Nedarim 91A

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Text Excerpt

וגברא הוא דנסתחפה שדהו. ואמרינן ליה, מתניתין היא: האומרת ״טמאה אני לך״⁠ — יש לה כתובה.

And it is the man, her husband, whose field was flooded. In other words, like one whose field was flooded and destroyed, it is he who has suffered a natural disaster, as it is his status as a priest that forces him to divorce his wife. Therefore, she is entitled to receive payment of her marriage contract. And we said to Rava, in response to his question: The answer to your question is found in the Mishnah, which states: A woman who says to her husband: I am defiled to you, is entitled to receive payment of her marriage contract.

במאי עסקינן? אילימא באשת ישראל, אי ברצון ⁠— כלום יש לה כתובה? ואי באונס ⁠— מי קא מיתסרא על גברא? ואלא באשת כהן. אי ברצון ⁠— כלום יש לה כתובה? מי גרעה מאשת ישראל ברצון? אלא לאו: באונס, וקתני: יש לה כתובה.

The Talmud analyzes the Mishnah: With what are we dealing? If we say the Mishnah is speaking of the wife of an Israelite, consider the following: If she claims that she had sex willingly, does she have any right to receive payment of her marriage contract? And if she says it was by force, i.e., she was raped, is she thereby forbidden to the man, i.e., her husband? But rather, the Mishnah must be referring to the wife of a priest. Again, what are the circumstances? If she claims that she had sex willingly, does she have any right to receive payment of her marriage contract? Is her law any less stringent than that of the wife of an Israelite who willingly had sex with another man? Rather, is it not that the sex was by force? And the tanna teaches that she has a right to receive payment of her marriage contract. This answers Rava’s question.

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