Fraud protection TB Ketubot 89

 Today’s daf TB Ketubot 89 deals with debt collection. Since the financial obligations of a ketubah is an edict of the court, מעשה ב"ד, a physical ketubah is not necessary. Consequently, not all communities had the custom of writing a ketubah. You might think the simple solution for those communities who don’t have the custom of writing ketubah, is to write a receipt when the wife receives the money from the husband. There is a debate whether one needs to write a receipt once a loan or ketubah is repaid. Those who believe that a receipt doesn’t need to be written holds that writing a receipt creates a burdensome responsibility to keep it as proof. Remember they didn’t have safety deposit boxes back then or even shoeboxes to keep and protect receipts

The Mishnah cites a case where the woman has her bill of divorce, a get, but doesn’t have her ketubah. “MISHNA: In a case where a woman produced a bill of divorce and it was unaccompanied by a marriage contract, and she demands that her husband pay her marriage contract, she collects payment of her marriage contract, and he cannot claim that he already paid it.” (Sefaria.org translation)

After his first interpretation of the Mishnah, Rav retracts it and provides another interpretation. “Rav said the following ruling: Both in a place where one writes a marriage contract and in a place where one does not write a marriage contract, if she produces only a bill of divorce, she collects the main sum of the marriage contract. The Sages established minimum sums to serve as the principal payment of the marriage contract: Two hundred dinars for a virgin and one hundred for a non-virgin. If she produces a marriage contract that specifies a larger sum, she collects only the additional sum and not the main sum, as there is a concern that she collected the main sum previously by producing the bill of divorce. And whoever wishes to challenge this solution, let him come and challenge it. There is no longer any possibility of deceit, as she will gain nothing by producing the marriage contract in a second court after having collected her marriage contract by producing her bill of divorce in a first court.” (Sefaria.org translation)

During my career as a rabbi I’ve seen some very bitter divorces. Now nothing seems to surprise me. The rabbis wanted to prevent fraud in divorce cases. Rav says that the woman may collect the main sum of her ketubah just by showing proof of her bill of divorce. In other cases of debt collection the borrower would just tear up the note after he paid back the loan. There is a good reason why a woman would not want her bill divorce to be destroyed. She would need it as proof that she single in order to remarry. What’s to stop her from going to court to court and collecting the base amount of money have a ketubah time and time again? The Gemara provides the solution.

“Rav Naḥman said to Rav Huna: According to Rav, who said that if she produces a bill of divorce she can collect the main sum of her marriage contract, shouldn’t there be a concern lest she produce the bill of divorce in this court and collect with it, and again produce it in a different court and collect with it? And should you say that we tear it, as the court does to other documents that have been paid, she will not let us do so, for she will say: I do not want you to tear the bill of divorce because I need it, so that when I want to marry again I can prove with it that I am divorced.

“Rav Huna responded: The solution is that we tear it and write the following on its back: We tore this bill of divorce, not because it is an invalid bill of divorce, but in order that she not return and collect with it another time.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Even though today a get is not issued until the couple has a civil divorce and works out all the financial details, the mesader gittin, the person who writes the get, will tear it so that it cannot be used again. We shall learn when we study massekhet Gittin that a get has to be written for the specific man and woman involved in the divorce. The rabbis were afraid that if the get was not invalidated, a different husband could find this get and he and his wife have the same name as the original husband and wife. He would mistakenly think he could divorced her when he gives that get to her. That will cause great problems if she remarried on the basis of that get.