Se un'orfana fosse sposata da sua madre o dai suoi fratelli con il suo consenso, e le scrivessero (una dote di) cento o cinquanta zuz, lei può, una volta maggiorenne, prendere da loro ciò che era legittimamente suo decimo dell'eredità]. R. Yehudah dice: Se lui [il padre] ha sposato la prima figlia [nella sua vita], alla seconda viene dato ciò che è stato dato alla prima [se meno o più di un decimo. L'halachah è in accordo con R. Yehudah, che seguiamo il giudizio del padre. E se non riusciamo ad accertare quale fosse quel giudizio, le viene dato un decimo della proprietà esistente al momento del suo matrimonio—dalla terra, ma non dal castello. (C'è chi ritiene che oggi le venga dato anche un decimo di chattel.) E se al momento del suo matrimonio non lo rivendicasse dagli eredi, potrebbe rivendicarlo dopo il suo matrimonio, e non diciamo che lei lo rinuncia a loro. E questo vale solo quando è nutrita dalla proprietà di suo padre; ma se gli eredi smettessero di darle da mangiare, (si presume che) la rinunciasse, a meno che non indichi diversamente. E se fosse una ragazza falsa, che non è nutrita da loro, e si sposasse senza rivendicare ciò che le era dovuto come dote dalla proprietà di suo padre, (si presume che) la rinunciasse agli eredi, e non può più reclamare anche se fosse stata nutrita dalle loro proprietà.] I saggi dicono: A volte un povero diventa ricco e un ricco diventa povero. Piuttosto, la proprietà viene valutata e (la sua quota) le viene data.
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
מה שראוי ליתן לה – one tenth of the property.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Ketubot
Introduction
This mishnah discusses the dowry given to an orphan girl who was married off by her mother or brothers.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
אם השיא – the father, during his lifetime.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Ketubot
If an orphan was given in marriage by her mother or her brothers with her consent and they gave her a dowry of a hundred, or fifty zuz, she may, when she reaches majority age, legally claim from them the amount that was due to her. Rabbi Judah says: if the father had given his first daughter in marriage, the second must receive as much as the first. The Sages say: sometimes a man is poor and becomes rich or rich and becomes poor. Rather the estate should evaluated and [the appropriate amount] given to her. Usually, only a father has the legal ability to give his daughter in marriage. However, the rabbis gave mothers and brothers the ability to marry off the daughter should the father have died. If the mother or brothers give the daughter a smaller dowry than is typical of a family of their economic status, the daughter may, upon reaching majority age, make a legal claim against her father’s estate and receive a higher dowry. We can see that the dowry is a legal right of the daughter’s and that right cannot be abrogated by her mother or brothers, who might, after all, have a vested interest in reducing her dowry (since a large dowry cuts their inheritance. According to Rabbi Judah, if the father had an older daughter whom he married off before dying, the court can force the family to give the same amount to the second daughter. The Sages, however, disagree, for sometimes a family can grow rich and sometimes they grow poor. Furthermore, sometimes a rich father can be cheap and give his daughter a small dowry. While alive, since it is his money, this is his right. Likewise, a poor father might give his first daughter a larger dowry than he could afford. In both cases, the first daughter’s dowry should not indicate the size of the second daughter’s. The only way of assessing how much her dowry should be is by correlating it to the size of the estate.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Ketubot
[married off the first daughter], he should give, etc. (i.e., to the second what the first received), whether it is less than one tenth or whether it is more. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda, for we go after the approximate mental assessment of the father. But if it is impossible to stand by the approximate mental assessment of the father, we give her one-tenth of his possessions as they are found now at the time of her wedding from his immovable (i.e. landed) possessions, but from movable possessions, she does not receive one-tenth. And there are those according to the one who states that in this time, from movable [possessions] she also has one-tenth. But if she married and she did not claim from the heirs, she claims after she got married and we don’t say that she resigned her claim regarding them. And especially, when she was supported from the property of her father but if the heirs stopped from giving her support, [she resigned her claim unless she derived benefit] but if she was an adult woman, she has no support from the property of her father and she resigned her claim regarding the heirs and she is not able to claim further, and even if she was supported from their property.
