Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Even ha-Ezer/38
Paragraph 1- If one marries conditionally and the condition is fulfilled, she would be married. If it is not fulfilled, she would not be married, regardless of whether the condition was from the man or woman.
Paragraph 2- Any condition requires these four elements: doubled, positive prior to the negative, condition before the action and a condition that can technically be fulfilled. If the condition is lacking one of these elements, the condition is void and it is as if there is no condition at all. Rather, she would be immediately married as if there was no condition. If he mentioned the negative before the positive and then mentioned the negative again after the positive, it is as if he mentioned the positive prior to the negative.
Paragraph 3- If one says “effective now,” or “conditional on,” then he does not need to double the condition nor have the condition precede the action. He must, however, have the condition be something that can possibly be fulfilled. There are those who disagree and say that even if he says “effective now” or “conditional on,” the condition must have all four elements. There are those who say that even if he does not articulate all the elements of the condition but says that it should be like the condition of the tribes of Gad and Reuven, that is a bona-fide condition.
Paragraph 4- There are those who says that a condition only requires these four elements where a stringency will result but not where a leniency will result. There are those who say further that even if all four elements are there we would still need that the condition and action are on different actions. If they are all on the same action, however, there is no condition. One should be concerned for this view in a case of stringency. If he made a condition with her that she should eat pig or other something else that is biblically prohibited, that is considered possible to fulfill. If he made a condition with her that she should have sexual relations to someone prohibited to her, however, that is considered impossible to fulfill because the prohibited person will not agree. If he made a condition with her that so-and-so should give her his courtyard or marry his daughter to his son, however, that is considered possible to fulfill because she can give such so-and-so a lot of money until he agrees. See later 143:12.
Paragraph 5- If the man made a condition with the woman that she has no rights to food and clothing, the condition would be valid and he would not be obligated to provide them. If he conditions that he is not required to provide sexual relations, however, the condition would be void and he would be obligated to provide her because anyone who conditions against what the Torah provides in a non-monetary context has the condition voided. There are those who say that whatever the Rabbis instituted has the same rules as something biblically required.
Paragraph 6- If a man gave a woman a perutah and told her to marry him with it conditionally that he gives her a maneh, when he fulfills the condition the marriage will take effect retroactively, even though he did not say “effective now,” because where one say “conditional on,” it is as if he said “effective now.” If she accepted marriage from someone else before the condition was fulfilled and the condition was later fulfilled, the second marriage is of no effect. If he said the marriage is conditional that he gives her a maneh within 30 days and he gave it within 30 days, the marriage would take effect retroactively. If he did not give it within 30 days she would not be married. If she accepted marriage from someone else within the 30 days, she would be in an uncertain state during those 30 days and once the 30 days are completed and the first husband did not fulfill his condition, the first marriage would be voided and the second marriage would be completed. She would not need a get from the first husband. If the first husband fulfilled his condition, she would not need a get from the second husband.
Paragraph 7- If the husband did not say “conditional on,” but said that if he gives her a maneh within 30 days then she will married to him with this perutah, the marriage would not take effect until he gives the maneh. Thus, if someone else married her before he fulfilled the condition, she would be married to the second man. See below at the end of paragraph 9.
Paragraph 8- If one tells a woman that she should be married to him conditional on his father’s consent, and the father consented, she would be married. If the father did not consent, was silent or died before he heard of the matter, she would not be married.
Paragraph 9- If the marriage was conditional that his father does not object and the father heard and objected, she would not be married. If the father did not object or died, she would be married. See below in paragraph 10. If the son died and the father then heard, we would educate the father to say he does not want the marriage so that the marriage will not be effective and she will not fall to yibum. There are those who say that saying “conditional that he wants,” is the same as saying “conditional that he does not object.” There are others who say it has the law of one who says “conditional that he is silent.”
Paragraph 10- If the husband says “conditional that he says yes,” then even if the father initially said he didn’t want, so long as he later says “yes,” the condition is fulfilled. Thus, the marriage will remain perpetually uncertain until the father dies. If he said “conditional that he is silent,” and the father is silent at the time he heard of it, she would be married even if the father later objected. If the father was not in the house when he heard, however, and when he returned home he objected, the objection is valid because the reason he was silent initially is because he was not home. If the father objected when he heard, even if he later agreed, she would not be married. If the father died before hearing, she would be married. If he said, “conditional that he does not object,” any time the father objects would void the marriage even if agreed initially. There are those who say that once he says “yes” the first time he is no longer able to object.
Paragraph 11- If the son died, we would educate the father to object so that the woman not fall to yibum.
Paragraph 12- If the man told the woman to marry him with a perutah conditional that he will work as a laborer or that he will speak to a government official for her, and there are witnesses that he worked for her as a laborer or spoke to the official for her, her marriage would be certain. If there were no witnesses, the marriage would be uncertain.
