📜 Ketoubot — 14a

Yes, she conceived from relations with me. Rav Yosef said: The ruling here is clear, as with regard to what suspicion need we be concerned? First, he concedes that he is the father. And furthermore, didn’t Rav Yehuda say that Shmuel said: The halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Gamliel, and even if he didn’t admit that the child was his, the woman’s claim is accorded credibility? Abaye said to him: And in this case, based on the fact that you cited two reasons to deem the child fit, is that to say when he does not admit that he is the father Rabban Gamliel deems the child fit? But didn’t Shmuel say to Rav Yehuda: Big-toothed one, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Gamliel, i.e., that she is accorded credibility, but you should not perform an action based on this ruling unless the majority of the men in her proximity are honorable and of impeccable lineage, corroborating her claim. And here, since she is betrothed, the majority of the men in her proximity are unfit, as a child fathered by any man other than her betrothed is a mamzer. Shmuel should not have ruled that the halakha was in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Gamliel. Rav Yosef said to Abaye: And according to your reasoning, the halakha itself should pose a difficulty for you, as on the one hand Shmuel rules that it is the halakha and on the other hand he adds: But you should not perform an action based on this ruling. Rather, what have you to say to explain this contradiction? This statement that one relies on the woman’s claim only if a majority of men in her proximity are of unflawed lineage is ab initio. That statement that one may rely on the woman’s claim regardless of the status of the men in her proximity is after the fact. And this case of the betrothed woman, too, is like a case after the fact, as failure to rely on her claim will render her child a mamzer. Therefore, in this case, Shmuel would rule that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Gamliel. § Abaye raised a contradiction before Rava from a mishna (Eduyyot 8:3): Did Rabbi Yehoshua say that the woman is not deemed credible and her claim is not accepted? And the Gemara raises a contradiction: Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira testified concerning the widow whose late husband was a member of a priestly family of questionable lineage [issa], that she is fit to marry into the priesthood. Since the matter is uncertain, the woman retains her presumptive status of fitness and her late husband is presumed to be of unflawed lineage. Rava said to him: How can these cases be compared? There, in the case of the widow, one could say: A woman who marries investigates the lineage of her prospective husband before the wedding and only then marries. Therefore, one may rely on her presumptive status of fitness and deem her fit to marry a priest. Here, can it be said that a woman who engages in licentious intercourse investigates the lineage of her partner and only then engages in licentious intercourse? Rava said with regard to the contradiction that was raised: Is the contradiction between one statement of Rabbi Yehoshua and another statement of Rabbi Yehoshua difficult, and the contradiction between one statement of Rabban Gamliel and another statement of Rabban Gamliel not difficult? But isn’t it taught in the latter clause of that mishna with regard to the widow whose late husband was from a priestly family of questionable lineage that Rabban Gamliel said to them: We accept your testimony that this is the halakha, but what can we do, as Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai decreed not to convene a court for this purpose of ruling the woman fit, because the priests obey you when your ruling calls to distance a woman of questionable lineage from marrying them, but not when your ruling calls to bring her near and deem her fit to marry them. Apparently, Rabban Gamliel did not accept the lenient ruling in the case of the widow, contrary to his statement here that she is accorded credibility. Rather, Rava said: The contradiction between one statement of Rabban Gamliel and another statement of Rabban Gamliel is not difficult. There, in the case of the woman who engaged in intercourse with an unidentified man, her claim that the lineage of the man is unflawed is a certain claim. Here, in the case of the widow, her claim that his lineage is unflawed is an uncertain claim, because there is objective uncertainty with regard to his lineage. The contradiction between one statement of Rabbi Yehoshua and another statement of Rabbi Yehoshua is similarly not difficult. There, in the case of the woman who engaged in intercourse with an unidentified man, there is only one uncertainty: Is the lineage of the man with whom she engaged in intercourse flawed or unflawed? In the case of one uncertainty, the ruling is stringent. Here, in the case of the widow, there are two uncertainties with regard to the objective situation. It is established that there is uncertainty with regard to one of the members of the family whether or not he is a ḥalal. The first uncertainty is whether her late husband is the member of that family with regard to whom the uncertainty exists. Even if it is established that her late husband is indeed the one with regard to whom the uncertainty exists, there remains an uncertainty whether he is in fact a ḥalal. Therefore, according to Rabban Gamliel, a certain claim is so powerful for him that even in a case where there is one uncertainty, he also deems her fit to marry a priest. And an uncertain claim is so insignificant for him that even in a case where there is a compound uncertainty, he also deems her unfit to marry a priest. According to Rabbi Yehoshua, a case where there is one uncertainty is so powerful for him that even in a case where she makes a certain claim, he also deems her unfit. And the case of a compound uncertainty is so insignificant for him that even if she makes an uncertain claim, he also deems her fit. § Apropos the widow, the Rabbis taught: Who is the widow whose late husband was a member of a priestly family of questionable lineage and is fit to marry a priest? It is one who married into any family that does not have the status of being unfit, neither due to uncertain mamzer status, nor due to uncertain Gibeonite status, nor due to uncertain status as slaves of kings, who would force Jewish women, even daughters of priests, to marry them. Rabbi Meir said: