Bava Kamma 3 - All Damages Are Not Equal (Torts)

Goring (using horns) is unique in that the ox's intent is to damage, and the ox is the owner's property who needs to watch it; its subcategories include squatting and kicking.

Eating (tooth) is unique in that the animal's intent is for self-gratification; its subcategories include an animal scratching against the wall or soiling fruit by frolicking on it.

Do subcategories have the same laws as the main damages? Mostly yes, except in a case where a cow was walking, and a pebble shot from under its foot and broke vessels, for which the owner pays only half the damages.

Art: A Short-Horned Heifer, Engraved By William Ward Dartington

Bava Kamma 2 - Four Categories of Damages (Torts)

There are four primary categories of damages, and all other cases can be classified as belonging to one of these: the ox, the pit, the man, and the fire.

Liability for one can not be deduced from the other. For example, a man is responsible in full for even accidental damage, while the owner of an ox is liable for half the damage the first three times; a fire isn't alive, and a pit doesn't move around.

However, since they can all cause damage, the owner is responsible for watching over them and paying damages from the choicest land.

Art: Heads of Two Oxen by Leon Augustin L'Hermitte

Kiddushin 82 - Conclusion

Rabbi Meir says: "One should always teach his son a clean and easy trade, and he should pray to He to Whom all wealth and possessions belong because there is no trade that does not include indigence and wealth. For poverty is not the result of a trade, nor is wealth the result of a trade; rather, all is per one's merit."

Rabbi Nehorai says: "I put aside every trade in the world, and I teach my son only Torah, for a man benefits from its reward in this world, and the principal remains for him in the World to Come."

The mystical meaning of Kiddushin

The bride is symbolic of Tzedek - righteousness and also of being poor. When given a coin - a prutah - the minimum amount for giving, she symbolizes Tzedakah, charity. She then turns her face to the groom, and this face-to-face meeting, symbolic of God talking to Moses, prepares them for the honor of Chupah.

Art: Bricklayers, From A Series Depicting Trades And Professions by Jan Georg van Vliet

Kiddushin 81 - Don't Scoff at Sinners

Rabbi Akiva was accustomed to scoffing at sinners because he felt it was simple to overcome the temptations of the Evil Inclination if only one desired to do so.

One day Satan appeared to him disguised as a woman, perched atop a palm tree. Rabbi Akiva began to climb to meet "her." When he reached the middle, Satan released him from his grip and said: "Had they not proclaimed in Heaven - 'Be cautious of Rabbi Akiva and his Torah,' - I would have made your life worthless."

Students of Shmuel were careful not to be alone with an animal, but this is usually not required.

Art: Ridolfo Ghirlandaio - Adoration Of The Shepherds

Kiddushin 80 - Seclusion with a Woman

A man may not be secluded even with two women (and certainly not with one) because a woman may hope that her female companion can be convinced to duplicate her act - following the teaching that women's minds are easily swayed.

One may be secluded with two women if his wife is present, and he may even sleep in the same room as them in an inn.

A woman may be secluded with two men if they are of high moral character, but if they aren't, then even with a group of ten, it is not permitted.

Art: Portrait of Caterina Cornaro, Wife of King James II of Cyprus by Titian

Kiddushin 79 - Agent and Father Find Husband for Daughter

If a minor girl's father commissioned an agent to find a husband for her and accept the betrothal money, and the father himself then went and betrothed her to someone, then if the father's betrothal occurred first, it is valid. If the agent's betrothal occurred first, then it is the one that is valid.

If it is unknown whose betrothal occurred first, she can only marry another man if both give her a Get. And if they want, one can give her a Get, and the other can marry her.

Art: Alphonse Daudet & his Daughter by Eugene Carriere

Kiddushin 78 - Parents Testify About Children

If a Kohen cohabits with his sister, he renders her a zonah (someone who engaged in an illicit relationship that is forbidden to her), but he does not render her a chalalah (someone whose child loses Kohanic sanctity). However, if he cohabits with her again, he renders her a chalalah.

If one testifies that his son is a mamzer, and even if both parents say this about a fetus, they are not believed because a man can not testify against himself. But Rabbi Yehudah says that they are believed because a man is believed to say, “This is my first-born son,” and so also about a mamzer.

Art: Child Drinking Milk by Mary Cassatt

Kiddushin 77 - Kosher Kohen

A child born from a union between a Kohen and a woman who is forbidden to him due to his status as a Kohen is not imbued with Kohanic sanctity. He may not perform the Temple service and is not subject to the prohibition against going to the cemetery.

Women prohibited to a Kohen include a divorcee, a convert, and a woman who cohabited with any man whom she is Biblically forbidden to marry.

