Ketubot 78: Bringing Property into Marriage

A new Perek begins with today's daf.  It begins with a Mishna about women's property brought into marriage.  If that property was bequeathed to the kalah before she was betrothed, both Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai agree that it is hers to give away or sell without interference from her chatan.  However, if the property was given to her after the betrothal, Beit Hillel are more stringent.  They believe that she does not have the right to sell that property.  However, both houses believe that the transaction is valid ab initio if she does sell the property.  Other rabbis comment on this interpretation, questioning whether or not the chatan has acquired his kalah's property when he acquires her. 

The Gemara wonders who has rights to this property.  Exactly when is she given the property?  Perhaps the timing of her acquisition will determine the status of his acquisition.  If they are betrothed, should he be allowed to access her property?  Should that wait until after marriage?  When do a chatan's rights take effect in other matters - like the nullification of vows?  Should this be our point of reference, or is the acquisition of property a different legal matter?

Through their discussion, the rabbis seem to overturn both Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai's rulings.  They agree that whether a kalah is bequeathed property before or after betrothal, her husband has rights to the produce of that property.  He may have married her specifically with the intention of using that produce, which is within his rights.  However, if she has hidden the property from him because the property is overseas and he did not plan to have access to its produce, then she is permitted to use that land as she wishes.  

The rabbis also discuss movable property, which is defined as object other that land which belong to the kalah when she enters into marriage.  These items can be hidden or concealed, and so the chatan would not necessarily know about these items in advance of the marriage.  Movable property continues to belong to the kalah.

The daf ends with the beginning of a story regarding a woman who conceals property.  When marrying for the second time, she wished to keep property from her husband, and so she contracted it as a gift to her daughter when her daughter married.  However, her daughter then divorced and refused to return the property to her mother, who requested it back.  Upon visiting a judge, the document was seen as a document of evasion - it was not truly intended as a gift to the daughter but as a evasive tactic.  The judge tore up this document.

What we learn from today's daf - likely not the entire conversation, however - is that women were entitled to very little wealth of their own.  What little they were allowed to bring into the marriage was not protected by the rabbis.  In fact, the rabbis went to some effort to ensure that women were not able to control the property that they brought into their marriages.  Because the chatan had rights to the produce of her property, the kalah could not easily sell it once they were married.  Finally, we learn that even though women were officially allowed to conceal property to ensure that they maintained some wealth in their own names, they could be punished for that same act of evasion.  Hopefully this perk will bring more appealing news about the rights of women in the ancient Jewish world.