Kesubos - Daf 82
- The yavam tells his brother, “If you want, divide the estate for yourself from now.”
On Daf 81b, the Gemara brought an incident in Pumbedisa where a yavam attempted to split the deceased brother’s estate with his brother who wanted to give the yevamah a get, in order to prevent the yavam from acquiring the whole estate. On this Daf, another incident is brought, with two brothers from Masa Mechasya, where the distrustful younger brother wanted to give the yevamah a get for the same reason, as he had heard that Rav Yosef ruled that an offer to split the estate would not be effective. The yavam told him, "אי בעית פלוג לך מהשתא" – “If you want, divide the estate for yourself from now.” The yavam reasoned that since he could divide the estate after doing yibum, it would also be effective to have his brother make a kinyan now with the intention to only acquire the estate after yibum. Mar bar Rav Ashi said that even though when Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisroel he said in the name of Rebbe Yochanan: האומר לחבירו לך ומשוך פרה זו ולא תהיה קנויה לך אלא לאחר שלשים יום – If one says to his friend: “Go and pull this cow, but it should not become yours until after thirty days,” he acquires it after thirty days, even if it is standing in a swamp; התם בידו – there it is effective because it was in the giver’s power to effect it at the time the kinyan was performed, but here, it is not in the yavam’s power to split the estate before the yibum is performed.
- כנסה הרי היא כאשתו שמגרשה בגט ומחזירה
The Mishnah had stated: כנסה הרי היא כאשתו – If the yavam married the yevamah she is considered his full wife. Rebbe Yose b’Rebbe Chanina said that the Mishnah is coming to teach: שמגרשה בגט ומחזירה – that he may divorce with a get and take her back as a wife. The Gemara explains that since the passuk says: "ויבמה" – and he does yibum with her, עדיין יבומין ראשונים עליה - that her yibum status is still on her and she would also require chalitzah. Therefore, the Mishnah is teaching that a get is sufficient. He taught that he could take her back, for one might have thought מצוה דרמא רחמנא עליה עבדה – that the mitzvah of yibum that the Merciful One imposed on the yavam he has fulfilled, and by divorcing her, she should be forbidden as an אשת אח. When the Gemara suggests that perhaps she should be forbidden, it answers that the passuk states: "ולקחה לו לאשה" – and he take her to himself as a wife, which implies, כיון שלקחה נעשית כאשתו – Once he takes her, she becomes like his ordinary wife.
- Shimon ben Shetach’s takanah that a husband’s possessions are pledged to the kesubah
It was taught in a Baraisa: בראשונה – Originally, they would write for a besulah two hundred zuz, and for an almanah a maneh. Rashi explains that they would not pledge their possessions as security for the kesubah, והיו מזקינין ולא היו נושאין נשים – but men were getting old without marrying. התקינו שיהיו מניחין אותה בבית אביה – The Chochomim instituted that the husbands deposit money for the kesubah in her father’s house. But still there was a problem, because when a husband became angry with his wife, he would tell her, “Go take your kesubah.” Since he did not have access to the money, he would not suffer financially from divorcing her. They then instituted that they leave the kesubah money in her husband’s house, עשירות עושות אותה קלתות של כסף ושל זהב עניות הוי עושות אות עביט של מימי רגלים – the wealthy women would make out of the money baskets of silver or of gold, while the poor women would make a urinal. But still, when a husband became angry with his wife, he would tell her to take her kesubah. עד שבא שמעון בן שטח ותיקן שיהא כותב לה כל נכסי אחראין לכתובתה – until Shimon ben Shetach came and instituted that the husband write to his wife, “All of my possessions are pledged to her kesubah.” Rashi explains that this was an effective deterrent to divorce.
