by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 3, 2016
Introduction We have seen how the mohar transformed from money up front and a type of bride-price to money paid at the end of the marriage, becoming our Rabbinic ketuvah. We have also seen how parallel to that the money given at the beginning of the marriage changed from being a significant sum to a small symbolic amount –a perutah – thus transforming the act from one of kinyan to one of kiddushin. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on August 3, 2016
Introduction In Section A, we looked at the history of the ketuvah, and saw how it evolved from the Biblical mohar, and how this came with a raising of the wife’s status in the marriage. Here, in Section B, we will see how the shift from mohar to ketuvah was paralleled by a shift from kinyan to kiddushin in the act of the marriage itself. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016
In the previous lecture we saw how the institution of marriage in the Torah seems to be based on a concept of ownership, and that this is paralleled by the way in which the marriage is effectuate – the giving of a mohar or bride-price from the groom to the father of the bride. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016
Part I – In the Torah Section B – The Act of Marriage – Mohar and other Marriage-Monies We now turn to look at not the state of marriage, but the act of effectuating marriage. What act made an unmarried woman into an arusa, a betrothed woman? …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 31, 2016
Our concept of marriage is one of a mutually entered partnership between husband and wife. But is this the Torah’s and halakha’s understanding of the institution? In this lecture, we will look at how the legal/halakhic institution of marriage is conceptualized in the Torah and how that has evolved through Rabbinic times until today. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 20, 2016
Introduction In Part I of this series we explored areas where the halakha – as articulated in the Talmud – has made distinctions between our obligation to Jews and our obligation to Gentiles. The following chart is based on a similar chart which appeared at the end of Part I. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on October 28, 2011
The following piece was written shortly after the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011. Many people found themselves asking whether Gilad’s release was worth the cost of freeing of over one thousand terrorists. Many newspaper articles and opinion pieces were written on this topic as well, with the large majority of them coming down in favor of this decision. This topic – how high of a price to pay for securing the freedom of a captive – is actually a topic that arises in the Gemara.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on September 23, 2011
The Talmud (Gittin 37b) quotes a mishna in Shivi’it (10:8) that states that when a person attempts to return a debt during Shmita, the creditor should say to him “I annul it.” But if the debtor says, “Nevertheless, I wish to return it,” then the creditor should accept the payment. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on February 19, 2010
There is a debate in the gemara (Ketuvot 10a) whether the ketuvah is mi’di’orraita, Biblical, or mi’di’rabanan, rabbinic. The position that ketuvah is Biblically-based is an individual one, that of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, and he even states this position somewhat tentatively – mikan samkhu li’ktuvat isha min haTorah, from here the Rabbis found support to the institution of the ketuvah from the Torah.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on February 12, 2010
As is well known, there are two stages of marriage, kiddushin and nissuin. Kiddushin is referred to in the Torah as erusin, and nissuin is referred to as either kicha, taking (“Who is the man who has betrothed a woman and not taken her” – Deut 20:7) or beulat ba’al, a woman who has had sex with her husband (see Deut 22:22-23).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 29, 2010
The act of kiddushin, the giving of the ring, is accompanied by a verbal statement – harei at mekudeshet li bi’taba’at zo ki’dat Moshe vi’Yisrael, “behold you are betrothed to me with this ring, according to the laws of Moshe and Israel.”…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 22, 2010
When studying kiddushei kesef – kiddushin through the giving of an object of value – one must ask: is kiddushin is an actual kinyan, act of acquisition, or not? The two sides of this question can be seen in the development of the practice of giving a ring.…
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