Kiddushin, Daf Zayin, Part 6
Introduction
Today s sugya contains a story and a dispute among rabbis concerning the issue of betrothing with items of indeterminate worth.
ההוא גברא דאקדיש בשיראי
רבה אמר לא צריכי שומא
רב יוסף אמר צריכי שומא
A certain man betrothed [a woman] with silk. Rabbah said: It does not need to be evaluated; R. Joseph said: It must be evaluated.
The issue is whether the woman must know exactly how much the silk is worth. Assumedly there is no question that it is worth at least a perutah, which is a very small amount.
אי דאמר לה בכל דהו כולי עלמא לא פליגי דלא צריכי שומא אי דאמר לה חמשין ולא שוו חמשין הא לא שוו כי פליגי דאמר חמשין ושוו חמשין רבה אמר לא צריכי שומא דהא שוו חמשין
רב יוסף אמר צריכי שומא כיון דאיתתא לא בקיאה בשומא לא סמכה דעתה
If he said to her, [Be betrothed to me] for whatever it is worth, all agree that it does not need to be evaluated.
If he declared to her, [Be betrothed to me] for fifty [zuz], and the [the silk] is not worth fifty: then it is not worth it!
They disagree only if he stipulated fifty and it was worth fifty.
Rabbah said: It does not need to be evaluated, since it is worth fifty:
R. Joseph said: It does need to be evaluated: Since the woman is not an expert in its evaluation, she is not assured of its value.
The Talmud narrows down the scope of Rabbah and R. Joseph s disagreement. If she explicitly agrees to be betrothed for whatever it is worth, then she is betrothed. She has a right to agree to this arrangement.
If he lies to her, obviously she is not betrothed. That would be a false acquisition
The issue is if he tells her what it is worth and his assessment turns out to be correct. According to Rabbah, the woman does not need to know beforehand that his assessment is verified. As long as what he says turns out to be true, she is betrothed.
But to R. Joseph, at the moment of betrothal she is uncertain. She is agreeing to something whose value she can t know. Therefore, her agreement to be betrothed is not really a full agreement. The silk would need to be evaluated beforehand. Here we can see an important concept in the rules of kiddushin the woman needs to have acquiesced to the proposal and we need to be sure that she knew what she was agreeing to.
איכא דאמרי בכל דהו נמי פליגי רב יוסף אמר שוה כסף הרי הוא ככסף מה כסף דקיץ אף שוה כסף נמי דקייץ
There are those who say : They also disagree in the case of for whatever it is worth. .
R. Joseph said: The equivalent of money must be as money itself: just as the latter is definite, so must the equivalent be definite.
According to this version, R. Joseph would rule strictly also in the case of a husband who says, Be betrothed to me for whatever it is worth. Just as a woman will know how much the money is worth, so too the woman has to know how much the goods are worth.