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Text Excerpt
דאי בעיא אמרה: ״שלום בעולם״. או דלמא: כיון דאיחזקה — אמרה בדדמי, ולא אתי ״מה לי לשקר״ ומרע חזקתיה.
Because if she wanted to lie she would have said: There was peace in the world, and the court would have accepted her testimony. Or perhaps it can be argued: Since she has maintained that there was a war and this claim of hers has already been accepted, with regard to her report concerning her husband, she will say what she imagines to be the case, and the argument of: Why would I lie, does not come and undermine the established presumption that there was a war.
תא שמע: ״עישינו עלינו בית״, ״עישינו עלינו מערה״, ״הוא מת, ואני נצלתי״ — אינה נאמנת. שאני התם, דאמר לה: כי היכי דלדידך איתרחיש ניסא, לדידיה נמי איתרחיש ניסא.
The Talmud cites a baraita in an attempt to resolve this dilemma. Come and hear: It was taught that if a woman comes and says: They set our house on fire and the house became filled with smoke, or: They set our cave on fire to smoke us out, and she adds: My husband died and I was saved, she is not deemed credible. In this case, she herself related the entire story, and even so her version of events is not accepted. The Talmud answers that this is no proof. There, in the case of the fire, it is different, as one says to her: Just as a miracle occurred for you and you were saved, likewise a miracle might have occurred for your husband and he too survived.
תא שמע: ״נפלו עלינו גוים״, ״נפלו עלינו ליסטים״, ״הוא מת, ונצלתי״ — נאמנת. התם, כדרב אידי. דאמר רב אידי: אשה כלי זיינה עליה.
Come and hear a proof from another baraita. If a woman comes and says: A group of non-Jews attacked us, or: A group of bandits attacked us, and she adds: My husband died and I was saved, she is deemed credible. This indicates that her testimony is accepted due to the argument of: Why should she lie? The Talmud rejects this proof. There, in that baraita, her testimony is accepted because it stands to reason that she is speaking the truth, in accordance with the opinion of Rav Idi. As Rav Idi said: With regard to a woman, her weapons are upon her. In other words, a woman is generally not killed by thieves, because the very fact of her being a woman protects her. They would most likely rape her and not kill her. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that she is speaking the truth.