Resources for Kesubos 110
New Daf Hashavua newsletter - Shavua Matters
Rabbi Yechiel Grunhaus - Points to Ponder
Daf HaShavua Choveres - compiled by Rabbi Pinchas Englander
Rabbi Ari Keilson - Maarei Mekomos
1. The משנה says that a husband cannot force his wife to move from a city to a more rural area nor can he force her to move from a rural area to a city. The גמרא explains that even though a person has access to every amenity they need in big cities, living in cities is hard. רש"י explains that it is hard because the houses are close to each other and the air is not as good. The שיטה מקובצת brings רבינו יונה who says that the issue with cities is that the strong demand makes the prices of everyday goods expensive, and people have to live more extravagant lifestyles, dress fancier, etc. In a somewhat similar vein, theרמב"ם in הלכות אישות פּרק י"ג הל׳ י"ח says that a husband cant force his wife to move from a cheaper house to a more expensive house (this is like רשב"ג in our משנה). However, רשב"ג says the reason is that a nicer house is "בודק". רש"י explains that this means that the change to a higher standard can mess with the body and cause illness. Theרמב"ם in the above הלכה says בודק means that she now has to check herself to make sure she looks good or else her husband will think she is ugly (since she is now amongst fancier people)! While it’s unlikely that there is a real מחלוקת between רש"י and the other ראשונים, it comes out that according to רש"י the issue of forcing a move to a big city or nicer house is a physical one (it might hurt the body), whereas according to the רמב"ם and רבינו יונה, the issue with forcing the wife to move is one of perceived social pressures.
2. One of the big discussions on our דף is whether there is a מצוה to live in ארץ ישראל today. תוספות in ד"ה הוא quotes רב חיים כהן who says that there is no longer a מצוה to live in ארץ ישראל because it is too hard to keep the מצוות התלויות בארץ. It sounds like there is no מצוה of living there other than keeping מצוות התלויות בארץ. Theרמב"ם famously doesn’t count any מצוה to live in Israel in his מנין המצוות but the רמב"ן does in his (מצוה ד) based on the פּסוק of “וירשתם אותה וישבתם בה”. The מגילת אסתר understands in theרמב"ם that the רמב"ם holds there is no מצוה to live in Israel לדורות as the above פּסוק was only said during the time of כיבוש. In אבן העזר סימן ע"ה at the end the בית שמואל brings a מחלוקת ראשונים about whether there is a מצוה to live in Israel today but seems to indicate most ראשונים hold that there is. The מעיל צדקה brought in the פּתחי תשובה there says that even if there is a מצוה nowadays, it would not allow you to go there if you don’t have a job there and would need to accept charity. He also says you couldn’t go if your children would have a hard time there and go off the derech. In אגרות משה אבן העזר סימן ק"ב, Reb Moshe ז"ל says there is no מצוה חיובית to live there but according to most ראשונים there is a מצוה קיומית. Reb Moshe also make a very important point in דרש משה פּרשת ואתחנן. He says that besides the official מצוה to live there and the ability to be מקיים מצוות התלויות הארץ, there is also a big ענין to simply live in holy places. This explains why a husband can force his wife to move within Israel to ירושלים even though there are no more מצוות התלויות בארץ to do in ירושלים than the rest of Israel. We see that there is a big ענין to live in a holy place.