Comentario sobre Ketubot 5:10

אף על פי. אם רצה להוסיף אפי' מאה אמה יוסיף (this fragment quotes Tractate Ketubot, Chapter 4, Mishnah 7) – and we don’t say that he is not permitted to in order as to not embarrass whomever that lacks it.

Introduction As we have learned on several occasions, the minimum ketubah payment is 200 zuz. Our mishnah talks about one who wants to add on to that amount or one who wants to subtract from the amount.

שלא כתב לה – the supplement from his knowledge/desire, other than on the condition of marrying her.

Although [the Sages] have said: a virgin collects two hundred and a widow one maneh, if he wishes to add, even a hundred maneh, he may do so.
After betrothal [but before marriage], a virgin collects two hundred zuz and a widow only one maneh, for the man wrote her [the additional amount] in order to marry her. A husband may increase his wife’s ketubah by whatever amount he so desires. Clearly wives from rich families would have demanded higher guarantees. Without this mishnah one might have thought that the rabbis set an amount that was meant to be equal for all women. This would have prevented a wife from a poor family from being embarrassed that her ketubah is less than that of a wife from a rich family. The mishnah teaches that a husband is allowed to increase the amount and that we are not concerned lest poor folk are embarrassed.

והיא כותבת – even though she did not receive [everything], she pardons and writes that she received it.

If she was widowed or divorced, either after betrothal or after marriage, she is entitled to collect the entire amount. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says: [a woman widowed or divorced] after marriage receives the entire amount; Both the first opinion in this section, and Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah agree that if the wife is divorced or widowed after having been betrothed but before having been married, she collects the basic payment of 200/100. However, there is a disagreement with regard to the extra amount. According to the first opinion, she collects that amount as well. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says that the extra amount is collected only upon marriage, for the only reason that he wrote the extra amount was in order to marry her. If, for whatever reason, the betrothal is terminated before marriage, she does not receive the extra.

רמ"א כו' – and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Meir in his decrees (i.e., that a virgin receives two hundred Zuz and a widow receives 100 Maneh or else it is fornication).

Rabbi Judah says: if he wishes he may write for a virgin a document for two hundred zuz and she writes “I have received from you a maneh”, or for a widow [he may write a document for] a maneh and she writes, “I have received from you fifty zuz”. Rabbi Meir says: Any man who gives a virgin less than two hundred zuz or a widow less than a maneh is engaging in licentious sex. This section deals with a man who wants to write a ketubah of less than 200/100 for his wife. Note that the wife does not object. Evidently she (or her family) wants this man enough that she is willing to compromise on the amount of the ketubah. Rabbi Judah says that the husband may employ a legal fiction whereby he can reduce the ketubah. First he writes the full ketubah of 200/100, as is normally done. Then she writes him a receipt for 100/50 zuz, even though she never received that amount. This means that when he does pay the ketubah, he will be liable for only 100/50 more zuz. In this way, Rabbi Judah retains a legal fiction whereby the actual ketubah does state the normal amount. Someone looking at her ketubah will not know that he has not abided by the fixed ketubah amount of 200/100. He also allows a husband with lesser means to marry. Rabbi Meir says that anyone who writes less than 200/100 and then engages in sexual intercourse with his wife is having licentious sex. A financial guarantee that binds the man to the woman is distinguishes marriage from prostitution. Without a large enough guarantee a husband could “buy” a wife for a night, and divorce her the next day. Indeed other cultures, including Arab culture, had what was called “a wife for a night”. There is even some reflection of this practice in the Talmud. Rabbi Meir takes a strong stance against this practice.

נותנין לבתולה – the time to bring her into the canopy from the day that the husband demanded her after he betrothed her to warn her on the mattes the Huppah to prepare her ornaments/possessions.

Introduction This mishnah discusses the waiting period between betrothal and marriage.

לפרנס עצמה – with her ornaments/possessions for twelve months, as it is written (Genesis 24:55): “Let the maiden remain with us some days;” And what are “days” – a year, as it is written (Leviticus 25:29): “[If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, I may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale;] the redemption period shall be a year.”

A virgin is given twelve months from the [time her intended] husband claimed her, [in which] to prepare herself for marriage. Just as [such a period] is given to the woman, so is it given to the man to prepare himself. A widow is given thirty days. Betrothal may occur at an early age, but that doesn’t mean that marriage will necessarily occur any time close to the betrothal. There are two steps described by our mishnah that occur before the marriage. The first is that the husband tells the woman whom he betrothed that he wishes to marry her or the woman tells the man to whom she is betrothed that she wishes to get married. From that point on, if this is a first marriage, there can be up to a twelve month period in which the couple prepare for the wedding and the marriage. This would include time to prepare for the wedding, and more importantly, time to prepare the new house and the things that will go into it. She will use this time to prepare her jewelry and clothes for the wedding. A widow is only given thirty days. Since she has already been married she is more prepared for a second marriage. Also, the second marriage was not as big of a celebration.

לפרנס עצמו – the needs of the meal and the Huppah/marriage.

If the time has come and they were not married they are entitled to receive maintenance from the man’s estate and [if he is a priest] they may eat terumah. If the time to get married has come and passed, and the husband has not yet married his betrothed wife, he must begin to pay for her maintenance, meaning food, clothing and shelter. Since he is feeding her, if he is a priest he may begin to give her terumah.

ולאלמנה שלשים יום – who does not trouble [herself] so much with her ornaments because they are already in her hand.

Rabbi Tarfon says: They give her [all of her food] in terumah. Rabbi Akiva says: One half unconsecrated food and one half terumah. There is now a debate between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon over how much of a woman’s food a priestly husband may supply in terumah. It is to the husband’s advantage to give her terumah since terumah is cheaper than regular, unconsecrated food since only priests may eat terumah (smaller market = lower price). The woman will have a problem with terumah for when she menstruates and is impure she cannot eat it. According to Rabbi Tarfon, the husband can give all of his wife’s food in terumah. If she needs to have unconsecrated food when she is impure, she can sell her terumah and buy other food. Rabbi Akiva demands that he give her half of her food in unconsecrated food so that when she is impure she need not go to the trouble of selling the terumah.

ולא נשאו – for the owners delay and since the Tanna/teacher in the first segment taught about her, the end of the Mishnah also teaches about her.

ואוכלת בתרומה – if he is a Kohen, and she is an Israelite, that from the time that he betrothed her, she consumes the Terumah/Priest’s due from Torah law, as it is written (Leviticus 22:11): “But a person who is a priest’s property by purchase may eat of them.” And this person who is [the priest’s] property by purchase , but the Rabbis decreed upon an Israelite woman who is betrothed to a Kohen should not consume Terumah as a decree lest he offer her a cup to drink in her father’s house and she will give her some to her brothers and her sisters, and when the time arrives and she hasn’t married, she eats from his food, and does not eat in her father’s house, other than if her husband who is a Kohen designates a place and feeds her there, but there is no further decree lest she provide drink from a cup of Terumah to her brothers or to her sisters.

ר' עקיבא אומר מחצה חולין – to eat during her impurity.

היבם אינו מאכיל בתרומה – while she is a widow waiting for her brother-in-law to marry or reject her, as it is written (Leviticus 22:11): “But a person who is a priest’s property by purchase [may eat of them],” but this is the purchase of his brother.

Introduction This mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah. It continues to discuss when a woman may begin to eat terumah.

עשתה ששה חדשים בפני הבעל – from these twelve months that are fixed for her from when the husband makes a claim upon her.

A yavam [who is a priest] does not allow [his sister-in-law] to eat terumah. If a woman is widowed while merely betrothed to her husband, her yavam does not allow her to eat terumah until he has had yibbum with her (see also Mishnah Yevamot 7:4).

או אפי' כולן בפני הבעל ואחד בפני ביבם – even though that most is in the presence of the husband, inevitably, he is not liable for her support during his life, and the same law applies also if he had been liable during his lifetime, she did not consume once e died, for the property by purchase bursts open, but rather, if all of it was in the presence of the husband, she would consume anyway during his lifetime.

If she had spent six months waiting for her husband and six months waiting for the yavam, or even [if she spent] all of them waiting for her husband less one day waiting for the yavam, or all of them waiting for the yavam less one day waiting for her husband, she may not eat terumah. Yesterday we learned that a betrothed woman is given one year to prepare herself from the time a husband requests her in marriage. If he delays any longer, she may claim maintenance from his estate, and she may eat terumah. Our mishnah teaches that if she waited part of this time for the husband and part for the yavam, she does not eat terumah, even though a full year has passed. She may only eat terumah if she waits a full year either for the yavam or for the husband. However, if she does wait a full year for the yavam and he does not marry her (or perform halitzah) she begins to eat from his estate and she may begin to eat terumah (provided, of course, that he is a priest).

או כולן בפני היבם – and one does not have to say if all of them were in the presence of the levir.

This [was the ruling according to] the first mishnah. The court that followed afterwards ruled: a woman may not eat terumah until she has entered the bridal chamber. According to yesterday’s mishnah a woman might begin to eat terumah before she enters the huppah (the bridal chamber). This would occur, if she waits for a full year and her husband does not marry her. Our mishnah says that this was an earlier position, but that later tannaim ruled that in no case may a woman eat terumah before she is fully married, an act which occurs when she enters the huppah. In the Talmud there is a debate as to why the later court disallowed a woman to eat terumah until she entered the huppah. The first opinion is that if she eats while still in her father’s home she may give some terumah to her family members who are not priests. Once she moves to her husband’s home we are not concerned with such a possibility. The second opinion is that before she enters the huppah, her husband can annul the marriage (we need not get into here how this is performed). If he were to do so, retroactively she would have been a non-priest who ate terumah. However, once the marriage is finalized, he can no longer annul the marriage and there is no such concern.

זו נשנה ראשונה – that when the time arrives, she eats priest’s due/Terumah.

אין האשה אוכלת – for we suspect lest there is found in her a defect and she is found to be a foreigner retroactively that his business transaction had been in error. And regarding the “First Mishnah,” lest they find in her a defect and we don’t take into consideration for there is no reason to fear that she would have her brothers and sisters drink it for he sets aside for a place for her; therefore, they permit her to eat Terumah/priest’s due when the time arrives.

הרי זו עושה ואוכלת – for they degreed support in place of the work of her hands/her labor (i.e., her wages), therefore she works and consumes according to the words of everyone.

Introduction This mishnah discusses a man who consecrates his wife’s handiwork to the Temple. The question is whether or not such a consecration is valid. The mishnah often uses this type of construct to show the degree of possession a person has over something, the idea being that a person cannot consecrate something that is not his.

המותר – he dedicated to the Temple the excess of his wife’s wages, what she does more than what is appropriate for her support and did not dedicate to the Temple her wages themselves.

If a man consecrated his wife’s handiwork, she continues to work and to consume [that which she makes]. When a man declares that anything his wife makes should be consecrated, she may continue to consume that which she produces. This means that she may continue to work and sell that which she makes and use the proceeds to provide for her own maintenance. Since the husband has an obligation to provide for her, and this amount was needed for her provisions, a husband cannot consecrate what she makes.

ר' מאיר אומר הקדש – for he holds that a person who dedicates something [to the Temple] that did not ever exist, and this is not the Halakha, but rather, the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yohanan ben HaSandlar who stated that it is non-holy/unconsecrated, for a person does not dedicate/sanctify something that never existed.

[Concerning the] surplus: Rabbi Meir says: it is consecrated. Rabbi Yohanan Hasandlar says: it is unconsecrated. However, if she produces more than that which she consumes, there is a question as to whether the husband can consecrate it. According to Rabbi Meir, since she doesn’t need this for her own maintenance, the husband can consecrate it to the Temple. Rabbi Yochanan Hasandlar disagrees. He holds that even the surplus cannot be consecrated by the husband. According to the Talmud, this is because a person cannot consecrate things which have not yet been made. A husband cannot declare that the surplus of his wife’s handiwork should be consecrated, because such surplus does not yet exist. Note that our mishnah probably presents a leniency to the husband. One might have thought that after he consecrated his wife’s handiwork, he would have to give the handiwork to the Temple and still provide for her. He cannot get out of his obligation to provide for her because that is mandated by the ketubah. Our mishnah teaches that despite his consecration he can still continue to use her handiwork to provide for her maintenance. Of course if it is not sufficient, he will need to add from his own money to provide for her, as is always the case.

טוחנת – with hand millstones which are small and if they are large millstones, she prepares all the needs of the grinding as for example, she places it in the grain-receiver/hopper and receives the grain.

The following are the kinds of work which a woman must perform for her husband:
Grinding,
Baking,
If she brought one slave-woman into the marriage she need not grind or bake or wash.
Washing,
Rabbi Eliezer says: even if she brought him a hundred slave-women he may compel her to work in wool; for idleness leads to unchastity.
Cooking,
Nursing her child,
Preparing his bed,
And working in wool. [If she brought] two slave-women, she need not cook or nurse her child. If three, she need not prepare his bed or work in wool. If four, she may lounge in an easy chair. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: if a man forbade his wife under a vow to do any work he must divorce her and give her kethubah to her for idleness leads to insanity.
Yesterday’s mishnah mentioned that a husband has a right to his wife’s handiwork. Our mishnah delineates other obligations that the wife has to her husband. Note that although the Mishnaic portrayal of marriage was not equal, meaning men and women did not perform the same functions, there is reciprocity. A husband must financially support the woman (among other responsibilities) and a woman must give her handiwork to her husband and perform daily chores around the house.
Section one: This section lists the basic categories of work that a wife must perform for her husband. Note that nursing was considered “work” and not primarily an opportunity for a woman to “bond” with her child. Our mishnah assumes that women would prefer to pay a wet-nurse to nurse their child. The Talmud states that this list contains only the broad categories of work but that there are other things that a wife must do for her husband.
Section two: If a woman brings slaves as dowry into the marriage, she is no longer responsible for all of the work. The more slaves she brings into the marriage, the less she is obligated to work.
Section three: Rabbi Eliezer disagrees with the previous statement, that if a wife brings four slaves into a marriage she may sit around and do nothing. A husband can always force his wife to make wool, an easy task but one that would keep her busy, for too much idle time may lead her to unchastity. We can note that this mishnah espouses what many Americans hold as an ideal: work and keeping busy not only provides for oneself, but also protects one from trouble.
While Rabbi Eliezer says that a husband can force a wife to work, Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that a husband cannot prevent a wife from performing work. A husband cannot take a vow prohibiting his wife from working for such idleness might lead her to being insanely bored. A rich husband might want his wife to sit around all day and do nothing, just so that everyone can see what a rich man he is and that his wife need not work. In order to protect the woman, Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that a husband does not have such a right

הכניסה לו שפחה אחת – money or property in order to purchase one maidservant.

יושבת בקתדרא – on a resting/lounge chair and she does not go on his errands to here or there and even though she pours for him the cup [for drinks] and makes the bed for him and washes his face, hands and feet, for these labors, they are not performed by a woman other than his wife alone.

שיעמום – shock/sudden calamity, which is the Aramaic translation of (Deuteronomy 28:28): “and dismay” is and sudden calamity of the heart, and the dispute of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel regards a woman who is not idle, but rather engages in all sorts of merriment and there is lewdness involved. But there isn’t boredom/shock for there is no boredom but rather with one who sits and gazes/is astonished and is completely idle, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eliezer.

המדיר את אשתו מתשמיש המטה – aa for example, that he said: the benefit of your sexual intercourse will be forbidden upon me, but the benefit of my sexual intercourse will be forbidden to you; he is not forbidden for he is subjugated to her, as it is written (Exodus 21:10): “he must not withhold her conjugal rights.”

Introduction This mishnah teaches that a husband has an obligation to have sexual relations with his wife. How frequently he is obligated depends on his job. The idea that a husband has an obligation to periodically have relations with his wife is derived from Exodus 21:10 which states that if a man takes a second wife he cannot diminish from her three things: food, clothing or conjugal rights. With regard to our issue, if a man has two or more wives he must provide each one with their conjugal rights. You can imagine that this might have been one deterrent to the practice of polygyny (the proper term for the practice of men marrying more than one woman).

ב"ש אומרים שתי שבתות – if he took a vow for two weeks, she should wait, for such as we found with a woman who gives birth to a female who is ritually impure for two weeks.

A man forbade himself by vow from having intercourse with his wife: Beth Shammai says: two weeks; Beth Hillel says: one week. A man cannot make a vow to forbid upon his wife anything which he is mandated to give her by law. The man in this mishnah, perhaps in a fit of anger, forbade his wife from have sexual relations with him. This is not permitted and if he does not have his vow annulled (a process we will discuss in tractate Nedarim), he must divorce her and pay her the ketubah. However, he is not obligated to divorce her that very day; rather he is given a period to cool off and hopefully have his vow annulled. According to Beth Shammai he is given two weeks and according to Beth Hillel he is given only one week. After that length of time, he must divorce her and pay her the ketubah.

