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Perek 1

Mishnayos Kiddushin Perek 1 Mishnah 1

קידושין פרק א׳ משנה א׳

1
A woman is acquired by, i.e., becomes betrothed to, a man to be his wife in three ways, and she acquires herself, i.e., she terminates her marriage, in two ways. The mishna elaborates: She is acquired through money, through a document, and through sexual intercourse. With regard to a betrothal through money, there is a dispute between tanna’im: Beit Shammai say that she can be acquired with one dinar or with anything that is worth one dinar. And Beit Hillel say: She can be acquired with one peruta, a small copper coin, or with anything that is worth one peruta. The mishna further clarifies: And how much is the value of one peruta, by the fixed value of silver? The mishna explains that it is one-eighth of the Italian issar, which is a small silver coin. And a woman acquires herself through a bill of divorce or through the death of the husband. A woman whose husband, who had a brother, died childless [yevama], can be acquired by the deceased husband’s brother, the yavam, only through intercourse. And she acquires herself, i.e., she is released from her levirate bond, through ḥalitza or through the death of the yavam.
הָאִשָּׁה נִקְנֵית בְּשָׁלשׁ דְּרָכִים, וְקוֹנָה אֶת עַצְמָהּ בִּשְׁתֵּי דְרָכִים. נִקְנֵית בְּכֶסֶף, בִּשְׁטָר, וּבְבִיאָה. בְּכֶסֶף, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בְּדִינָר וּבְשָׁוֶה דִינָר. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בִּפְרוּטָה וּבְשָׁוֶה פְרוּטָה. וְכַמָּה הִיא פְרוּטָה, אֶחָד מִשְּׁמֹנָה בָאִסָּר הָאִיטַלְקִי. וְקוֹנָה אֶת עַצְמָהּ בְּגֵט וּבְמִיתַת הַבָּעַל. הַיְבָמָה נִקְנֵית בְּבִיאָה. וְקוֹנָה אֶת עַצְמָהּ בַּחֲלִיצָה וּבְמִיתַת הַיָּבָם:
א׳

האשה נקנית – since a woman is not betrothed other than with her knowledge, it [the Mishnah] teaches, “a woman is acquired” and it does not teach, “the man purchases. And since the first part [of the Mishnah] teaches, “a woman is acquired,” the end [of the Mishnah] teaches, the widow of a brother who died without issue (i.e, “yevamah”), and even though the widow of a brother who died without issue is acquired by the brother of her deceased husband whether of her own knowledge or without her knowledge.

נקנית בכסף – We learn/derive [through an analogy – Gezarah Shavah – of the words] קיחה קיחה from the field of Ephron. It is written here (Deuteronomy 24:1): “A man takes a wife [and possesses her],” and it is written there (Genesis 23:13): “Let me pay the price of the land; accept it from me, [that I may bury my dead there].”

בשטר – such if he wrote it [his betrothal] on blank paper/parchment or on earthenware, and even though it does not have the value of a Perutah/penny [the words]: “your daughter is betrothed/[literally: sanctified] to me; [or] your daughter is betrothed to me; or your daughter is my wife in matrimony” and he gave it to her before witnesses, as we derive it as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:2): “she leaves [his household] and becomes [the wife of another man].” Just as leaving is with a document, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:1): “he writes her a bill of divorcement,” so her become the wife [of another man] is with a document.

ובביאה – He comes upon her [sexually] in front of witnesses for the purposes of betrothal/sanctification, as it is written (Deuteronomy 24:1): “A man takes a wife and possesses her,” and even though one does not have explicit “betrothal/sanctification” in the Torah greater than sanctification through coition (sexual connection), the Sages state that he who sanctifies [i.e., acquires his wife] through coition, we flog him as a punishment for disobedience (which is left to the discretion of the court) in order that Israelite men would not be promiscuous/lawless.

בפרוטה – which is one-half a barley of silver

היבמה נקנית – to be the wife of her deceased husband’s brother in all matters through coition, but [through] money [or] document are not effective for her from the Torah, but the Rabbis are those who decreed that word-of-mouth by the deceased husband’s brother makes her ineligible [to marry] the rest of the brothers, but not to exempt her from the ceremony of removing the shoe of her dead husband’s brother (Deuteronomy 25:5-11), nor to become defiled to her.

האשה נקנית. לפי שאין האשה מתקדשת אלא מדעתה, תנא האשה נקנית ולא תנא האיש קונה. ואיידי דתנא רישא האשה נקנית, תנא סיפא היבמה נקנית, ואע״ג דיבמה נקנית ליבם בין מדעתה בין שלא מדעתה:

נקנית בכסף. דגמרינן קיחה קיחה משדה עפרון, כתיב הכא (דברים כ״ד:א׳) כי יקח איש אשה, וכתיב התם (בראשית כ״ו) נתתי כסך השדה קח ממני:

בשטר. כגון שכתב לה על הנייר או על החרס ואע״פ שאין בו שוה פרוטה, בתך מקודשת לי, בתך מאורסת לי, בתך לי לאנתו, ונתנו לה בפני עדים. וילפינן לה דכתיב (דברים כ״ד:א׳) ויצאה והיתה, מה יציאה בשטר, כדכתיב (שם) וכתב לה ספר כריתות, אך הויה בשטר:

ובביאה. בא עליה בפני עדים לשם קדושין, דכתיב (שם) כי יקח איש אשה ובעלה. ואע״פ שאין לך קדושין מפורשים בתורה יותר מקדושי ביאה, אמרו חכמים שהמקדש בביאה מכין אותו מכת מרדות, שלא יהיו בני ישראל פרוצין:

בפרוטה. היא חצי שעורה של כסף:

היבמה נקנית. ליבם להיות כאשתו לכל דבר, בביאה. אבל כסף ושטר לא מהנו בה מדאורייתא ש אלא רבנן הוא דתקון דמהני בה מאמר לפסלה על שאר האחין, אבל לא לפטרה מן החליצה, ולא להטמא לה: