Ketubot 73: Stipulations and Conditions: When is a Betrothal Not a Betrothal?

The rabbis have been discussing what should be done if a woman has made vows before she is married.  If, for example, the husband marries her with stipulations regarding preexisting vows, the couple can be divorced.  Of course it is understood that a man would not engage in licentious sexual intercourse knowingly. In other words, he would not engage in intercourse with his wife if he knew that she had made a vow that forbade their intimacy.  

The Gemara seeks to understand the cases that involve minor girls who have been married off by their mothers or brothers because their fathers have died.  These married women are in unique circumstances because they can refuse their husbands before the age of twelve then take on the status of one who has never married.  Might a man be engaging in licentious intercourse with a minor girl who was previously married but then refused her husband without a divorce?  What if she did not officially refuse, but simply left her first husband, marrying for a second time?  When is intercourse permitted and when is it forbidden?

Amud (b) focuses on the rabbis' understandings of stipulations on betrothal and marriage.  Exactly what must be stipulated at what points in time to invalidate a betrothal or a marriage?  One of the main points that we learn through arguments and clarifications of arguments regards betrothal.  If it is determined that a betrothal was not based on contractual or other agreements, the betrothal is retroactively invalid.  This means that other actions based on the betrothal - sexual intercourse, marriage, for example - are not valid for the betrothal itself was not valid.

The Gemara examines conditions placed upon betrothals.  Complex examples are offered to further ensure that those who learn this text are completely baffled and confused.  Well, those examples also serve to clarify the complicated halachot.  

A very legalistic process is described in today's daf.  How can we be sure that we get what we 'paid for'?  When is a contract valid and when is it ineffectual?  How do we weigh the competing parties' rights when considering contracts regarding betrothal and marriage? 

And of course, further questions - such as how might we learn from ancient contractual law about how we might treat each other, understand each other?  And what of this ancient law is not useful to us?  Why not?