Kiddushin 2a: The Significance of the Hei in Ishah and the Mitzvah of Marriage (Part 1)

Rabbi Zweig opens Masechta Kiddushin by analyzing a Tosafos (תוספות) that addresses a seemingly technical grammatical question: why does the Mishna spell "ishah" (woman) with a hei when discussing marriage? Tosafos introduces the principle that "ishah mevurar bekra"—that the word ishah with a hei is specifically tied to the Torah (תורה)'s language of marriage. The shiur asks: is this merely a stylistic convention, or does it reveal a substantive halakhic principle? The Maharsha and Maharshal offer competing interpretations. The Maharshal argues that once a woman has been married—even if the current Mishna is not discussing the marriage itself—the hei is appropriate. Thus, cases like "ishah sheholach ba'alah l'medinas hayam" (a woman whose husband went overseas) and "ishah shahokah" (a woman who traveled) legitimately use the hei because these women were once married, even though the Mishna discusses their subsequent circumstances. The Maharshal's difficulty is with "ishah shenisar me'ah" (a woman who receives a hundred zuz), which appears unrelated to marriage status. The Maharsha, by contrast, insists that the hei is only warranted when the subject matter is the act of marriage itself, not merely when the woman happens to be married. According to the Maharsha, even "ishah sheholach" and "ishah shahokah" require justification beyond the woman's married status—they are acceptable only because they relate back to the original ishah whose marriage was discussed in the Torah.