1,973. Slander Against a Girl

Naarah Besulah 2:17

The Rambam understands Leviticus 19:29 – the prohibition of a man defiling his daughter through prostitution – as follows: A father should not reason that since Torah obligates a seducer or a rapist to give the father money, then it is therefore his right to hire out his virgin daughter for sexual purposes, either for money or without charge since a man has the right to forgo money due him in favor of any other person. The Torah therefore commands “Do not defile your daughter…” in order to preclude any such misconceptions. The Torah requires that a rapist and a seducer pay money rather than be given lashes when such a thing happens without the father’s knowledge or the girl’s preparation, and this is an exceptional situation. However, if a man were to make his daughter accessible to anyone for such purposes, it would fill the world with immorality. The end result would be fathers marrying their daughters and brothers marrying their sisters because a girl would become pregnant and give birth without knowing who the baby’s father is. If a man has his daughter act in this way, it is prostitution and both participants in such relations are liable to the penalty of lashes, as per Deuteronomy 23:18, “There shall not be a prostitute….” The man in such a case doesn’t pay a fine, which the Torah only prescribed in cases of seduction and rape. If a girl prepares herself for relations on her own or spurred on by her father, it is prostitution. The prohibition against prostitution applies to both a virgin and a non-virgin. For this reason, the Sages said that a girl who is presumed to have behaved immorally in her youth does not receive the fine in cases of seduction or rape, as has been discussed.

Naarah Besulah 3:1

If a man issues a slanderous claim against a Jewish girl and the matter is found to be false, he is punished with lashes as per Deuteronomy 22:18, “He shall be flogged.” The warning that obligates one in such punishment is from Leviticus 19:16, “Do not go about as a talebearer among your people.” The offender must also pay the girl’s father 100 sela of pure silver; if the girl is an orphan, then she receives the money.