Ketubot 3b (ג:) — the Talmud in English

We raise an objection:

where

the enactment of

“the Sages were diligent”?

And we answer:

as it was taught in a beraita,

we learned several laws concerning bringing a virgin under the wedding canopy:

a.

Why did they say that a virgin is married on Wednesday? —

Because

if he had a claim concerning her virginity, he would go early to the court

on Thursday.

b. Perhaps you will say:

let her be married

also

on Sunday, and if he had a claim concerning her virginity, he would go early to the court

which also sits on Monday? —

The Sages were diligent for the benefit of the daughters of Israel, so that a man would exert himself in preparing the wedding feast

the marriage

for three days

before she is brought under the wedding canopy,

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

And on

the day of

Wednesday —

he brings her under the wedding canopy.

c.

And from the time of the danger onward,

as the Gemara will explain below what the danger was,

the people adopted the practice of bringing brides under the canopy on

the

third day, and the Sages did not protest against them.

d.

And on

the

second day he should not bring her under the wedding canopy,

because of the danger. For it is sufficient that, because of the danger, we uproot only one of the three days preceding the wedding day that the Sages instituted for the groom to exert himself in preparing the feast, and permit bringing her under the canopy on Tuesday; we should not uproot two of the three days and permit marriage on Monday.

e. And the beraita adds another law:

And if it is due to circumstances beyond his control —

it is permitted.

The explanation of this law will be clarified below in the Gemara.

f.

And at the outset, on the night of Shabbat, they separate the groom from the bride,

so that he does not engage in the first intercourse,

because he causes a wound.

We raise an objection:

What is the danger?

If you say

because

the ruling

the gentile authorities

a virgin who marries on Wednesday,

in accordance with the enactment of the Sages,

will be killed,

because the intention of the gentiles is to uproot the enactments of the Sages —

How could the beraita say that

“the people adopted the practice”

the people themselves brought brides under the canopy on Tuesday, and the Sages did not protest against them? This wording of the beraita implies that there was no enactment of the Sages concerning this.

But

they should have entirely uprooted it!

The Sages should have enacted that virgins not marry on Wednesday, but on other days, so that they would not be killed!

Rabba said,

this was not a danger of death. Rather,

the ruling

the gentile authorities was:

a virgin who marries on Wednesday —

will first be required to have intercourse with the governor

who rules there

first.

Therefore, the Sages did not nullify their enactment that a virgin should marry on Wednesday; rather, the people adopted the practice of not marrying then.

And the Gemara asks:

This “danger”

is not a “danger”; rather,

it is coercion,

since the governor comes by virtue of his authority and has intercourse with her against her will. Why, then, did the tanna use the expression “danger”?

And we answer: The tanna used the expression “danger”

because there are

virgins

who are modest and would surrender themselves to death,

as they are unwilling to have intercourse with the governor and are prepared to give up their lives and die rather than do so,

and they come

and thus come

to a situation of danger

if they marry on Wednesday. Therefore, the people adopted the practice of marrying on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

And the Gemara asks: If they adopted the practice of marrying on Tuesday because of the danger, so that the modest women would not be endangered, there is a way for them not to come into danger and to be able to marry on Wednesday —

and let the Sages expound to them

the law for the modest women:

that intercourse under coercion is permitted!

Therefore, a woman who has intercourse under coercion is not forbidden to her husband, and the modest women would not come into danger even if the governor seized them and had intercourse with them against their will. If so, they should marry on Wednesday, in accordance with the enactment of the Sages. Why, then, did the Sages not protest against the people for violating the enactment of the Sages and marrying on Tuesday rather than Wednesday?

And we answer:

there are

women

“immodest”,

who, if we expound to them that it is permitted to have intercourse with the governor under coercion, will come to have intercourse with him willingly, and will thereby become forbidden to their husbands.

And there are also wives of kohanim [

that is, wives of kohanim, who become forbidden to their husbands, the kohanim, if another man has intercourse with them, even if it was under coercion. They would surrender themselves to death.

And the Gemara asks: Since this matter involves danger for the modest women and for the wives of kohanim, who would surrender themselves to death —

then let them uproot it!

Let the Sages uproot the enactment to marry on Wednesday, so that the modest women and the wives of kohanim will not come into danger, and let them establish other days for marriage.

And we answer:

The decree

of the gentiles

is likely to be nullified,

as it is liable to end,

and an enactment of the Sages, because of

because of

a decree

of the gentiles —

we do not uproot.

And the Gemara asks:

If so,

since the people adopted the practice of bringing brides under the canopy on Tuesday because the governor has intercourse with virgins who marry on Wednesday, what did they accomplish by this in preventing the decree? For if they marry

on

the

third day —

he will also come

the governor

and have intercourse with them

then!

And we answer:

Because of the uncertainty,

as the governor does not know with certainty that they marry on Tuesday, since there is no enactment of the Sages concerning this, but they marry then only as a matter of custom,

the governor does not uproot

the governor

himself

to come on Tuesday from his place to the city.

We further learned in the beraita:

And on

the

second day he should not bring her under the wedding canopy.

And if it is due to circumstances beyond his control —

it is permitted.

We raise an objection:

what

is the

circumstance beyond his control

of which the beraita spoke?

If you say

that the meaning of the beraita is

this,

that same

circumstance beyond his control that we mentioned,

namely, that the governor comes and has intercourse with virgins who marry on Wednesday, and therefore it is permitted to bring a bride under the canopy even on Monday, this is difficult —

why

there,

with regard to those who marry on Tuesday because of this circumstance beyond their control,

does the tanna call it

the tanna

“danger”?

Whereas

if

here,

with regard to those who marry on Monday,

he calls it

the tanna that because of the

“circumstance beyond their control”

it is permitted for them to marry on Monday!

Furthermore,

it is difficult that

there,

with regard to those who marry on Tuesday, the tanna worded his statement

“the people adopted the practice

of bringing brides under the canopy on Tuesday,” implying that most of them adopted this practice, but not all of them.

Whereas

here,

with regard to those who marry on Monday, the tanna stated

“it is permitted”!

This wording implies that only an individual who comes to ask the court concerning his own case is told that he may marry even on Monday, whereas the majority of the people did not practice marrying women on Monday.

Rather, necessarily, those who marry on Monday are discussing circumstances beyond their control arising from another cause —

Rava said,

for example,

when they announce,

that they have announced:

“A military commander has come to the city!”

And the soldiers will seize the provisions for the feast.

And the Gemara analyzes:

What are the circumstances of

this situation beyond their control?

If he comes and departs,

if the military commander comes only for a short time and then leaves the city, why should the enactment of the Sages be annulled and marriage on Monday permitted?

Let them wait!

Let the people delay marrying until the following Wednesday, by which time the military commander will have left the city, and let them marry on Wednesday in accordance with the enactment of the Sages.

Rather,

it is necessary

to speak of a case

in which he comes and establishes himself,

meaning that he comes and establishes his residence in this city and will not leave the city the following week.

But the Gemara still asks: Why did they permit marrying a virgin early, on Monday, thereby eliminating two of the three days that the Sages established for preparing the feast:

on

the

third day

of the week, before the military commander’s arrival,

at least, let him bring her under the wedding canopy!

There would then be two days available for preparing the feast!?

And we answer:

His escort,

the contingent of the military commander’s attendants who prepare his provisions one day before his arrival,

on

the

third day —

they come,

they arrive then, and if the wedding takes place then, they will seize the provisions of the feast from them.

And if you wish, say: What

is the meaning of the beraita that says

“because of circumstances beyond his control”

he may bring her under the canopy even on Monday? —

As it was taught: If the groom’s bread

of the groom was

baked,

and ready for the feast,

and his slaughtered meat

the meat prepared for the wedding was already ready,

and his wine

was already

diluted,

with water—and if the wedding were postponed, the bread, meat, and diluted wine would spoil —

and the groom’s father died [

who had been exerting himself in preparing the provisions for his son],

or the bride’s mother [

who had been preparing her wedding ornaments] —

they bring the deceased into a room,

and leave him there, without burying him at that time. For if they were to bury him, the laws of mourning would take effect upon the groom or bride, and they would then be unable to marry, since the laws of mourning begin from the time of burial onward.

And the groom and the bride

they bring

under the wedding canopy.