If a male convert marries a female convert, their daughter is allowed to marry a Kohen.

Art: A Conversation Piece by Lilly Martin Spencer

Kiddushin 76 - Checking the Family Line

A Kohen who wishes to marry a daughter of a Kohen must examine the status of her ancestors: her mother and the mother of her mother, the mother of her mother's father and her mother, the mother of her father and her mother, the mother of her father's father and her mother - but only if there is some evidence of a blemish.

If in that line he finds a Kohen who served at the Altar, or a member of the Sanhedrin, or a public official, or a charity collector, the investigation stops. The latter two are often involved in quarrels, so any blemish in their genealogy is already known.

Art: Four Breton Women At The Seashore by Charles Cotteto

Kiddushin 75 - Those Whose Prohibitions are Uncertain

Rabbi Eliezer says: “Those whose prohibitions are uncertain, such as children born out-of-wedlock from unknown father and foundlings, can not marry each other or those whose prohibitions are certain.” However, the law is not like this but is like the Mishna, which states that they are allowed to marry each other.

Two opinions about Cutheans (dwellers of Shomron): that they were insincere converts driven by fear of lions, and the special Kohamin who mixed with them were unfit, or that they were sincere converts and the special Kohanim among them were the best.

Art: The Lions by Paul Rose

Kiddushin 74 - Who Is To Be Believed

The seller is believed when he states, "I sold the item to this person, and the other person gave me the money against my will" - all the time that the merchandise is still in his possession.

A midwife is believed to tell us who is the firstborn – but only immediately after birth; his mother is believed for the first seven days of his life; his father is always believed because of “...shall recognize the firstborn.”

A mother of a child born out of wedlock is believed if she says that she cohabited with a person who is genealogically fit.

Art: A Woman with her Baby in her Lap by Pieter de Hooch

Kiddushin 73 - Whom Can a Convert Marry?

Rava lectured in Mechuza: "A convert is permitted to marry a daughter of a Kohen." The people of Mechuza loaded him with fine silks. He then taught them: "A convert is permitted to marry a woman who is a mamzer." They told him, "You have ruined the effect of the first statement you made."

Shetuki (his unmarried mother silences him when asked about the identity of his father) should not marry an Israelite of unblemished lineage. Even though he is Kosher, since most of the men who might have been his father are Kosher, this is an additional measure to protect genealogical purity.

Art: Edwin Lord Weeks - The Silk Merchants

Kiddushin 72 - Generations

When R' Akiva died, Rebbi was born. When Rabbi died, Rav Yehudah was born. When Rav Yehudah died, Rava was born. When Rava died, Rav Ashi was born. This teaches you that a righteous person does not depart from the world until another righteous person like him is born, as it is said, "And the sun rises, and the sun sets..." 

Mamzerim will be genealogically pure in the Messianic Era because "I will cast pure water on you, and you will be purified from all your impurities, and from all your defilements, I will purify you."

Art: Cardinal Mazarin at the Deathbed of Eustache Le Sueur by Alexandre Evariste Fragonard

Kiddushin 71 - Family Conflict

Rav Yehudah needed help finding a genealogically fit wife for his son. Ulla asked him, - do we know from where we come? We might be descended from those "...who lie upon beds of ivory and defile their couches." Instead, go after silence, that is, find a family whose members are quiet and peaceable.

If you see two families in conflict with one another, you can assume that there is some genealogical flaw in one of them, and because of that flaw, Heaven will not allow one of them to cleave to the other.

Art: A Peaceful Moment by Charles Baugniet

Kiddushin 70 - Whoever Calls Others Unfit is Himself Unfit

Whoever declares others to be genealogically unfit is himself genealogically unfit, never speaks in praise of others, and declares them unfit with his own blemish.

A man in Pumbedita offended Rav Yehuda. The man used to call other people slaves. Rav Yehuda excommunicated him and pronounced him a slave. In the court of Rav Nachman, Rav Yehudah explained that he pronounced the man slave because he called others slaves. Usually, this only allows one to suspect, but on that day, Rav Matna, who had not visited Pumbedita for 13 years, came and confirmed that the man was a slave, and more blemishes were discovered.

Art: Karoly Ferenczy - Joseph Sold Into Slavery By His Brothers

Kiddushin 69 - Ten Genealogical Classes

According to Rabbi Tarfon, a mamzer can marry a slave woman, have children with her who get her status of slaves, then free them, and they become free Jews and not mamzerim. However, Rabbi Eliezer says that the children are still mamzerim.

