Kiddushin, Daf Mem Het, Part 5

Introduction

Today s section opens with a new mishnah.

1)    מתני׳ התקדשי לי בכוס זה של יין ונמצא של דבש של דבש ונמצא של יין

2)    בדינר זה של כסף ונמצא של זהב של זהב ונמצא של כסף

3)    על מנת שאני עשיר ונמצא עני עני ונמצא עשיר אינה מקודשת

4)    ר"ש אומר אם הטעה לשבח מקודשת

1)    [If a man says to a woman], Be betrothed to me with this cup of wine, and it is found to be of honey, or of honey and it is found to be of wine;

2)    with this silver denar, and it is found to be of gold, or of gold and it is found to be of silver;

3)    on condition that I am wealthy, and he is found to be poor, or poor and he is found to be rich, she is not betrothed.

4)    Rabbi Shimon says: if he deceives her to [her] advantage, she is betrothed.

In each case in this mishnah, the husband makes an incorrect statement as part of the betrothal formula. For instance, he states that he is betrothing her with a cup of a certain liquid and it turns out to be a different liquid. Alternatively, he says that he is betrothing her with a certain type of coin and it turns out to be a different coin. Finally, he tells her that he is of a certain economic status and he is not. According to the first opinion, since the facts as he stated them are incorrect, the betrothal is ineffective. This is true even if he deceived her to her own advantage. For instance, he said that he was giving her a cup of wine and it turned out to be a cup of honey, which is more valuable than wine. According to the first opinion, we don t reason that a woman who would agree to be betrothed to a certain man with a cup of wine would also agree to such a betrothal if done with a cup of honey, since she could always sell the honey to buy wine. Rather, the betrothal statement must be accurate.

Rabbi Shimon disagrees. He holds that if the deception is clearly to her advantage, the betrothal is valid. Therefore, if he says that the cup was honey and it turned out to be wine (cheaper) she is not betrothed. But if he told her that the cup was wine and it turned out to be honey, she is betrothed.

גמ׳ ת"ר התקדשי לי בכוס זה תני חדא בו ובמה שבתוכו ותניא אידך בו ולא במה שבתוכו ותניא אידך במה שבתוכו ולא בו ולא קשיא הא במיא הא בחמרא הא בציהרא

GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: [If he says] Be betrothed to me with this cup : one [baraita] taught: [he meant] with it and with its contents; another [baraita] taught; with it, but not with its contents; and another [baraita] taught: with its contents, but not with it.

Yet there is no difficulty: one refers to water, one to wine, and one with brine.

The statement be betrothed to me with this cup could be read in three different ways with both the cup and its contents, with just the cup, or with the contents. The Talmud resolves the three baraitot by saying they refer to different contents. If there is water in the cup, he means to betroth her with the cup and not its contents. If there is wine, he is betrothing her with the contents and not the cup, because she could drink the wine and give the cup back. If there is brine in the cup, then she needs the cup, so he is betrothing her with both. [Another interpretation of this last word is oil].