Study Kiddushin folio 13A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
כי אמרה ״לא״ נמי הוו קידושין? אמאי, והא קאמרה ״לא״! אלא לאו: ״רצתה״ – דאמרה: ״אין״, לא רצתה – דאישתיקה משתקה. ושמע מינה שתיקה דלאחר מתן מעות – ולא כלום היא.
that if she said: No, it would also be a betrothal. But why should that be the case? After all, she said: No. Rather, is it not to be explained in this manner, i.e., that the phrase: She wanted, means she said yes, and: She did not want, means that she remained silent. And one can learn from this that silence after the money is given is nothing. Her silence is not interpreted as an agreement to the betrothal.
קשו בה בפום נהרא משמיה דרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע: מי דמי? התם בתורת פקדון יהבינהו ניהלה, סברה: אי שדינא להו ומיתברי – מחייבנא בהו, הכא בתורת קדושין יהבינהו ניהלה, ואי איתא דלא ניחא לה – (לישדינהו)!
In the city of Pum Nahara they raised a difficulty against Rava’s proof, in the name of Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua: Is it comparable? There, in the baraita, he gave her the money as a deposit but they are his. She therefore thinks: If I throw them and they break I will be obligated to pay for them, as would anyone who destroys another person’s property. Consequently, her silence is interpreted as consent only to continue in her role of holding it as a deposit. By contrast, here he gives them to her as betrothal money so that they would belong to her. And if it is so, that she is not amenable to being betrothed, let her throw them away.
פריך רב אחאי: אטו כולהו נשי דינא גמירי? הכי נמי סברה: אי שדינא להו ומיתברי מיתחייבנא באחריותייהו. שלחה רב אחא בר רב לקמיה דרבינא: כהאי גוונא מאי? שלח ליה: אנן לא שמיע לן הא דרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע, אתון דשמיע לכו – חושו לה.
Rav Aḥai refutes this argument: Is that to say that all women are learned in halakha? In this case also, she thinks: If I throw them and they break I will be responsible for them. Therefore, I will not throw them. One cannot deduce from the fact that she does not throw the coins that she accepted them as betrothal money. Rav Aḥa bar Rav, sent this question to Ravina: In a case like this, what is the halakha? Ravina sent the following response to him: We did not hear this statement of Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua. Therefore, we do not need to take it into consideration. You, who heard it, should be concerned about a possible betrothal.