Ten genealogical classes went up from Babylonia to Israel: Kohanim, Leviim, Israelim, Chalalim (disqualified Kohanim), converts, freed Canaanite slaves, mamzerim (illegitimate), Netinim (Gibeonites), Shetukim (whose mother silences him about the father) and Asufim (foundlings, or ones gathered in).

Kohanim, Levvim, and Yisraelim are permitted to marry each other. Leviim, Israelim, chalalim, converts, and freed slaves are allowed to marry each other.

Art: A Children's Party by Walter Frederick Osborne

Kiddushin 68 - Marriage with Gentiles

From where do we know that Kiddushin does not take effect with a gentile? - "You shall not make marriages with them."

From where do we know that her offspring is non-Jewish like her? - "For he will turn your son away from Me, and they will serve other gods." Thus your grandson who comes from your Jewish daughter is called your son, but your grandson who comes from a heathen woman is not called your son; instead, he is considered her son.

Art: Grandfather's Pleasure by Louis Henry Charles Moeller

Kiddushin 67 - Offspring

In every case where betrothal takes effect, and the Torah did not prohibit marriage, the offspring follows the male. If a Jewish woman was married to a Kohen, Levi, or Yisrael, the son is like the father.

In every case where betrothal takes effect, even though the marriage is prohibited, the offspring follows the blemished party. A woman mamzer married to a Jew or a Jewess married to a mamzer - the child is a mamzer.

In every case where marrying is prohibited to the degree that betrothal does not even take effect, the offspring is a mamzer. Thus, mamzer (literally, "defective seed") is an offspring from any one of the forbidden relations in the Torah, such as a married woman with another man (married or unmarried). Mamzer is forbidden to marry anyone but a convert, and his or her child remains a mamzer.

Art: Jewish Scholars Debating by Josef Johann Suss

Kiddushin 66 - Credibility of Witnesses

If a single witness says to a person, "Your ox was sodomized," and it is, therefore, unfit to be a sacrifice, and that person remains silent, the witness is believed.

King Yannai was incited by Elazar Ben Po'ira against the sages of Israel. Yannai wore the golden plate of the High Priest, and one Sage protested that Yannai was an unfit Kohen. Elazar suggested killing all Sages. But what of the Torah? - Here it is in the corner; anybody who wants can learn! Yannai executed the Sages. And why was Yannai fit? The witnesses to his unfitness were later established as false witnesses.

Art: Two Standing Oxen by Jacob Jordaens

Kiddushin 65 - Disagreement about Who Betrothed Whom

If a man says to a woman: "I betrothed you," and she says: "You did not betroth me," - he is forbidden to marry her relatives (mother, sister, etc.), but she is permitted to marry his relatives.

If he says: "I betrothed you," and she says: "You did not betroth me, but rather you betrothed my daughter," - he is forbidden to marry the relatives of the mother, and the mother is permitted to marry his relatives; he is allowed to marry the relatives of the daughter, and the daughter is permitted to marry his relatives.

Art: Faustine by Maxwell Armfield

Kiddushin 64 - Older Daughters and Younger Daughters

If one has two groups of daughters from two wives, and he says: “I gave my eldest daughter in betrothal to a man, but I do not know if it was the eldest daughter of the older ones, or the eldest of the younger ones, or the youngest of the older ones - they are all prohibited from marrying other men, except for the youngest daughter of the younger ones – says Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yosi says they are all permitted to marry other men, except for the eldest of the older ones, for a man would not voluntarily put himself in a position of doubtful outcome.

Art: Daughters of the Earl Waldegrave by Paul Sandby

Kiddushin 63 - The Father of the Bride Has a Say

If a man says to a woman: "Become betrothed to me on condition that my father does not protest," and the father dies without protesting, the woman is betrothed. If the son dies, the father should protest retroactively so that the woman avoids levirate marriage.

If the father of a girl declared: "I gave my daughter in betrothal, but I do not know to whom," and a man came and said, ""I am the one," he is believed. If two men came, both of them should give a Get. If they wish, one gives a Get, and the other marries her.

Art: The Surprise by Charles Henry Tenre

Kiddushin 62 - Mistaken But Valid Betrothals And Those That Can't Happen Yet

If one betrothed a woman and subsequently said, "I thought that she was the daughter of a Kohen, but in fact, she is the daughter of a Levi," or vice versa, "I thought that she was poor, but in fact, she is rich," or vice versa - the woman is betrothed, because she did not mislead him.

Suppose one performs an act of betrothal and tells a woman, "Become betrothed to me after I convert to Judaism," or "after your husband dies," or "After your sister (my current wife) dies." In all these cases, she is not betrothed even after the specified event takes place.