וב"ה אומרים שבת אחת – for such we have found with a menstruant woman who is ritually impure for seven [days] and we learn something that is frequent. The anger [that a person expresses] over his wife and takes a vow concerning her is something that is frequent, [which we learn] from the menstruant woman something that is frequent, to exclude giving birth which is not all that frequent. But the School of Shammai holds that we learn something that he caused to her. The vow of a man which he causes her to wait/delay from giving birth, which is upon his hand comes upon her, to exclude the menstruant woman that of its own comes to her. And more than one week according to the School of Hillel and two weeks according to the School of Shammai, he should divorce [her] and give [her] the Ketubah settlement, and even if he was a camel driver whose period is thirty days or a sailor whose period is sixth months.

Students may go away to study Torah, without the permission [of their wives for a period of] thirty days; workers for one week. Since a husband must have relations with his wife, he cannot be away from her for a long period of time. According to this section, a Torah scholar cannot leave his wife without her permission for longer than thirty days. A worker can be out of town for only one week. If either wish to remain away from their wives for a longer period of time, they must receive permission.

התלמידים וכו' שלשים יום – and our Mishnah is according to Rabbi Eliezer and the Rabbis dispute it and state even two or three years, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.

The times for conjugal duty prescribed in the torah are: For independent men, every day; For workers, twice a week; For donkey-drivers, once a week; For camel-drivers, once in thirty days; For sailors, once in six months. These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. This section delineates how often in general a husband must be available to have relations with his wife. The frequency depends on his occupation. An independent man, meaning one who doesn’t work, must have relations with his wife every day. Note that this does not mean that he actually has to do so, but rather that if she so desires, he is obligated. He cannot claim that he is too busy to have sex with her. Workers must be available twice a week. The Talmud explains that this refers to workers who work in the city; those who work outside the city are obligated only once a week, as we learned in the previous clause. Donkey-drivers, who travel short distances must be available once a week. Camel-drivers who travel longer distances must be available once a month and finally, sailors who travel for long periods of time, need to return home once every six months. This all refers to situations where the wife has not given her husband permission. If she has given him permission, he may stay away longer. She might give him permission if, for instance, for the sake of supporting the family, the husband had to be away for a long period of time. However, it is her right to demand that he find work closer to home.

הטיילים – who have no work nor business.

החמרים – who go out to the villages to bring grain.

הגמלים – who bring packages on the camels from a place far away.

הספנים – who go on a voyage to the Great Sea (Mediterranean). He who his beginning was the master of a craft whose period [permitted before he must have sexual relations with his wife] is close and he requested to become the master of a craft whose period is further off, his wife waits for him, except for that of the study of Torah where the woman is unable to wait for her husband who was at leisure ora worker who does not become a Sage.

המורדת – from providing sexual relations, but from work, we force her to do work and we don’t judge her as rebellious.

Introduction This first part of the mishnah deals with a wife who refuses to provide for her husband one of the things that she is obligated to him. This could either refer to one of the labors listed in mishnah five, or it may refer to a wife who refuses to sleep with her husband. The second half refers to a husband who does not provide his wife with one of the things that he is obligated to give to her. I should note that this mishnah and other related sources has been an issue of much controversy throughout Jewish history and continues to extremely controversial today. It ties into the issue of a woman’s ability to force her husband to divorce her. Briefly, the conclusion of the Talmud is that if after twelve months the woman continues to refuse to act as a wife to her husband, the court forces him to divorce her, but she loses her ketubah. The Geonim, the rabbis who came after the Talmud, made a famous enactment that the husband is forced to divorce her immediately. Some Geonim ruled that she receives part of her ketubah. Early post-Geonic scholars ruled similar to the Geonim, until Rabbenu Tam, a 12th century French talmudic commentator, ruled that the court can never force a husband to divorce his wife. Within a few centuries this became the unanimous opinion amongst halakhic experts. Today we are left with the serious problem of a husband who refuses to divorce his wife.

טרפעיקין – Every half a denar (Quinarius – see Talmud Ketubot 64a) is a weight of forty-eight barley-corns of refined silver according to the weight of three Darkmonim which is called DRAHAS in Arabic, as each Darkmon is sixteen intermediate barley-corns of silver.