Paragraph 13- If the man did not give her anything and told her to be married to him with the wages he will be owed for working for her as a laborer or for speaking to a government official on her behalf, she would not be married, because labor wages are owed from beginning to end and it is as if he married her with a loan.
Paragraph 14- If one marries conditional that he has a maneh and there are witnesses who know that he has a maneh, her marriage would be certain. If it is unknown, the marriage would be in doubt even if he says he does not have a maneh.
Paragraph 15- If one marries conditional that so-and-so has a maneh of his in his possession and it is known with witnesses that he has a maneh in so-and-so’s possession, she would be certainly married. If it is unknown, the marriage would be uncertain, even if such so-and-so says he does not have the maneh.
Paragraph 16- If one marries conditional that so-and-so says he has a maneh of mine in his possession, and so-and-so said he had it in his possession, she would be married. If he did not say he has it in his possession, she would not be married.
Paragraph 17- If one marries conditional that he has a maneh in such-and-such place and he has a maneh in such location, she would be married. If he does not have a maneh in the location he mentioned, her marriage would be uncertain because he may have money in that place and just intended to ruin her.
Paragraph 18- If one marries conditional that he shows her a maneh, she would not be married until he shows her his maneh. Even if he shows her a maneh from others that he invests with, she would not be married. There are those who say that even if he has a share in the profits of the maneh she would not be married because they have not yet distributed the profits. If he showed her a maneh that was mortgaged to a creditor, she would be married. If he did not have a maneh at the time of marriage and he later made money and showed it to her, there are those who say she would be married. If he told her the marriage is conditional that he has the maneh, however, everyone would agree that she is not married and we are not concerned that he will later show it to her to cause us to say her marriage is uncertain. If he told her the marriage is conditional on bringing 200 zuz to her, the rules are the same as where he said conditional that he shows her a maneh and it must be his zuzim.
Paragraph 19- If one marries conditional that he owns a kur worth of dirt and there witnesses that he owns it, she would be married. If there are no witnesses, the marriage would be uncertain because he may have and just says he doesn’t in order to ruin her.
Paragraph 20- If one says, “you shall be married to me with this, conditional that I have a kur of dirt in such and such place,” and he has in that place, the marriage would be certain. If he does not have, the marriage would be uncertain because he may have and just intends to ruin her.
Paragraph 21- If one marries conditional that he will show the woman a kur of dirt, she is married and he must show her. If he shows her land he rented from another or that he has a sharecropper arrangement on, she would not be married. If he has land that he pays taxes on, however, she would be married because the land belongs to him, so long as he has a kur-worth that is not owed to taxes, because the term conditional that he has his own kur implies it is completely his.
Paragraph 22- If the husband had a kur of dirt and it contained holes deeper than 10 tefachim or rocks taller than 10 tefachim and the holes were filled with water, they have the status of rocks and are not included in the kur measurements because they are not fit to be planted on. If they are not filled with water, they would be included in the measurement because they are fit to plant on. A pit filled with water is included in the measurement, even if it cannot be planted on.
Paragraph 23- The foregoing kur of dirt must be in one location. Rocks and holes do not break up the area, notwithstanding the fact that they are not included in the measurement. If they were in two or three completely separate areas, however, they would not combine.
Paragraph 24- If one marries conditional that he is wealthy when he is actually poor, or that he is poor when he is actually wealthy, that he is a kohen when he is actually a levi, that he is a levi when he is actually a kohen, that he is a nasin when he is actually illegitimate, that he is illegitimate when he is actually a nasin, that he is a city-dweller and he is actually a villager, that he is a villager and is actually a city-dweller, conditional that his dwelling is near the bathhouse and is actually far, it is far but it is actually near, conditional that he has a maidservant, adult daughter or butler and he does not, conditional that he does not have them when he actually does, conditional that he has a wife and children when he actually does not or conditional that he does not when he actually does, in all these cases or in a case where he says to marry him with this cup of wine and it was actually honey or honey and it was actually water, such as where it was covered and she did not recognize it until after the fact, and all similar cases, even if the woman says she wanted to marry even if the condition was not fulfilled, she would not be married, regardless of whether she accepted the marriage or told her agent to accept conditionally and the agent deviated. Likewise, if she misled him, even if he said that he wanted to marry her, she would not be married. This does not apply where she said so explicitly at the time of marriage and the husband heard and was silent. The same is true where she misled him and he said explicitly at the time of marriage that the marriage should be valid even without the fulfillment of the condition. If he married her without specification, however, and said he thought she was a kohen when she was a levi or vice versa, or that she was rich when she was actually poor or vice versa, she would be married.
