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Can kiddushin take effect through loan forgiveness or the pleasure derived from it? The Gemara (גמרא) on Kiddushin 6b teaches that betrothal through a loan (mekadesh b'milveh) is invalid, but through the pleasure of forgiveness (hanoah mechilas milveh) it works. Rashi (רש"י) and the Rosh offer fundamentally different approaches: Rashi requires creating an actual job for which payment is due, while the Rosh validates kiddushin when the woman consciously attributes the pleasure she receives to the man's action.
This shiur provides an in-depth analysis of Kiddushin 6b, examining the fundamental principle of mekadesh b'milveh (betrothal through a loan) and mekadesh b'hanoah mechilas milveh (betrothal through the pleasure of loan forgiveness). The Gemara (גמרא) establishes that betrothal through a loan itself is invalid, but betrothal through the pleasure derived from loan forgiveness can be valid. The shiur explores why this distinction exists and what exactly constitutes valid kiddushin in these cases. Rabbi Zweig presents the core debate between Rashi (רש"י) and the Rosh. According to Rashi, mekadesh b'hanoah mechilas milveh does not mean betrothal through the actual pleasure of having the debt discharged. Rather, it refers to a constructed "job" - the woman would have been willing to pay someone (a schar) to obtain loan forgiveness, and the man is performing that job. Therefore, the kiddushin is not based on the pleasure itself but on the value of the service rendered. This reading creates a significant difficulty (dechik) in the language of the Gemara, since the term "hanoah mechilas milveh" seems to directly reference the pleasure of forgiveness, not a secondary job. Rashi's approach also leads to the conclusion that if the entire loan is only worth a perutah, there can be no valid kiddushin, since no one would pay a perutah to discharge a perutah debt - the payment would be less than a perutah and therefore invalid.
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Kiddushin 6b
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