If a wife rebels against her husband her ketubah is reduced by seven denarii a week. Rabbi Judah says: seven tropaics. If a husband claims that his wife is not fulfilling her duties he must bring her to court and the court will impose upon her a reduction of seven denarii per week of her rebellion. Rabbi Judah says that it is reduced by seven tropaics, each tropaic being half of a denar.

עד כנגד כתובתה – and afterwards he gives her a Jewish bill of divorce and she leaves without the Ketubah settlement but he doesn’t restrain her in order to lessen on the property that fell to her from her father’s house and to cause her to lose out.

How long does he continue to reduce? Until the amount of her ketubah. Rabbi Yose says: he may continue to reduce, and if she receives an inheritance he may collect from it. According to the first opinion, the reduction of her ketubah continues until it reaches the total amount of her ketubah. At this point he must divorce her and he does not pay anything to her. Note that he doesn’t begin to reduce from the dowry which he must return to her upon the dissolution of the marriage. The reduction is only made in the amount that he is obligated to give her (200/100 minimum) from his own pocket. Rabbi Yose holds that he continues to take away her property. He would reduce from the amount of money she brought into the marriage and then continue to reduce against any potential future inheritance. In other words, according to Rabbi Yose he is never obligated to divorce his wife.

מוסיפין על כתובתה שלשה דינרים – because of the pain that a difficult man that he is prevented from sexual intercourse more than the pain of his wife. Therefore, when she rebels and causes him pain, we decrease her [Ketubah] by seven Denarim, but when he rebels and causes her pain, we don’t increase [the Ketubah] to her other than by three Denarim, and where she rebels, we state in the Gemara (Talmud Ketubot 63b) took a second note and an announcement regarding her shall be made on four consecutive Sabbaths and that then the court shall send her [the following warning]: ‘Be it known to you that even if your Ketubah is for one hundred Maneh, you have forfeited it.’ The same [law is applicable] to a betrothed or married woman and even to a menstruant [and even to a sick woman] and even to one awaiting the decision of the levir. But prior to the announcement, they inform her that they want to make an announcement about her and after the announcement, they inform her that she has already fulfilled the announcement, and if she stood in her rebellion, she would be divorced without her Ketubah settlement.

Similarly, if a husband rebels against his wife, an addition of three denarii a week is made to her ketubah. Rabbi Judah said: three tropaics. This section teaches that a similar process occurs with a husband. If he rebels against her, the amount of her ketubah is increased. However, the increase is smaller than the corresponding decrease. According to the Talmud, the seven reduced from the ketubah corresponds to the seven labors that she is obligated to him and the three is added to his ketubah to correspond to the three things he owes her, food, clothing and conjugal rights.

המשרה את אשתו על יד שליש – he gives her support through an administrator and does not eat with him (II Kings 6:23): “And he prepared a lavish feast for them [and, after they had eaten and drunk, he let them go, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean bands stopped invading the Land of Israel];” service.

Introduction Assumedly, most husbands and wives shared households. Since the husband was obligated to feed his wife, they would eat together and she would eat whatever she so desired (usually, I would assume within reason), as long as he could afford to pay for the food. If the husband ate well, then so did the woman and if he did not, neither did she. However, a problem might arise if for some reason the couple does not live together, for instance he works abroad. Alternatively, he may have two wives, each in a different house. The question would then become, what must he provide for her. Our mishnah and tomorrow’s mishnah lists what he must provide as a bare minimum for her food, clothing and bedding.

לא יפחות לה – in a week.

If a man provides for his wife through an agent, he must give her [every week] not less than two kavs of wheat or four kavs of barley. Rabbi Yose said: only Rabbi Ishmael, who lived near Edom, granted her a supply of barley. He must also give her half a kav of pulse and half a log of oil; and a kav of dried figs or a maneh of pressed figs, and if he has no [such fruit] he must supply her with a corresponding quantity of other fruit. Every week the husband must provide his wife with the basic grains and fruits that were the staple of most diets. There is a debate about whether or not he can give her barley in place of wheat. Barley was a lesser grain, one which was not as good for making bread. According to the first opinion, he may give her barley, provided he gives her twice the amount of wheat. According to Rabbi Yose only Rabbi Yishmael who lived near Edom, on the eastern side of Israel, gave her barley, for barley was common there. In other places a husband must give his wife the better grain, wheat. He also must give her pulse (beans), oil and fruit. The standard, preferred fruit was figs but if he had no figs he could give her other fruit.

