תלמוד על קידושין 2:1

It was stated: Just as the husband decides¹³He may decide to give to his wife more than the legal minimum., so the father decides¹⁴He decides to give his daughter a dowry. The daughters have a legal right to a dowry from the estate but not from the living father.; only that the husband transfers rights in writing but the father only by speech, restricted to those things that can be acquired by speech¹⁵Dowries of daughters and endowments of sons are the only things that can be finalized by speech only; Babli 102a.. What is that? Gidul in the name of Rav: How much are you giving to your son? Such and such. And how much are you giving to your daughter? Such and such. When he preliminarily married her¹⁶In the Babli, 102a: If the groom preliminarily married the bride immediately after the young couple was promised the money by their respective parents. The Yerushalmi has to be understood in this sense also., the daughter acquired among the daughters. Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Joseph said, Gidul found something large and said something small¹⁷By restricting the right of informal acquisition to the daughter.! But it is as follows: How much are you giving to your son? Such and such. How much are you giving to your daughter? Such and such. When he preliminarily married her, the daughter acquired among the daughters and the son among the sons¹⁸This is the Babli’s formulation of Rav Gidul’s statement. “Among the daughters” means that if the father should die before the dowry was paid, its amount does not form part of the estate; the same holds for the son and the capital promised him.. Rebbi Ze‘ira said, is that something small? Does he not acquire a wife on top of movables with one peruṭa’s worth¹⁹The minimum amount a man has to give a woman for the preliminary marriage is one peruṭah (in the tradition of the House of Hillel; Mishnah Qiddušin 1:1). The peruṭah is the smallest coin, about 2 g bronze, valued at 1/144 or 1/192 of a silver denar (1/6 or 1/8 of the smallest Roman coin, the as). That coin disappeared with the Hasmonean kingdom; it remained as the smallest unit of value in legal theory. In rabbinic practice, Šulḥan ‘Arukh Even Ha‘ezer 27:10, the value of a peruṭah is half a grain of sterling silver (0.0324 g).
If the marriage of the couple is contracted by the respective parents, the groom acquires not only a wife but all that is promised him from both sides by giving one peruṭah. Since the peruṭah is the smallest unit of computation, the fact that one may acquire more than one thing with one peruṭah is not trivial and needs to be spelled out.? But nobody can acquire two wives with one peruṭa’s worth²⁰Mishnah Qiddušin 2:6. It is possible for a man to simultaneously preliminarily marry any number of women by giving something of value to one of them if she is empowered by the other women to receive the value on their behalf and if there is at least one peruṭah for each of them.! But cannot a person acquire real estate and several movables with one peruṭa’s worth²¹Real estate can be acquired by money and everything can be acquired with real estate (Mishnah Qiddušin1:5); therefore, any number of things can be acquired by giving one peruṭah for real estate (cf. also Peah, Chapter 3, Notes 135 ff.).? For a person can acquire two pieces of real estate with one peruṭa’s worth, but nobody can acquire two wives with one peruṭa’s worth.

