WEEKLY DAFootnotes #50
Bava Batra 107-113; Issue #50
For the week of 3 Av, 5762 / July 12 2002
|
Sponsored by Kof-K Kosher Supervision
|
||
All in the Family
When someone is considering a woman for marriage, advises the Sage Rava, it would be wise for him to check on her brothers.
The source for this advice is the passage in the Torah which informs us that "Aharon took as a wife Elisheva, the daughter of Aminadav and sister of Nachshon" (Shmot 6:23). After telling us that she was the daughter of Aminadav, why was it necessary to also let us know who her brother was? The answer is that Aharon married her because her brother Nachshon was the head of the Tribe of Yehuda, and this teaches us the importance of checking out the brothers of the intended mate.
The reason for this investigation is not to determine the character of the woman but rather to ensure that the children she will bear will be of good character. This is based on what our Sages tell us in this very same gemara that most children take after their mother's brothers.
This reason is the background for an interesting dispute between two brother Tosefists. The gemara (Mesechta Yevamot 62b) has high praise for someone who marries his sister's daughter. Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, grandson of Rashi) contends that this praise extends also to marrying a brother's daughter, and the only reason the sister's daughter is mentioned is because a sister is more likely to persuade her brother to marry her daughter. Rabbeinu Tam (Rabbi Yakov ben Meir, grandson of Rashi and brother of Rashbam) disagrees. His reasoning is that only in the case of marrying a sister's daughter is it considered an ideal marriage, because she takes after her uncle and they are therefore perfectly matched, a situation which does not necessarily exist in regard to a brother's daughter.
Bava Batra 111a
Blessed Daughter
"In order that your days and the days of your sons will be increased" (Devarim 11:21)is a blessing of the Torah which is familiar to us as the concluding passage of the second chapter of Shema we recite each morning and evening.
How this passage relates to women is the subject of two different Talmudic discussions.
In Mesechta Kiddushin (34a) the question is raised that perhaps women should be exempt from the mitzvah of affixing a mezuzah to the doorposts of her home. The reason for suggesting this is because immediately preceding the command of mezuzah is the one about learning and teaching Torah to your sons, which our Sages interpret as excluding women from the obligation to learn Torah. The proximity of these two mitzvot suggests that just as they are exempt from Torah study they should be exempt from the mitzvah of mezuzah as well. This is soundly rejected by the gemara because following the mitzvah of mezuzah is the above mentioned reward "In order that your days… be increased", which leads to the rhetorical challenge of "Only men need to live long and not women?"
In our own gemara the focus is on the meaning of "sons" in this passage. In regard to a daughter's right to inherit a parent where there is a son, the gemara cites a passage to prove that she has no rights of inheritance. In discussing ownership of a Canaanite slave the Torah instructs us that "You will cause him to be inherited by your sons after you" (Vayikra 25:46) The fact that the term "sons" is used rather than "offspring" teaches us that where there is a son the daughter does not inherit at all. If so, asks the gemara, are we to assume that the blessing of long life was limited only to sons because that term is used rather than offspring?
A blessing is different, answers the gemara. There are reasons for assuming that the Torah limits inheritance to sons. The failure to use the term "offspring" fortifies those reasons and leaves us with the conclusion that sons take precedence in inheritance as well. There is no logic, however, in limiting the Heavenly blessing for performing mitzvot to long life for sons and not for daughters. The meaning of "sons" in this context therefore means all children.
Bava Batra 110b
The Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) of Ohr Somayach offers summer and winter programs in Israel that attract hundreds of university students from around the world for 3 to 8 weeks of study and touring.
Copyright © 2002 Ohr Somayach International.
Send us feedback. Dedication opportunities are available for Weekly DAFootnotes. Please contact us for details.