לא פסק לה שעורים – double from the wheat, but Rabbi Yishmael, who was near Edom where the barley was the worst.

He must also provide her with a bed, a mattress and a mat. He had to provide her with bedding, including a bed frame and a mattress and a mat to sit on. According to the Talmud, he must also provide her with a pillow.

דבילה – figs that were tread in a circule and sold by wheat and not by measure.

He must also give her a hat for her head and a girdle for her loins; shoes, from festival to festival; and clothing worth fifty zuz every year. She is not to be given new [clothes] in the summer or worn-out clothes in the winter, but must be given clothes worth fifty zuz during the winter, and she wears them when they are worn-out during the summer; and the worn-out clothes remain her property. He must give her a hat, for women had to cover their heads, a belt and shoes. She received new shoes at each festival, a total of three times a year. She received fifty zuz worth of clothing a year and it was to be given to her in the rainy season. This way it would wear out at around summer time and she could then still cover herself with what shards lasted through winter. The worn out clothing belongs to her and she could do what she wants with it.

מפץ – softer than a matting.

כפה – one veil.

ומנעלים ממועד למועד – new shoes for each of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals.

חדשים – hard for her during the months of sunlight (i.e. heat) because they are hot, and nice for her in the rainy days.

והשחקים שלה – even when he purchases her new ones because she covers herself with them during the days of her menstruation.

נותן לה מעה כסף – in each week for the needs of small things.

Introduction This mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s. It continues to list what the husband must provide for his wife if he is maintaining her through an agent.

ואוכלת עמו ליל שבת – even though that on all the rest of the days [of the week], he can give her support through a third party if he wants, on Friday night, which is the night of conjugal relations, he is obliged to eat with her.

He must also give her [every week] a silver ma'ah for her [other] needs and she is to eat with him every Friday eve. Besides the requirements listed in yesterday’s mishnah, the husband must also give his wife a silver ma’ah per week for her other needs. This was not a large amount of money (=1/6 of a denar/zuz). Furthermore, even though she is not living with him, he must eat with her once a week, on Friday nights. In the Talmud this is interpreted in two ways: 1) he must literally eat with her, the assumption being he must provide her with company; 2) he must have sexual relations with her once a week.

מעשה ידיה – athe excess of her handiwork, meaning to say, what she does greater than her support/food.

If he does not give her a silver ma'ah for her other needs, her handiwork belongs to her. The mishnah now delineates the consequences of him not providing her with what is required. If he does not give her even the smallest amount of that which is required, the ma’ah for spending money, she does not need to give him her handiwork. In other words, he is penalized for not fully providing for her.

שתי – it is hard to wave double of woof and the weight of Judea is double that of the Galilee.

And what [is the quantity of work that] she must do for him? The weight of five sela’s of warp in Judea, which amounts to ten sela's in Galilee, or the weight of ten sela's of woof in Judea, which amounts to twenty sela's in Galilee. If she was nursing, her handiwork is reduced and her maintenance is increased. The mishnah now lists what she is expected to produce, in return for receiving her maintenance. Note that the mishnah does not state that if she doesn’t produce enough, he need not pay her. Rather the point of the mishnah is that if she produces any more, she may keep it for herself. This is not a list of what she must minimally make for him; it is a list of the maximum of what he is allowed to take from her. Differing amounts are given for Galilee and for Judea, for different systems of measurement were used in each region.

הכל לפי כבודו – and also according to the custom of the country/province.

All this applies to a poor person in Israel, but in the case of a more respectable [husband] all is fixed according to his dignity. Finally, the mishnah qualifies everything that it stated in the previous two mishnayoth. All of these amounts refer only to a poor person who cannot afford to provide his wife with any more than the bare minimum. A rich person is obligated to maintain his wife at the same level at which he provides for himself. Even if he is stingy with regard to his own food and clothing, if he has the means he must provide well for wife. There obviously cannot be a situation where he is living the good life, and he sends his wife to live somewhere else and provides her with only the minimum. Rather, all of the lists are only what a very poor husband must provide.