Paragraph 25- If one marries conditional that he knows how to read, he must know how to read the Torah and translate with the translation of Onkelos the Convert. There are those who say that it is sufficient for him to read and translate three verses. If he told her the marriage is conditional that he is a reader, he must know how to read the Torah, Prophets and Writings with high precision.
Paragraph 26- If one marries conditional that he knows how to learn, he must know Mishnah. There are those who say that she would be married if he knows the teachings of the Talmud. If he says he is marrying her conditional that he is learned, he must know how to read Mishna, Safra, Sifri and the Tosefta of Rav Chiya.
Paragraph 27- If one marries conditional that he is a student, he must be of the caliber that when someone asks something about the topic he is studying and he can respond, even if it is the laws of the festival where they publicly teach lighter topics around the festival time so that the people are familiar with them.
Paragraph 28- If one marries conditional that he is a scholar, he must be of the caliber of someone who can be asked on a matter of wisdom- meaning something that requires logical reasoning- in any area and he can respond.
Paragraph 29- If one marries conditional that he is strong, he must be of the caliber that his friends are afraid of him because of his might.
Paragraph 30- If one marries conditional that he is wealthy, he must be of the caliber that the people in his city honor him because of his wealth.
Paragraph 31- If one marries conditional that he is righteous, his marriage would be uncertain, even if he was bona-fide wicked because he may have considered repenting in his heart.
Paragraph 32- If one marries conditional that he is wicked, his marriage would be uncertain, even if was bona-fide righteous because he may have considered idol worship in his heart.
Paragraph 33- If one marries conditional that he lives in the city and lives in both the city and town, conditional that he sells perfume and he sells perfume and is a tanner or conditional his name is Yosef and his name is Yosef and Shimon, she would be married. If he says conditional his name is only Yosef and his name is Yosef and Shimon, however, or that he is only a city resident and he is both a city and town resident or that he only sells perfumes and he really both sells perfume and is a tanner, she would not be married.
Paragraph 34- If one marries a woman and he or she immediately retracts, even if the retraction was within kidei dibur it would be of no effect and she would be married.
Paragraph 35- If one marries conditionally, and after a few days voids the condition, even if he voided it only in the presence of him and her without witnesses, the condition is void and she would be married unconditionally. Likewise, if the woman had made the condition and she voided it between her and him, the condition would be void. Thus, if one marries conditionally and then has sexual relations without conditions or he brings her in without conditions, she would need a get even if the condition was not fulfilled because he may have voided the condition when he had relations or brought her in. If someone else married her, she would need a get from both of them.
Paragraph 36- If one tells a woman that she should be married with a perutah, conditional that he gives her a maneh, and then later says he does not want to ever fulfill the condition, we would not compel him to fulfill it. Rather, the marriage would be void and no get is required. Nevertheless, a person of high spirit should not marry her without a get because the first husband may later say he wants to fulfill the condition to ruin the second husband. If he says he still wants to marry, they cannot compel him the entire 12 month duration after the marriage, just like the amount of time we give a virgin to marry. From the 12 month period and on we would write a letter of rebellion against him. If the husband died before fulfilling the condition, she would not even need chalitza. If she waived the condition while her husband was alive, the marriage would be immediately consummated as if he fulfilled the condition. This is all where he did not bring her in. Once he brings her in, however, she would immediately be married because at the time he brings her to the chuppa she waives the condition and he is required to give her the kesubah.
Paragraph 37- If a man went overseas and married conditional that she will be married, effective now, if he returned within 12 months, and before he left they agreed to a longer time period, and he did not return within 12 months but returned before the latter deadline, the marriage would be valid, because any action that is done conditionally has the power to void a condition, whether to add or subtract from the condition. Even if the money was consumed, the marriage would be retroactively valid once the second condition was fulfilled.
Paragraph 38- With respect to marriage, when the condition is something for the man’s benefit, such as a condition that she has no blemishes or vows, he has the power to void the condition. If the condition is for the woman’s benefit, however, such as where he says the marriage is conditional on him giving her 200 zuz, granted he has the power to void the condition, but she would not be married if he does not give her the 200 zuz.
Paragraph 39- If a man marries a woman and says “you shall be married to me, except with respect to so-and-so,” meaning that the woman will not be prohibited to such person but will be a married woman to the whole world and single vis-à-vis that so-and-so, her marriage would be uncertain. If he told her that should be married to him conditional that she be permitted to so-and-so, she would be married to him and prohibited to so-and-so just like any other person because he made a condition that is impossible to fulfill. If there is a disagreement whether a condition has been fulfilled or not, there are those who say that in the case of a condition that requires an affirmative action neither party is believed to say he/she fulfilled the condition that he/she was required to do. Rather, witnesses would be required. With respect to a passive condition, however, either party is believed if the other party does not contradict. There are those who say that either party is believed if the other does not contradict. even in a condition requiring an affirmative action.