Art: A Beggar Woman by Hugues Merle

Kiddushin 61 - Conditions

All stipulations (such as "I will marry you if you do this") must observe the following rules:

* They must be doubled, such as if yes, then.. and if no, then ...
* The stipulation must precede the act, that is, "If you do this, I will marry you..."
* The positive must precede the negative

This is learned from the conditions that Moshe set, "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuven will cross..." and "But if they will not cross..."

If these rules are not adhered to, the conditions are void. However, there are other opinions, and one better be careful.

Art: Torah Scribe by Artur Markowicz

Kiddushin 60 - Betrothal with Delayed Payment

A man said to a woman: "Become betrothed to me after thirty days," and someone betrothed her in the interim. When the thirtieth day arrives, the second betrothal remains effective and thus prevents the first one from going into effect.

If one says to a woman, “You are betrothed to me on condition that I will give you two hundred silver coins (about $10,000) – she is betrothed to him, provided that he pays. When he pays, she is betrothed to him retroactively from the first day. Therefore, if she accepted a betrothal from someone else in the interim, it is void.

Art: The Moneylender And His Wife (detail) by Quinten Metsys

Kiddushin 59 - Stealing the Bride

If one says to his fellow: "Go and betroth so-and-so to me," and the fellow went and betrothed her to himself, she is betrothed to this second person, though he has acted deceitfully.

Rav Gidel was negotiating to buy a piece of land, but Rav Abba bought it first. He wanted to give the land when informed, but Rav Gidel would not accept presents. The land was left for students' use and acquired the name "The Land of the Rabbis."

If one says to a woman, "Behold, you are betrothed to me after thirty days" (valid), and another man comes and betrothed her in the meantime, she is betrothed to the second man.

Art: A Flirtation by Vicente de Parades

Kiddushin 58 - Money from the Sale of Forbidden Objects

Money from the sale of forbidden objects listed previously is permitted for use, and betrothal with it is valid. Why?

Regarding idolatry, it says, "You shall not bring it into your house and become banned like it," which means that whatever you generate from the sale of idols is forbidden, but other money is permitted. But this may teach the rule, not an exception. - No, because there is another exception where money is forbidden: the fruit of the seventh year. Money from the sale of other items is permitted.

Art: Terracotta Idols Of Tabasco, From The Ancient Cities Of New Mexico, by Claude Joseph Desire Charnay

Kiddushin 57 - Sources for Benefit Prohibitions

Decapitated calf, used as atonement for murder, is forbidden for benefit and can not be used to betroth a woman - because it is compared to sacrifices, which are forbidden for benefit.

Why are the birds of a metsora forbidden for benefit? The procedure requires slaughtering one of them, then dipping the other one into the blood and letting it go free. It is performed outside the city but is compared to sacrifices inside the Temple, which are prohibited for benefit. The bird which is let free is afterward not prohibited for benefit, for the Torah would not create a stumbling block.

Art: Boy with Bird by Peter Paul Rubens

Kiddushin 56 - Betrothal with Items Forbidden For Benefit

If one betroths a woman with the fruits of the tree's first three years, with grains planted in a vineyard, with an ox that was condemned to be stoned, with a decapitated calf, with birds of a metzora, with hair of a Nazirite, with a firstborn male of a donkey, with a mixture of meat cooked with milk, with an unconsecrated animal slaughtered in the Temple Courtyard, she is not betrothed.

However, she is betrothed if he transgressed and sold any of these items and betrothed her with their payment.

Art: Burns and Highland Mary by Thomas Faed 

Kiddushin 55 - Animal Lost near Jerusalem

If an animal suitable for an offering was found between Jerusalem and Migdal Eder or at a similar distance (4 miles) from Jerusalem, males are treated as burnt offerings, and females are treated as peace offerings.

But males can also be peace offerings! - We treat them with the stringencies of both; thus, if someone steps forward and voluntarily obligates himself to the monetary value of the lost animal to redeem it, he needs to consecrate the value of both (Rabbi Meir).

Rabbi Yochanan: But redemption, though effective, is not allowed! - He waits for the animal to get a blemish and be redeemed.

Art: A Goat In A Meadow by Henriette Ronner-Knip

Kiddushin 54 - Misappropriation

If one betroths a woman with a second tithe (produce separated from the crops which must be brought to Jerusalem and eaten there), he has not betrothed her because the second tithe is not his but Divine property (accepted ruling of Rabbi Meir).

If one betroths a woman with property belonging to the Temple treasury, then, if he did this by mistake, the property first became his, and even though he committed misappropriation, the betrothal took effect. If, on the other hand, he did it knowingly, then the property remained consecrated, not his, and the betrothal did not work (accepted ruling of Rabbi Yehudah).

Art: The Dancing Couple by Gerard Ter Borg