A Yissachar / Zebulun Partnership in Loving Memory of Yishak ben Simcha A"H & Felicia bat Miriam A"H
Rabbi Joseph Dana

Torah Lecture

Masechet Kiddushin Perek 2 Mishnah 5

Lectured by Rabbi Joseph Dana

Published
September 24, 2024
Duration
3:42
Lecture code
RJD-MK-2-5

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This Mishnah will talk about what happens if a man gets engaged to a woman under certain conditions, as in the previous Mishnayot, and those conditions do not actually happen. The Mishnah says, “If a man gets engaged to a woman on the condition that she is not restricted by any vows or oaths—specifically, the types of vows that would make her repulsive to him or that he would not find her attractive.” For example, if she said that she would never eat meat, drink wine, or dress in beautiful clothing, a woman who is a perushah, who's always refraining and abstaining from olam hazeh (this world), is unattractive to her husband. These are the types of vows the husband said he would agree to only if his wife did not have them. Ve-nimtze'u (and they were found). Ve-nimtze'u. Ve-nimtze'u. Ve-nimtze'u aleha nedarim. And it was found after they got married that she was subject to these types of vows that the husband did not want. Eina mekudeshet. She's not married. The condition was clear: she could not have these types of nedarim on her. Those conditions weren't met, so she is not mekudeshet. She's not engaged, and therefore she's free to marry anybody else. She does not need a get (Jewish divorce document). But Kenasah stam: If he married her without making the condition, he didn't discuss it with her. Ve-nimtze'u. Ve-nimtze'u aleha nedarim. And it was found after they got married that she was subject to these vows—the problematic vows she had. Tetze shelo be-ketubah (marriage contract). He has to divorce her, and she does not get the money of the ketubah. So she has to get a get in order to remarry another man. She has to actually end this marriage, but she does not receive the money of the ketubah. The husband could say that he has the right to divorce her and does not have to pay the ketubah because he did not want to marry a woman who was restricted by these vows. So he does not have to pay her; it was not his fault. He did not want a woman like that, and she should have revealed it to him beforehand as well. But we still need to get a get. They still need to get divorced because it's possible that, at the time they were actually married, the husband had no problem with his wife having these vows, and he's now changing his mind. So we don't know. Therefore, the marriage may be valid, and she's not allowed to remarry unless she receives a get. If a husband makes a condition that he is going to get engaged to a woman only if she does not have any physical defects, and afterwards physical defects are found on her, she is not engaged. But if he marries her without making this condition and finds defects on her body afterwards, she gets divorced without receiving a ketubah, but she still needs a get in this situation because she should have revealed it to the husband beforehand. What types of defects are we talking about in this Mishnah? All types of physical defects that would disqualify a Kohen (priest) from working in the Bet HaMikdash would also disqualify a woman from marriage, in the sense that she would have to reveal them to her husband beforehand. All types of physical defects mentioned in the Torah that would disqualify a Kohen would disqualify a woman as well.