007 - הִלְכוֹת אִישׁוּת פֵּרֶק ז

Laws of Marriage, Chapter 7

1. If a man says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me on the condition that my father will approve," if the father approves, she is betrothed; if he does not approve, or if he remains silent, or if he dies before hearing of the matter, she is not betrothed. If he says, "on the condition that my father does not object," and the father hears and objects, she is not betrothed; if he does not object, or if he dies, she is betrothed. If the son dies and afterwards the father hears, we instruct the father to say, "I do not approve," so that there will not be a betrothal and she will not fall before a yavam.

2. If a man says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this, on the condition that I have two hundred zuz, or a beis kor of land," if there are witnesses that he has it, she is betrothed; and if he does not have it, she is betrothed out of doubt—perhaps he does have it, and he claims not to in order to harm her.

3. If he says, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this, on the condition that I have two hundred zuz, or a beis kor of land in such-and-such a place," if he has it in that place, she is betrothed; and if he does not have it in the place he mentioned, she is betrothed out of doubt—perhaps he does have it there, and he intends to harm her.

4. If he says, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this, on the condition that I show you two hundred zuz, or a beis kor of land," she is betrothed, and he must show her. If he showed her money that belonged to others, or showed her a beis kor of land in another's field, she is not betrothed until he shows her his own. If he took the money as a loan, or in partnership, or rented the field, or took it as a sharecropper and showed it to her, she is not betrothed until he shows her his own, for the implication of "I will show you" is that "I will show you something that is mine, that I have for myself, this thing that I told you."

5. If he had a beis kor of land, and it had pits ten tefachim deep or rocks ten tefachim high, if the pits were filled with water, they are like rocks and are not measured with it, because they are not fit for planting; but if they are not filled with water, they are measured with it, because they are fit for planting.

6. If a man says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this, on the condition that you have no vows upon you," and it is found that she has one of these three vows—that she will not eat meat, or that she will not drink wine, or that she will not adorn herself with colored garments—she is not betrothed. If she is found to have a vow other than these—even if he says, "I am particular even about this"—she is betrothed. But if he said to her, "on the condition that you have no vows at all," even if it is found that she vowed not to eat carobs, she is not betrothed.

7. If a man says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this, on the condition that you have no blemishes," and she is found to have one of the blemishes that disqualify women, she is not betrothed. If she is found to have another blemish, other than those, even if he says, "I am particular even about this," she is betrothed. And what are the blemishes that disqualify women? All the blemishes that disqualify kohanim also disqualify women; and in the laws of entering the Beis HaMikdash, all the blemishes of kohanim will be explained. And there are more for women: foul odor, perspiration, bad breath, a deep voice, breasts that are a tefach larger than her companion's, or a tefach between one breast and the other, a dog bite that left a scar, and a mole on the forehead, even if it is very small, even if it is close to her hairline and even if it has no hair. This is the mole that is an additional blemish for women beyond those of kohanim. But if it is a mole with hair elsewhere on the face, or a large mole the size of an issar even if it has no hair, this is a blemish both for kohanim and for women.

8. If a man betroths a woman without specification, and she is found to have one of the blemishes that disqualify women, or is found to have one of the three vows, she is betrothed out of doubt. If he betrothed her on the condition that she has no vows, and she had vows, and she went to a sage and he annulled them, she is betrothed.

Laws of Marriage, Chapter 7

9. If a man betroths a woman on the condition that she has no blemishes, and she does have blemishes, and she then goes to a doctor and is healed, she is not betrothed. But if a man stipulates that he has no vows upon him and no blemishes, and he does have vows or blemishes, and he goes to a sage and has the vow annulled, or to a doctor and is healed, she is betrothed. For a man is not shamed by blemishes that have already been healed, and a woman is not particular about this.

10. If a man says to a woman, "Be betrothed to me with this, on the condition that I give you two hundred zuz from now until thirty days," if he gives it to her within thirty days, she is betrothed; but if thirty days pass and he has not given it, she is not betrothed. If he says, "Be betrothed to me with these coins after thirty days," even if the money is spent within the thirty days, she is betrothed after the thirty days; but if either he or she retracts within the thirty days, she is not betrothed.

11. If a second man comes and betroths her within the thirty days, she is betrothed to the second one forever, because at the time the second man betrothed her, she was not yet betrothed, and the second man's betrothal takes effect, and she becomes a married woman. And after the thirty days, when the first man's betrothal would take effect, it finds her already a married woman, and the first is like one who betroths a married woman, to whom betrothal does not apply.

12. If a man says to a woman, "Be betrothed to me from now and after thirty days with this dinar," and another comes and betroths her within the thirty days, she is betrothed to both of them out of doubt; therefore, both must give her a get, whether within the thirty days or after the thirty days. If one says, "Be betrothed to me from now and after thirty days," and another comes and says to her, "Be betrothed to me from now and after twenty days," and another comes and says, "Be betrothed to me from now and after ten days," even if there are a hundred in this sequence, the betrothal of all of them takes effect in her, and she requires a get from each one, because she is betrothed to all of them out of doubt.

13. If a man says to a woman, "Be betrothed to me except for so-and-so," meaning that she will not be forbidden to him, but will be a married woman to everyone else and like a single woman to so-and-so, she is doubtfully betrothed. But if he says to her, "Be betrothed to me on the condition that you are permitted to so-and-so," she is betrothed, and she will be forbidden to that person like to any other man, because he made a condition that cannot be fulfilled.

14. If a man gives two perutos to a woman and says to her, "Be betrothed to me today with one, and with the other after I divorce you," she is betrothed, and when he divorces her, she will be betrothed again—until he divorces her a second time, from the betrothal of the second perutah. But if a man says to a woman, "Be betrothed to me with this after I convert, after you convert, after I am freed, after you are freed, after your husband dies, after your sister dies," she is not betrothed, because he cannot betroth her at this time.

15. If a man says to a yevamah, "Be betrothed to me with this after your yavam performs chalitzah for you," she is doubtfully betrothed, since if he had betrothed her now, the betrothal would take effect out of doubt.

16. If a man says to his fellow, "If your wife gives birth to a daughter, she will be betrothed to me with this," he has said nothing. But if his fellow's wife is pregnant and the pregnancy is recognizable, she is betrothed. And it appears to me that he must return and betroth her from her father after she is born, so that he brings her into a betrothal that is without any flaw.

Laws of Marriage, Chapter 7

17. If a man says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with one hundred dinar," and gives her even one dinar, she is betrothed from the moment she receives the dinar, and he must complete the rest for her. This is like one who says to her, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with this dinar, on condition that I complete for you one hundred dinar"—she is betrothed to him from now. In what case does this apply? When he said to her, "with one hundred dinar" without specification. But if he specified and said to her, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with these one hundred dinar," and began to count them into her hand, she is not betrothed until he completes the amount; and even with the last dinar, both of them can retract. Likewise, if it is found that the maneh is missing a dinar, or one of them is a copper dinar, she is not betrothed. If one of them is a bad dinar—if it can be spent in pressing circumstances, he should exchange it; but if not, she is not betrothed.

18. If he said to her, "Behold, you are betrothed to me with these garments that are worth fifty dinar," and they were made of silk or similar items that women desire—if they are worth fifty, she is betrothed from the moment she receives them, and they do not require an appraisal in the marketplace before she is betrothed, so that her mind may rely on it; rather, since they are worth what he said, she is betrothed from the first moment. But if they are not worth that amount, she is not betrothed.

19. If a man and woman were engaged in discussions of betrothal, and he says, "I will betroth you with one hundred dinar," and she says, "I will not be betrothed to you except with two hundred zuz," and then he went to his house and she went to hers, and afterward they sought each other out and performed betrothal without specification—if the man sought out the woman, the woman's words are followed; but if the woman sought out the man, the man's words are followed.

20. If one appoints an agent to betroth a woman for him, and the agent went and betrothed her on a condition, she is not betrothed. Likewise, if he told him to betroth her on a condition, and he went and betrothed her without specification, or on a different condition, or changed the condition, she is not betrothed.

21. If he said to him, "Betroth her to me in such-and-such a place," and he went and betrothed her in another place, she is not betrothed. If he said, "Betroth her to me, and behold, she is in such-and-such a place," and he went and betrothed her in another place, she is betrothed, because he was only indicating the place to him. Likewise, if she said to her agent, "Receive my betrothal for me in such-and-such a place," and he received it for her in another place, she is not betrothed. If she said, "Behold, the husband is in such-and-such a place," and he received it for her in another place, she is betrothed, because she was only indicating the place to him.

22. If a man betroths a woman and immediately retracts, whether he or she, even if they retracted within the time it takes to speak, their retraction is nothing, and she is betrothed.

23. If one betroths on a condition, and after several days retracts the condition—even if he nullified it between himself and her, not in the presence of witnesses—the condition is nullified, and she is betrothed without condition. Likewise, if the condition was from the woman, and she later nullified it between herself and him, the condition is nullified. Therefore, one who betroths on a condition and then consummates the marriage without specification, or has relations without specification, she requires a get, even if the condition was not fulfilled, for perhaps he nullified the condition when he consummated or had relations. Likewise, one who betroths with less than a perutah, or with a loan, and then has relations without specification in the presence of witnesses, she requires a get, for he relied on this act of intercourse, not on the invalid betrothal: for it is presumed that a proper Jew does not have intercourse in a promiscuous manner, and now he is able to make it an act of mitzvah.