The wife and her assets are hers TB Nazir 24

The Mishnah on today’s daf TB Nazir 24 distinguishes between the wife’s property and the husband’s property when the husband annuls her vow to be a nazir. “With regard to a woman who vowed to be a nazirite and separated her animals for her offerings of purity at the end of her term, and afterward her husband nullified her vow, which means that she is not in fact a nazirite, what becomes of these animals? If the animal was his, it shall go out and graze among the flock until it becomes blemished, like regular non-consecrated animals.

“And if the animal was hers, different halakhot apply to the various offerings: The animal she set aside as a sin-offering must be left to die by being shut in an enclosed area and deprived of food and water, as will be explained in the Gemara. And the animal separated for a burnt-offering is sacrificed on the altar as a burnt-offering, as in any case one may bring a voluntary burnt-offering. As for the one designated for a peace-offering, it is sacrificed as a voluntary peace-offering. And this peace-offering is eaten for only one day, in accordance with the halakha of the nazirite’s peace-offering, despite the fact that regular peace-offerings may be eaten for two days. But the offering does not require bread, i.e., loaves and wafers, unlike that of a nazirite.” (Sefaria.org translation)

To understand the Gemara’s question we have to remember that the rabbis lived in a very patriarchal society where the men owned or controlled all the assets of the household. “The mishna teaches: If the animal was hers, the sin-offering must be left to die and the burnt-offering is sacrificed. The Gemara asks: She, this married woman, from where does she have her own property? Haven’t you said as a principle that with regard to any item that a woman acquires, her husband automatically acquires it from her?” (Sefaria.org translation)

The Gemara then provides two answers how she can own those assets. Rav Pappa provides the first answer. “Rav Pappa said: This is referring to a case where she saved it from her dough, i.e., she was able to buy the animal with the money she saved…” (Sefaria.org translation) Tosefot ד"ה שֶׁקִּמְּצַתָּה מֵעִיסָּתָהּ reconciles this Gemara with a Gemara we learned back in massekhet TB Ketubot daf 59a. There we learned that the husband is obligated to feed his wife with a weekly stipend for that purpose. The left over money from the stipend belongs to the husband. If this is the case, how could she have saved money from her weekly allowance? Tosefot provides two solutions. First of all, the husband and wife can agree that in lieu of the weekly stipend for food, she gets to keep all the earnings of her own hands. If her earnings are more than the amount of money needed for food, she keeps her own profits. Tosefot quotes the Ram who explains that left over money belongs to the husband during a time of deflation. The cost of food has decreased; consequently, there is left over money from the allowance he gives her for food. That left over money belongs to him. But in our case, the wife makes due with less i.e. she is less. That left over money belongs to her.

The Gemara second answer is quite straightforward. “and if you wish, say instead that another person transferred the property to her, and he said to her that he is doing so on the condition that your husband has no rights to it. In that case the wife is the exclusive owner of the animal.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Obviously times have changed and women have control over their finances. This becomes even more important during the time the divorce because of the financial impact of divorce. “The numbers are shocking: a study carried out by Richard Peterson quantifies that after divorce, women experience a 20% decline in income and standard of living as well as a 27% increase in the risk of poverty.

“In comparison, men experience an average 30% increase in household income and standard of living.

“On top of that, divorced women are at a much higher risk of losing homeownership and “falling down the housing ladder” than men.

“After a divorce, women also risk a drop in their credit score, which can impact their economic recovery.” (https://womenwhomoney.com/financial-impact-divorce-women/#:~:text=The%20numbers%20are%20shocking%3A%20a,income%20and%20standard%20of%20living.)

The rest of the article provides good advice for women are in the midst of a divorce.