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Text Excerpt
דלא מציא אמרה ליה ״נסתחפה שדהו״. כי תיבעי לך שלא בשעת ווסתה, מאי? כיון דלא בשעת ווסתה הויא, מציא אמרה ליה ״נסתחפה שדהו״, או דלמא כיון דאיכא נשי דקא משנייא ווסתייהו — כשעת ווסתה דמי.
as it is clear that she cannot say to him that his field was inundated. Here, the circumstances were avoidable, and postponement of the wedding is attributable to her. When you should raise a dilemma is in a case where menstruation began not at the time of her set period. What is the ruling there? Since it is not the time of her set period, it is comparable to the case of her illness, and she can say to him that his field was inundated. Or, perhaps since there are some women whose set period changes, it is avoidable, and its legal status is like menstruation at the time of her set period, and postponement of the wedding is attributable to her.
פשיט רב אחאי: הגיע זמן ולא נישאו — אוכלות משלו ואוכלות בתרומה. ״לא נשאו״ לא קתני, אלא ״לא נישאו״.
Rav Aḥai resolved these dilemmas through a careful reading of the Mishnah: If the time arrived and they were not married, the brides are entitled to eat from his food and eat teruma. It doesn’t teach: And the grooms didn’t marry, in the active form. Rather, it teaches: And the brides were not married, in the passive form.
היכי דמי: אי דקא מעכבן אינהי — אמאי אוכלות משלו ואוכלות בתרומה? אלא לאו, דאיתניס כי האי גוונא, וקתני: אוכלות משלו ואוכלות בתרומה.
The Talmud asks: What are the circumstances described in the phrase: They were not married? If the brides postpone the marriage, why do they eat from his food and eat teruma? Rather, is it not referring to a case where they were compelled by circumstances beyond their control in that manner, e.g., the bride falling ill or beginning to menstruate, and it teaches: The brides eat from his food and eat teruma, and his bad fortune is responsible for his situation.