Judgment in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur

Which [halakhic conclusion] was about this [matter? Is a presumption established after two occurrences or only after three?] When R. Isaac bar Joseph came [from Erets Yisrael], he said: An incident occurred before R. Yoḥanan in the synagogue of [the town of] Maon on [a]‌ Yom Kippur that occurred on Shabbat. [The] first [sister had] circumcised [her son] and he died; [the] second [sister circumcised her son] and he [also] died. [The] third [sister] came before him, [and he] said to her: Go and circumcise [your son, as a presumption is not established after only two occurrences]. [ . . . ]

What [conclusion] was [reached] about [this issue]? Come [and] hear, as R. Aḥa bar Ḥanina said [that] R. Abbahu said [that] R. Assi said: There was an incident [that came] before R. Yoḥanan in the synagogue of Caesarea [involving a woman who wanted a divorce from her husband after ten years of childless marriage], and he said [that the husband] must divorce [her] and give [her the payment for her] marriage contract. If it enters your mind [to say] that she is not commanded [to be fruitful and multiply], what is [payment for] a marriage contract doing [here? Why does she have a right to demand to be divorced and to receive the payment for her marriage contract?]

Translation adapted from the Noé Edition of the Koren Talmud Bavli.

Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation.

Credits

From Koren Talmud Bavli, Noé Edition, trans. Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2019). Accessed via the William Davidson digital edition, sefaria.org. Adapted with permission of Koren Publishers Ltd.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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