Kiddushin, Daf Zayin, Part 4
Introduction
More theoretical questions about half-kiddushin from Rava.
בעי רבא חצייך בחצי פרוטה וחצייך בחצי פרוטה מהו כיון דאמר לה חצי פרוטה פסקה או דילמא מונה והולך הוא
Rava asked: What [if one declares,] Half of you [be betrothed to me] for half a perutah, and your [other] half for half a perutah ? Since he says to her, for half a perutah, he divided his statement; or perhaps, he was proceeding and counting?
Essentially the question is, is this like saying all of you with a whole perutah and he is just counting halves or did he make two separate invalid kiddushin statements.
אם תימצי לומר מונה והולך הוא חצייך בפרוטה וחצייך בפרוטה מהו כיון דאמר לה בפרוטה ופרוטה פסקה למילתיה או דילמא כל ביומיה מונה והולך הוא
Should you say, he was proceeding and counting: what [if he says,] Half of you [be betrothed to me] for a perutah, and your [other] half for a perutah ? Since he said to her, for a perutah and a perutah he divided his statement; or perhaps, as long as it was on the same day, he was proceeding with his counting?
In the first case he said half a perutah. Since half a perutah does not work, we might assume that he was just counting half perutot. But what if he says a full perutah perhaps he is making distinct betrothal statements, in which case this does not work. Or perhaps as long as all of this occurs on the same day, it still works.
את"ל כל ביומיה מונה והולך הוא חצייך בפרוטה היום וחצייך בפרוטה למחר מהו כיון דאמר לה למחר פסקה או דילמא הכי קאמר לה קדושין מתחלו מהאידנא ומגמר לא ניגמרו עד למחר
Should you say: Providing it was on the same day, he was proceeding and counting, what [if he declares,] Half [of you is betrothed to me] for a perutah today, and your [other] half for a perutah tomorrow ? Since he said to her, Tomorrow, he divided it; or perhaps he meant thus: the kiddushin begins immediately, but shall not be completed until tomorrow?
Here, Rava (or the Talmud in his place) pushes the envelope and asks if this could work even if he divides the kiddushin into a two-day affair.
שני חצייך בפרוטה מהו הכא ודאי בחד זימנא קאמר לה או דילמא אין אשה מתקדשת לחצאין כלל תיקו :
[Further,] what [if he says], Your two halves for a perutah here he certainly made his statement to her all at once; or perhaps a woman cannot be betrothed at all by halves? The questions stand.
Finally, the Talmud proposes a way of saying this that would most seem to be a valid statement your two halves for one perutah. This is clearly all at one time, so it would seem to work. Or is it again an invalid attempt to marry a woman one half at a time.
But this too does not have a clear answer. None of these questions do. They all remain unanswered. But it was certainly fun thinking this all out!