If one accepted his wife's vow not to adorn herself with a certain adornment [as when she says: "I vow not to use this perfume," and he upholds it], he sends her out and he gives her her kethubah. R. Yossi says: With poor women, [it is] where he does not set a limit [as to how long it is forbidden her that he sends her out and gives her her kethubah; but if he sets a limit, she waits until that time. And how long is the limit? Twelve months.], and with wealthy women, thirty days. [For a wealthy woman savors the fragrance of her perfumes for thirty days, so that this one savors the fragrance of the perfumes which she applied thirty days before the vow. The halachah is in accordance with R. Yossi.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
שלא תתקשט באחד מכל המינים – [for she said]: “I take a vow that this shame be upon me and he fulfilled it for her.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Ketubot
Introduction
This mishnah discusses a husband who vows that his wife should not adorn herself. According to the mishnah, a woman has a right to adorn herself and therefore a husband who takes such a vow must divorce her.
As in yesterday’s mishnah, the Talmud interprets the mishnah to refer to a situation where the wife vowed and the husband upheld the vow. However, I will again explain the mishnah according to its words and not according to its Talmudic interpretation.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
בעניות שלא נתן קצבה לדבר – until when/how long was it prohibited to her, he should divorce her and give her the Ketubah settlement, but if he set a limit, she should wait until that time, and what is that limit? Twelve months.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Ketubot
If a man forbade his wife by vow that she should not adorn herself with any type of adornment he must divorce her and give her the ketubah. If the husband vows that his wife not adorn herself with jewelry or with perfume, he must divorce her immediately.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
ובעשירות שלשים יום – for it is the case that an important woman benefits from the scent of her adornments for thirty days and this one will benefit from the scent of the adornments that she was adorned with prior to the vow thirty days, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yosi.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Ketubot
Rabbi Yose says: [this refers] to poor women if no time limit is given, and to rich women [if the time limit is] thirty days. Rabbi Yose explains that there is a distinction between rich and poor wives in this matter. If the wife was poor and he took an open-ended vow, he must divorce her immediately. However, if he set a time limit on the vow, he need not divorce her. Because she is poor, she is accustomed to not adorning herself and a limited vow will not be so damaging. According to the Talmud, the maximum time of the vow is 12 months. However, were she rich, he could not take such a long vow, for she is accustomed to adorning herself frequently. Therefore, the maximum time is thirty days; if he takes a vow of a longer duration, he must divorce her immediately.
