Kiddushin 4A

The Gemara examines expressions of divorce and emancipation, then turns to kiddushin with an outstanding loan versus the benefit of a loan, including the concern of ribbis. It explores whether a gift given on condition that it be returned works for kiddushin, and why kiddushin differs from other transactions because a woman cannot be acquired through chalipin.

Amirah B'Kiddushin: The role of speech in kiddushin, through Rashi, the Rashba, and the Ran.

Which expressions work for kiddushin, and when is giving the money without saying anything enough? The Gemara examines the wording, local usage, and whether she understands his intent. Includes the Biur Halacha on what defines a language and the Rashba on kiddushin when she doesn't understand the words.

The Gemara debates whether chuppah can effect kiddushin, exploring Rav Huna's argument and the challenges to it. It then examines kiddushin through money: who gives the money, who says the words, and how the wording affects the kiddushin.

The gemara explores how we know a shtar effects kiddushin, through the hekesh of veyatzah-vehaysah linking marriage and divorce, and why that same link cannot allow a woman to be divorced with kesef. The Kovetz Shiurim explains who would be giving the money in such a case, while the Rambam discusses a get with a condition that the husband later withdraws. We also discuss why none of the three methods of kiddushin can be derived from the other two, and Rav Huna's kal vachomer that chuppah itself acquires.

Kiddushin 4b explores why the Torah needs both "ki yikach" and the Pasuk freeing an amah ivriyah to teach kiddushei kesef, and why the man must give the money rather than the woman. The Pnei Yehoshua questions the comparison to an ordinary purchase, while the Makneh explains the mutual nature of the marriage bond. We also discuss the Ritva's distinction between beginning kiddushin and completing nisuin, explaining why bi'ah acquires a yevamah but money does not.

The Gemara explores a father's rights to his daughter's kiddushin money and earnings, and why one cannot be learned from the other. We also discuss kiddushin when the offspring would be disqualified, and the Torah's separate references to na'arus and bogrus in freeing an amah ivriyah, including the case of an aylonis who reaches bogrus at age twenty.

We learn why chalitzah cannot end a marriage. The Gemara then examines the Torah source for kiddushei kesef and why a father receives his daughter's kiddushin money, through the words "veyatzah chinam, ein kesef." Along the way, it considers whether the money should belong to her and whether the father's rights can be learned from nedarim, fines, or payments for embarrassment and diminished value.

The Gemara examines why the Mishnah uses the word "ways" rather than "matters," comparing its wording with the mishnayos about esrog, koy, and gittin. It then asks what the number "three" excludes from the methods of kiddushin: chupah, or according to Rav Huna, chalipin. The Gemara explores why chalipin might have worked, based on the comparison to acquiring a field, and raises the issue that chalipin works even with an item worth less than a perutah.

The Mishnah's precise wording: why it says "a woman is acquired," what this teaches about her consent, and why it uses "three ways." The Gemara explores when derech is masculine or feminine, compares its use in other Mishnayos, and explains why the Torah describes the man as seeking a wife.