Kesubos - Daf 11
- It is a zechus for a katan to convert
Rav Huna said: גר קטן מטבילין אותו על דעת בית דין – In the case of a katan that converts, we immerse him in a mikveh on the understanding of Beis Din. Rashi explains that when the katan does not have a father, a Beis Din can serve in his father’s place, enabling the child to convert through them. The Gemara asks what Rav Huna is coming to teach. If it is to teach that it is a zechus for the child to convert, וזכין לאדם שלא בפניו – and we may benefit someone in his absence, meaning without his knowledge, this principle was taught in another Mishnah. The Gemara answers that one might have thought: עובד כוכבים בהפקירא ניחא ליה – that a nochri prefers a life of hefker, because it has been established that an eved prefers a hefker life. Rav Huna is therefore coming to inform us that this is only for an adult, דטעם טעם דאיסורא – who has tasted the taste of issur, אבל קטן זכות הוא לו – but for a katan, it is a zechus to be converted.
- Minors that convert may renounce their conversion when they get older
Rav Yosef said regarding minors that convert: הגדילו יכולין למחות – when they get older, they may renounce their conversion. Rashi explains that this din applies even in the case where the child converted along with his father. They are no longer subject to a punishment by a Beis Din, and if a man were to mekadesh a Jewish woman after his renunciation, she would not require a get like she would from a Jewish husband who became a mumar and renounced his faith. Abaye challenged this from our Mishnah, which discusses the kesubah for a giyores that converted when she was under the age of three years and one day. If they are able to renounce their conversion, יהבינן לה כתובה דאזלה ואכלה בגיותה – is it right that we should give her a kesubah that she would go and spend as a nochris? When the Gemara answers that we give it to her when she becomes an adult, so if she was divorced or widowed while still a child, Beis Din would collect the money and hold it for her, it then objects, since once she becomes an adult, she can still renounce her conversion. The Gemara concludes כיון שהגדילה שעה אחת ולא מיחתה שוב אינה יכולה למחות – Once she becomes an adult for one moment and does not renounce her conversion, she is no longer able to renounce her conversion. Therefore, at that time, she may collect her kesubah.
- Machlokes whether a katan who has relations with an adult female makes her a mukas eitz
The second Mishnah on the Daf states: הגדול שבא על הקטנה וקטן שבא על הגדולה ומוכת עץ כתובתן מאתים דברי רבי מאיר – Rebbe Meir says that an adult male that has relations with a minor girl, or a minor male that has relations with an adult female, and a woman injured by a piece of wood, their kesubos are two hundred zuz. But the Chochomim say: מוכת עץ כתובתה מנה – A mukas eitz, her kesubah is a maneh, which is one hundred zuz . Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: קטן הבא על הגדולה עשאה מוכת עץ – A minor boy who cohabits with an adult female renders her a mukas eitz. Rashi explains that even though a biah of a minor is not a biah, it is no less than an inserted piece of wood in terms of rupturing her besulim. Therefore, according to the Chochomim, she would only receive a kesubah of a maneh, and she would be forbidden to a Kohen Gadol who must marry a besulah. Rav Yehudah said, when he stated this in the presence of Shmuel, that he disagreed and said: אין מוכת עץ בבשר – There is no such thing as a mukas eitz caused by flesh. If such relations do not render her a non-besulah, they also do not make her a mukas eitz.