Rebbi Jeremiah said, who is the Tanna of “one does not sell it”? Rebbi Meїr⁶R. Meїr considers Second Tithe as property of Heaven given to the farmer for consumption in holiness. For R. Jehudah, Second Tithe is private property. Their disagreement is in Mishnah Qiddušin 2:8, cf. Demay Chapter 1, Notes 185–186.! But for Rebbi Jehudah it should be logical that it be permitted to be sold, by an argument a minore ad majus: If it is permitted to sell Sabbatical produce with which one may not liquidate one’s debts¹⁴Demay 3:1, Notes 13–14., it is logical that it should be permitted to sell Second Tithe since with it one may liquidate one’s debts. We find that one may liquidate one’s debts with Second Tithe, following what we stated¹⁵Mishnah Ma‘aser Šeni 4:6. The text quotes only the beginning of the Mishnah but the argument is from the second part: If the buyer took possession of the Second Tithe when it was worth 2 tetradrachmas but did not exchange it until its value decreased to 1 tetradrachma, he gives the seller one tetradrachma of profane money (for redemption); the second tetradrachma he may take out of his own Second Tithe money. This means that he may use his Second Tithe money to liquidate the debt he incurred when he took possession of the Second Tithe.: “If he took from him tithe worth one tetradrachma and did not come to exchange it until it was worth two.” Rebbi Yose said, there is a difference since from the start the value of Second Tithe was due. If he had owed before, it would be an argument¹⁶There is no proof that Second Tithe money may be used for anything but Second Tithe or profane food to be turned into Second Tithe.. Rebbi Yudan said, a Mishnah said that it is forbidden to sell it, as we stated there¹⁷Mishnah Qiddušin 2:8. The Mishnah states that no tithe may be used for the money due the bride at the preliminary marriage ceremony (cf. Demay 1:3, Notes 185–187; Peak 6:2 Note 46, 7:6 Note 135). R. Jehudah holds that if the groom criminally alienated Second Tithe from its intended use and used it as bridal money, the former Second Tithe now is his private property (for which restitution is due) which may be used as bridal money. But this implies that Second Tithe cannot be used in the absence of criminal intent since if it was used inadvertently, without criminal intent, Second Tithe is Heaven’s property and the preliminary marriage is invalid.: “If intentional, he married, if in error, he did not marry.” If you say that he may sell it, he should be able to use it for marriage but anything he may not sell he may not use for marriage. But did we not state¹⁸Ševi‘it Mishnah and Halakhah 8:8, Notes 114, 115, 118.: “One does not buy slaves, real estate, and unclean animals from Sabbatical money. If he bought them, he has to eat their worth.” Rebbi Yose said, this means that it is forbidden to acquire a wife with Sabbatical money. Otherwise, what is the difference between one who acquires a wife and one who acquires a slave girl? Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Zeïra, Rebbi Yudan in the name of Rebbi Ila, everybody agrees because of these arguments. Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Aḥa, everybody agrees that all should need the enclosures¹⁹The first opinion of R. Yose states that the previous arguments showed that R. Jehudah agrees that Second Tithe may not be sold but only exchanged. The second opinion states that this is not a biblical law but a rabbinic institution so that, if the Temple is rebuilt, everybody has an interest in seeing to it that the walls of Jerusalem will be in good shape..

“But they may give free gifts to one another.” Our Mishnah is Rebbi Meїr’s since Rebbi Meїr says a gift is not like a sale³⁴Ma‘serot 2:1, Note 5.. Rebbi Yose said, here it is everybody’s opinion, following what was stated: A person says to his neighbor [in Jerusalem]: What did you eat today? If that one says summer figs³⁵As explained in Ekhah Rabbati 1, in Jerusalem one always talked in hints., he knows that it was firstling. Just as summer figs are sold cheaply, so firstlings are sold cheaply³⁶A first-born animal becomes property of a Cohen. It may not be sold by weight or in a store and the buyers can only be Cohanim unless it is a blemished animal which may not be used as a sacrifice. Therefore, it can only be sold cheaply.. If that one said manna, he knows that it was Second Tithe. Just as manna was given as a gift, so Second Tithe may be given as a gift. They objected: Everybody agrees that animal tithe cannot be sold³⁷Animal tithe (Lev. 27:32) must be eaten as a sacrifice; if without blemish its blood and fat are burned on the altar and the meat may be eaten by any pure person in the holy precinct (i. e., inside the walls of Jerusalem.) The rancher who brings the sacrifice may invite anybody to partake of the meat. Since it is holy it may not be sold; it follows that the meat may be given as a gift. It is impossible to distinguish between Second Tithe and animal tithe in this respect.; do you say it can be given as a gift? This also can be given as a gift. Rebbi Mana did not say so but was following Rebbi Jehudah since Rebbi Jehudah said He made it one’s property³⁸Mishnah Qiddušin 2:8, quoted in the next Halakhah, notes that for R. Meїr, Second Tithe is Heaven’s property but for R. Jehudah it is the farmer’s property. Cf. also Demay 1:3, Note 185.. They objected: Everybody agrees that animal tithe is not one’s property³⁹By being counted as tenth animal, it becomes automatically dedicated as a sacrifice.; do you say it can be given as a gift? This also can be given as a gift⁴⁰As noted in Note 37. The animal tithe is the only sacrifice which is totally given to the rancher who brings it. The parts which go onto the altar, blood and fat, are those which may not be eaten even from a profane animal. The Cohanim do not receive any part, neither is any edible part burned on the altar..