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When can a woman get married on any day versus only Wednesday? The Gemara (גמרא)'s discussion of Beis Din availability reveals a fundamental machlokes between Rashi (רש"י) and the Rambam (רמב"ם) about whether there's an obligation to go to Beis Din to clarify virginity claims, or just an obligation to avoid preparation conflicts with Shabbos (שבת).
This shiur analyzes a complex sugya in Kesubos 3a dealing with the Mishna's ruling that a virgin gets married on Wednesday. The Gemara (גמרא) states that from the time of Ezra's enactments, when Beis Din sat only on Monday and Thursday, women had to marry on Wednesday. But before Ezra's enactments, when Beis Din sat every day, women could marry any day. The Gemara then says that today, if there's a Beis Din that sits every day like before Ezra's time, a woman can marry any day, provided he prepared the food in advance. Rabbi Zweig identifies a fundamental difficulty: if the issue is just food preparation (tircha), why couldn't someone prepare food in advance even during the Mishna's time? The Gemara seems to suggest that today's situation is somehow different from the Mishna period.
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Kesubos 3a
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