The ketubah is like a combination of a divorce settlement or a life insurance policy to protect the woman. If the marriage ends either because of divorce or death, the wife is entitled to the amount of money stipulated in the ketubah. The base amount is either 100 zuz or 200 zuz. No matter what, the woman is not left high and dry without any resources. We have previously learned that the base amount of either 100 zuz or 200 zuz comes from the Torah. The rabbis added other obligations for the groom and for the bride. The Mishnah on TB Ketubot 52b elaborates that even if some conditions were not explicitly written into the ketubah, the court still enforces them. The first one on the list is “male children-בְּנִין דִּכְרִין”
To appreciate this male children stipulation, let me provide some background. The first case is one husband and one wife. A man marries a woman, but unfortunately she dies first. The husband inherits her whole estate. When the husband dies, the estate is divided amongst the male heirs.
Let’s say the man has two wives. Both wives die; consequently both estates go to the husband. When the husband dies, the estate is divided equitably amongst the male heirs regardless of how many children each mother had.
Now that we see the second scenario, we can appreciate “the stipulation of male children” from the standpoint of one of the grandfathers. “If the husband did not write for her in her marriage contract: Any male children you will have from me will inherit the money of your marriage contract in addition to their portion of the inheritance that they receive together with their brothers, he is nevertheless obligated as though he had written it, as it is a stipulation of the court and therefore takes effect even if it is not explicitly stated.” (Sefaria.org translation) The father-in-law fears that if he gave his daughter a large dowry at the time for wedding the entire dowry will not solely go to his future grandchildren, but also to his grandchildren’s half-brothers. These grandchildren’s half-brothers are not related to him at all. The father-in-law might not be willing to give his daughter such a large dowry because it will not remain in the family when she dies.
The rabbis wanted to incentivize
the father-in-law to provide a large dowry which will make his daughter a more
attractive marriage candidate. They assured him that all his male grandchildren
will receive two ketubah line items.
They will receive the dowry and the ketubah
sum of either 100 or 200 zuz. The
groom will be more willing to make a large monetary contribution towards the
marriage if he knows the bride will receive a large dowry which he will enjoy
the dividends throughout their marriage.
The Gemara answers: This also applies by Torah law, as it
is written: “Take wives for yourselves and bear sons and daughters, and take
wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands” (Jeremiah 29:6).
This verse requires clarification. Granted, sons are in his hands, i.e.,
a father can select wives for them, but daughters, are they in his power
that he can select husbands for them? It is not the manner of a woman or her
family to court a man.[1]
“Rather, the verse teaches us this,
that the father should dress her and cover her and give her something,
i.e., property, so that men will take the initiative with her and
come to marry her. When the verse instructs fathers to marry off
their daughters, it means that they must make efforts to ensure this outcome,
including bestowing a dowry. The Gemara asks: And up to how much must a
father give his daughters? Abaye and Rava both say: Up to one-tenth of
one’s property should be handed over to his daughter for her dowry.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
There
is a financial limit to this rabbinic stipulation. If the estate is less than
one dinar, the estate is divided equally amongst all the male heirs. The male
child stipulation -
כְּתּוּבַת בְּנִין דִּכְרִיןis a rabbinic law. Inheritance is a
Torah law. The rabbis were unwilling to uproot a Torah law of inheritance with
the rabbinic dictums.
“But if this is the
reason for this enactment, say that it should apply even though there
is no more than a dinar beyond the value of the marriage contract
that the father left over in his estate. The Sages stated that if no
property is left for the inheritance, all the sons share the inheritance
equally, in accordance with Torah law. The Gemara answers: In a case where
their decree would entirely uproot the halakha of inheritance
by Torah law, the Sages did not enact the marriage document
concerning male children.” (Sefaria.org translation)
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