In this lesson we will learn the final Mishnah of Maseches Kesubos. This Mishnah contains two topics: compelling one's spouse to move up to Eretz Yisrael and to Jerusalem, and payment of the kesubah in a place whose currency differs from the place where it was written.
Moving Up to Eretz Yisrael and to Jerusalem:
The Mishnah rules that either spouse may compel the other to move up to Eretz Yisrael, but neither may compel the other to leave Eretz Yisrael. The same law applies with regard to Jerusalem: either spouse may compel the other to move to Jerusalem, but may not compel the other to leave it.
This law applies equally to the husband and to the wife, and from it the monetary consequences follow:
A wife who refuses to move up with her husband: the husband may divorce her without paying her kesubah.
A husband who refuses to move up with his wife to Eretz Yisrael or to Jerusalem: if she wishes to go, he must divorce her and pay her kesubah.
Payment of the Kesubah in a Different Currency:
The Mishnah then discusses payment of the kesubah in a place whose currency is different. The Mishnah deals with a region outside Eretz Yisrael called Kapotkia, apparently located in the territory of Turkey, where the coins were far larger and heavier than the coins of Eretz Yisrael. From here come two cases:
He married a woman in Eretz Yisrael and divorced her in Kapotkia: he pays her with the money of Eretz Yisrael, which is the place where the original agreement was made and where the kesubah was written, and he is not required to pay with the more valuable money of Kapotkia.
He married a woman in Kapotkia and divorced her in Eretz Yisrael: here too he pays her only with the money of Eretz Yisrael, which is not as valuable.
The reason the Gemara gives for this is that the kesubah is only a rabbinic obligation, and therefore the Sages were lenient with it and did not obligate the husband to use the more valuable type of coin.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel disagrees and holds that one who married his wife and wrote her kesubah in Kapotkia, whose coins are larger, must pay her with the valuable money of Kapotkia even if the divorce takes place in Eretz Yisrael. The basis of his view is that the kesubah is a Torah obligation, d'oraisa, and therefore its law is like that of other obligations, in which we follow the place where the obligation was undertaken. Since the obligation was undertaken in Kapotkia, he must pay with the money of Kapotkia.
The Mishnah concludes: "Nosei ishah b'Kapotkia v'gershah b'Kapotkia - nosen lah mim'os Kapotkia" - one who marries a woman in Kapotkia and divorces her there pays her with the money of Kapotkia.
In summary: in the final Mishnah of Maseches Kesubos we learned that either spouse may compel the other to move up to Eretz Yisrael and to Jerusalem and may not compel the other to leave them, and whoever refuses either forfeits the kesubah or becomes obligated to pay it; and we also learned the law of paying the kesubah in the currency of the place, that according to the first Tanna he pays with the money of Eretz Yisrael because the kesubah is rabbinic, while according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel we follow the place where the obligation was undertaken because the kesubah is d'oraisa.
Thank you for joining us for Maseches Kesubos. We hope you will join us for the next tractate, Maseches Nedarim.