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Is kesuva only a rabbinic institution, or does it have Torah (תורה)-level force? The shiur develops the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s position that kesuva mideoraisa is not just a business arrangement but a fundamental component of kiddushin itself, reflecting marriage as a permanent relationship. This explains why an almanah receives kesuva mideoraisa while a gerusha's kesuva is only derabbanan, and resolves apparent contradictions in the Rambam's formulation.
The shiur opens with the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s formulation in Hilchos Ishus that the mitzvah (מצוה) is "liso isha b'kisuv u'vkiddushin"—to marry a woman through kiddushin and kesuva. This raises a fundamental difficulty: the Rambam clearly holds throughout his writings that kesuva is only derabbanan, so how can it be part of the Torah (תורה)-level mitzvah of marriage? Additionally, the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim distinguishes between a pilegesh (concubine) and a wife by saying that a pilegesh has kiddushin without kesuva while a wife has both. If kesuva is only rabbinic, how can this be the fundamental distinction, and how can a pilegesh be forbidden mideoraisa? The shiur analyzes the sugya in Kiddushin dealing with an anusa (a woman who was raped). The Gemara (גמרא) states that an ones (rapist) must pay immediately, and when he marries the victim, "yotza kesef knaso b'kesuvaso"—the kesuva obligation is fulfilled through the knas payment. Tosafos (תוספות) asks: if the entire institution of kesuva exists only "kedei shetihiyeh kalah b'einav v'lo yotzi'enah" (so that divorce should not be easy in his eyes), why should an almanah (widow) receive kesuva at all? The takanah was only made for a gerusha (divorcee), and since here the man cannot divorce her (he is forbidden to divorce an anusa), there should be no kesuva even if he dies.
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Kiddushin 2a
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