Kiddushin 71B

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Text Excerpt

כאן ⁠– להשיאו אשה, כאן ⁠– להוציא אשה מידו.

Here, in the final clause, it is referring to marrying a woman to him, and the halakha is that a family with no presumptive status requires investigation before one of them marries. There, in the penultimate clause, it is referring to the court removing a woman from him. The husband is not forced to divorce her unless it has been proven that they may not remain married.

אמר רב יוסף: כל שסיחתו בבבל, משיאין לו אשה. והאידנא דאיכא רמאי, חיישינן.

Rav Yosef says: Anyone whose speech is Babylonian, i.e., anyone who speaks the Babylonian language with a Babylonian accent, is allowed to marry a woman without having his lineage examined. The presumption is that he is Babylonian, and the lineage of Babylonian families is unflawed. The Talmud comments: But nowadays, when there are swindlers who may speak with Babylonian accents in order to avoid scrutiny, we are concerned even about those who speak like Babylonians.

זעירי הוה קא מישתמיט מיניה דרבי יוחנן דהוה אמר ליה: נסיב ברתי. יומא חד הוו קאזלי באורחא, מטו לעורקמא דמיא, ארכביה לרבי יוחנן אכתפיה וקא מעבר ליה. אמר ליה: אורייתן כשרה, בנתין לא כשרן? מאי דעתיך,

The Talmud relates: The Sage Ze’eiri, a Babylonian, was avoiding R' Yoḥanan, who was from Eretz Yisrael, since the latter kept saying to him: Marry my daughter. One day, when they were walking along the way, they arrived at a large puddle of water. Ze’eiri lifted R' Yoḥanan upon his shoulders and carried him over the puddle out of respect. R' Yoḥanan said to him: Our Torah is fit and worthy of honor in your eyes, and yet our daughters are not fit? What is your reason for not wanting to marry my daughter?

אילימא מדתנן: עשרה יוחסין עלו מבבל כהני לויי ⁠– אטו כהני לויי וישראלי כולהו סליקו? כי היכי דאישתיור מהני אישתיור נמי מהני! אישתמיטתיה הא דאמר רבי אלעזר: לא עלה עזרא מבבל עד שעשאה כסולת נקייה ועלה.

R' Yoḥanan continued: If we say a reason not to marry my daughter is from that which we learned in a Mishnah (69a): There were 10 categories of lineage among the Jews who ascended from Babylonia: Priests, Levites, Israelites, as well as many of flawed lineage, and you are concerned about the mamzerim among those who live in Eretz Yisrael, is that to say that all of the priests, Levites, and Israelites ascended to Eretz Yisrael? Certainly, Jews of unflawed lineage remained in Babylonia. Just as there remained from these unflawed categories in Babylonia, there also remained individuals from these, the flawed categories. Therefore, marrying only Babylonians will not alleviate your concern. The Talmud comments: In fact, this statement of R' Elazar escaped R' Yoḥanan: Ezra did not ascend from Babylonia until he made it like fine flour, and then he ascended. Accordingly, the people who remained in Babylonia were all of unflawed lineage.

Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.