PRIVILEGES A MAN HAS IN HIS WIFE (cont.)
(A reciter of Beraisos): If a married woman finds a Metzi'ah, she keeps it;
R. Akiva says, it belongs to her husband.
Question (Rava): R. Akiva says that a wife keeps her extra earnings, all the more so Metzi'os!
(Mishnah): (If a woman told her husband) 'What I produce is Konam to your mouth', he need not annul it;
R. Akiva says, he must annul it, lest she produce extra.
Answer: We must switch the opinions of R. Akiva and Chachamim in the Beraisa. Chachamim say that a husband receives an object his wife finds, and R. Akiva says that she keeps it.
Question: Ravin taught that R. Akiva agrees that extra earnings (for which she did not strain herself) belong to the husband (and presumably, also Metzi'os). He argues only about extra earnings that come through exertion!
Chachamim say that such earnings belong to the husband. R. Akiva says that she keeps them.
Answer (Rav Papa): A found object is (usually hard to get. Therefore, it is) like extra earnings acquired through exertion. Chachamim and R. Akiva argue about this.
Question (Rav Papa): If she does two jobs simultaneously, is this considered extra earnings through exertion?
Question (Ravina): If she does three or four jobs simultaneously, is this considered extra earnings through exertion?
These questions are unresolved.
(Mishnah): Payments for injury or embarrassment...(R. Yehudah ben Beseira says, the husband receives...)
Question (Rava bar Rav Chanan): Will he also say that a man receives payments if someone embarrasses his horse?! (Tosfos does not understand the question. The Pnei Yehoshua suggests that R. Tam (in Tosfos 65b DH Hachi) initially changed the Mishnah to say that Chachamim say that the husband receives the entire payment, for then this is a valid question according to Chachamim.)
Answer: A horse does not feel embarrassment.
Question: If a man spat on Levi's garment, must he pay?
Suggestion: Perhaps he must!
Rejection (Mishnah): If he spat and the spit reached Levi, or he uncovered a woman's hair, or took off a man's cloak, he pays 400 Zuz.
(Rav Papa): He pays for spitting only if the spit touched Levi, not if it landed on his garment.
Answer: A man suffers no disgrace if his garment is spat on. He is disgraced when his wife is disgraced.
Question (Ravina): According to this, if a poor man from a rich family is disgraced, the whole family is disgraced. Do they also receive payments?!
Answer (Rav Ashi): They are not the body that was disgraced. A man's wife is like himself.
APPRAISING THE DOWRY [line 28]
(Mishnah): If a father pledged to give a dowry and the husband died before Nisu'in, the father can tell the Yavam 'I wanted to give to your brother, but I do not want to give to you;'
If she pledged to bring 1000 Dinarim into the marriage, her husband writes in the Kesuvah that he received 1500 (because he profits with them);
When property is evaluated, he pledges (writes that she entered) a fifth less than the appraised value (because Kelim that will be used depreciate, and appraisal of merchandise is normally inflated).
If the appraisal was 100 and it is truly worth 100, (he writes 100, and) he cannot demand that she enter more property;
If he writes (that he received) 100, she must bring in property appraised for 125;
If he writes 400, she must bring in property appraised for 500.
He pledges a fifth less than the appraised value (we will explain why all this is needed).
(Gemara - Beraisa): We need not teach that one who pledged a dowry to a Chacham can say so ('I wanted to give to your brother, but not to you') to an ignoramus Yavam;
Rather, even if he pledged to an ignoramus and the Yavam is a Chacham, he can say that he wanted to give to his brother, but not to him.
(Mishnah): If she pledged to bring in 1000 Zuz...(when property is evaluated, he pledges a fifth less...)
Question: Why does the Mishnah give all these examples?
Answer: The Tana teaches that we deduct from a big appraisal, and from a small one. He teaches (big and small appraisals) when her relatives appraised (clauses (e) and (f), in which it says 'she brings in'), and also (big and small) when the husband appraised (clauses (c) and (g), in which it says 'he pledges' - Rashi).
A WIFE WHO BROUGHT MONEY INTO THE MARRIAGE [line 8]
(Mishnah): If she pledged to bring money into the marriage, for each four Dinarim, he writes six Dinarim;
He must give 10 Dinarim for the box (this will be explained) for every Maneh (100 Dinarim) that she brings in;
R. Shimon ben Gamliel says, everything goes according to the local custom.
(Gemara) Question: The previous Mishnah says that if she enters 1000, he writes 1500. Why must our Mishnah also teach that he adds a third?
Answer: It teaches that this applies to a small sum and to a large sum;
Had it taught only a large sum, one might have thought that this is because the profit is great, but for a small sum, he does not add a third;
Had it taught only a small sum, one might have thought that this is because the expenses and responsibility are small, but for a large sum, he does not add a third.
(Mishnah): The Chasan must give 10 Dinarim for the box...
Question: What is this box?
Answer (Rav Ashi): It is a box of perfumes.
(Rav Ashi): This applies only in Yerushalayim (where women use them).
Question #1 (Rav Ashi): Does he contribute 10 Dinarim for every Maneh appraised, or for every Maneh that he writes in the Kesuvah?
Question #2: If it is for each Maneh that he writes, is this amount given the first day, or every day? (Tosfos - surely, he gives 10 Dinarim only once, and later according to her honor. The Gemara asks whether the 10 Dinarim are given immediately, or over the course of time.)
Question #3: If it is for each day, is this for the first week, or every week?
Question #4: If it is for each week, is this for the first month, or every month?
Question #5: If it is for each month, is this for the first year, or every year?
These questions are not resolved.
(Rav Yehudah): Chachamim allotted 400 gold coins for Nakdimon ben Guryon's daughter for perfumes for one day.
The daughter: So you should allot for your daughters!
Chachamim: Amen!
ONE WHO DOES NOT GIVE ENOUGH TZEDAKAH [line 32]
R. Yochanan ben Zakai saw a girl gathering barley amidst the dung of the animals of Arabs. When she saw him, she covered herself with her hair and asked 'feed me'!
R. Yochanan ben Zakai: Who are you?
The girl: I am the daughter of Nakdimon ben Guryon.
R. Yochanan ben Zakai: What happened to the money of your father's house?
The girl: This is like people say in Yerushalayim, the way to salt (preserve) money is to deduct (to give to Tzedakah);
Others say that one should do Chesed with it.
R. Yochanan ben Zakai: What happened to the money of your father-in-law's house?
The girl: Since it was mixed with money of my father's house, it was also lost. Do you remember when you signed on my Kesuvah?
R. Yochanan ben Zakai (to his Talmidim): Yes! Her father gave one million gold Dinarim, and her father-in-law also contributed.
R. Yochanan ben Zakai wept. 'Happy are you, Yisrael! When you do Hash-m's will, no nation can rule over you! When you do not do His will, He makes you subservient to a lowly nation, even to the animals of a lowly nation!'