings are on a par with the former, and R. Ashi assumed that the woman is acquired in conjunction with the maneh.');">¹⁰</span> whereas we learnt the reverse: Property which does not rank as security may be acquired in conjunction with property which ranks as security by money, deed, or hazakah?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra ');">¹¹</span>

- Said he to him: Do you think that she said to him, 'Along with'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Here is this maneh and acquire me along with it.'');">¹²</span> Here the reference is to an important personage: in return for the pleasure [she derives] from his accepting a gift from her, she completely cedes herself.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Though normally the man must give the money (supra 5b) , yet if he is eminent his acceptance confers pleasure, which in turn is considered of financial value.');">¹³</span>

It has been stated likewise in Raba's name: The same applies to monetary matters.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If A says to B, 'Give money to C, in return for which my field is sold to you,' the sale is valid, by the law of surety: 'Take a maneh, and let your field be sold to C,' C acquires it by the law of a Canaanite slave; 'Give money to C and let him thereby acquire my field,' he acquires it by the laws of both - all as explained with reference to kiddushin.');">¹⁴</span> Now, both are necessary: had we been informed this of kiddushin [only], that is because a woman is pleased [even] with very little, in accordance with Resh Lakish's dictum, for Resh Lakish said: It is better to dwell in grief with a load<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Jast.; Rashi, 'two bodies'.');">¹⁵</span>

than to dwell in widowhood;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a woman prefers an unhappy married life to a happy single life.');">¹⁶</span> but as for money, I would say it is not so.

And if we were informed this of monetary matters, that is because it is subject to remission;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The purchase price can be altogether remitted, as in the case of a gift.');">¹⁷</span> but as for kiddushin, I would say it is not so.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A woman cannot forego the money of kiddushin. Since it is such a strong obligation, I would think that it must pass from the man who betroths to the woman who is betrothed.');">¹⁸</span>

Hence both are necessary. Raba said: [If a man declares,] 'Be thou betrothed to half of me,' she is betrothed: 'half of thee be betrothed to me,' she is not betrothed.

Abaye demurred before Raba: Why does 'half of thee be betrothed to me' differ, that she is not betrothed? Because Scripture said, [when a man take] a wife,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXIV, 1.');">¹⁹</span>

but not half a wife? Then here too Scripture saith, 'a man', but not half a man? - How now! he rejoined.

There, a woman is not eligible to two [men]; but is not a man eligible to two [women]? Hence this is what he said to her: 'Should I desire to marry another, I may do so.' Mar Zutra, son of R'Mari, said to Rabina: Yet let the kiddushin spread through the whole of her.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When he says: 'half of thee betrothed to me.'');">²⁰</span> Has it not been taught: If one declares, 'Let the foot of this [animal] be a burnt-offering,' the whole of it is a burnt-offering? And even on the view that it is not all a burnt-offering, that is only if one dedicates a limb<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'thing'.');">²¹</span> upon which life is not dependent; but if he dedicates a limb upon which life is dependent [e.g. , the heart], it is all a burnt-offering!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And surely life is dependent on half a woman's body.');">²²</span> - How compare? There it is an animal, whereas here we have an independent<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'another'.');">²³</span> mind.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The woman refuses to let the kiddushin spread through the whole of her.');">²⁴</span> This can only be compared with R'Johanan's dictum: An animal belonging to two partners: - if one [of them] dedicates half, and then purchases it [the other half] and dedicates it, it is holy, yet cannot be offered up;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since it was not fit for offering originally, as the half belonging to the other partner was yet secular. Hence it must now be sold, and an animal purchased with the proceeds and sacrificed. Thus the sanctity of the half does not spread over the whole, since the partner does not wish it.');">²⁵</span> and it establishes [the sanctity of] a substitute,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The reference is to Lev. XXVII, 33: neither shall he change it (sc. a consecrated animal) : and if he changed it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy. Thus here too, if one substituted another animal for this one, the substitute also is holy.');">²⁶</span> and the substitute is as itself.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It may not be sacrificed, but must be sold, as in n. 7.');">²⁷</span> This proves three things: