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Why must women marry on Wednesday and appear in court on Thursday? The Gemara (גמרא) presents three fundamentally different approaches: Rashi (רש"י) focuses on preventing sin through spousal separation, Tosafot emphasizes expertise in testimony, while the Rambam (רמב"ם) introduces a novel understanding centered on establishing lineage status rather than marital prohibitions.
This shiur presents a comprehensive analysis of the opening Mishna in Kesubos regarding the requirement for women to marry on specific days of the week, with particular focus on the underlying rationales presented by major Rishonim. The discussion centers on a fundamental question: why does the Mishna require all women to appear before Beis Din immediately after marriage, and what does this reveal about the nature of halachic testimony and marital law? The shiur begins by examining Rashi (רש"י)'s interpretation, which suggests that the court appearance is necessitated by concerns about potential prohibitions (issur) that might apply to the woman. According to this view, there are cases where a woman might become forbidden to her husband, and the court must investigate to prevent violation of these prohibitions. However, this approach encounters significant difficulties, particularly regarding the concept of lo plug (rabbinic uniformity) - how can such a rare circumstance (affecting primarily wives of kohanim in very specific situations) justify a universal requirement affecting all women?
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Kesubos 2a
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