לקוטי שיחות חלק י״ט - כי תצא ג

Regarding kiddushin through money, the Rogatchover investigates whether the cause is the money, and through the acquisition of the money the kiddushin takes effect; or whether the cause is the kiddushin, and through it the money becomes acquired.

The first possibility is indicated by the Gemara’s ruling that in kiddushin through money one cannot retract within toch kedei dibbur. The Rashbam explains that the case is one in which he wants the kiddushin money to become a gift. This implies that if he wishes to take the money back, he can retract, because the cause is the money, and regarding money one can retract within toch kedei dibbur.

The second possibility — that the cause is the kiddushin and through it the money becomes acquired — is indicated by the law that if he throws the kiddushin money and it lands closer to her, she is mekudeshes. There are Rishonim who say that the same principle applies regarding the kiddushin money itself.

Now, in the Gemara there are two teachings from which we learn that kiddushin can be effected with money.

According to the derivation from “When a man takes…” — learning kicha-kicha from the field of Ephron — it appears that the cause is the kiddushin, because the verse does not emphasize the money.

According to the derivation, “There is no money for this master, but there is money for another master when she leaves him,” it appears that the cause is the money, since the emphasis is on the money.

The explanation in the avodah of a person is as follows:

Money represents love, while kiddushin represents the idea that “he renders her forbidden to everyone else like hekdesh.”

The question is whether the cause — the beginning of the avodah — is kiddushin: the avodah of sur meira, turning away from evil, and through this one comes to love and to aseh tov, doing good. This is the usual order in avodas Hashem. Therefore, the derivation from “When a man takes,” which is the primary passage dealing with kiddushin, emphasizes that the cause is the kiddushin.

Or perhaps the cause is the money: the avodah of love and the avodah of aseh tov. This is the order as it comes from Above, in an unusual manner, brought about through the avodah of kabbalas ol — the service of the maidservant. Therefore, the derivation from the Hebrew maidservant emphasizes that the cause is the money.

Now, within every individual soul all of these levels exist. Therefore, there is an empowerment that through love and deveikus with G‑dliness, separation from the desires of this world comes about automatically, and the union and marriage between the Jewish people and the Holy One, blessed be He, is achieved.