Yerushalmi Ketubot 10:2 ירושלמי כתובות י׳:ב׳

MISHNAH: If somebody was married to two women who both died, and then he died, and the orphans demand their mothers’ ketubot, if [the estate] is sufficient only for both ketubot they split evenly³³If there are n sons, the estate is divided into n equal parts. If one of the children is a male firstborn, the estate is divided into n+1 parts and the firstborn takes two. If there are no sons, only n daughters, the estate is divided into n equal parts.. If there was an excess denar, these take their mother’s ketubah and those take their mother’s ketubah³⁴The remainder is split evenly between the heirs.. If the orphans say³⁵If the ketubot were unequal, the sons of the mother with the larger ketubah would be interested to receive the ketubah rather than the inheritance. Similarly, if the ketubot were equal but one wife had few sons, the other many, the few sons would gain if they could split their mother’s ketubah between them and not have to share with their many halfbrothers. These are willing to take some property at an inflated value in order to receive more than the other woman’s sons., we accept the properties of our father for the value of an extra denar in order to take their mother’s ketubah; one does not listen to them but one appraises the properties in court.

HALAKHAH: “If somebody was married to two women,” etc. That refers to what Rebbi Immi said, that a man should be induced to give generously to his daughter³⁶Halakhah 4:12, Note 238.. If that is so, then even if there is no excess denar³⁷If the “ketubah of male children” was instituted so that people would increase their daughters’ dowries in the knowledge that the money will be transferred to their grandchildren, it does not seem reasonable to restrict the rules to sufficiently large estates.? Rebbi Abun said, in case you can uphold their words with the words of the Torah, you uphold their words with the words of the Torah³⁸If the estate is large enough, one can distribute the “ketubah of male children” and still have an estate which is distributed according to biblical law (Num. 27:6–11). Cf. M. A. Friedman, Jewish Marriage in Palestine, Tel Aviv 1980, vol. I, pp. 381 ff.. But in case you cannot uphold their words with the words of the Torah, you disregard their words and uphold the words of the Torah.

Rebbi Judah bar Pazi in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina: If one of the brothers died, they all split evenly³⁹If he dies without issue, all his paternal brothers inherit from him.. Rebbi Mana said, that is necessary if they did not yet divide the estate. You should not say that he should be considered nonexistent and his house should inherit from him⁴⁰If the estate had been distributed by the time of his death, this would be a simple case of inheritance; in the absence of children his maternal brothers would inherit. But if the estate was not yet distributed, the question is whether the heirs are considered to have acquired their part at the moment of their father’s death or whether they acquire only at the time of the actual distribution. Clearly, for the part of the estate which is distributed under biblical law, all surviving full and halfbrothers inherit equally. But for the “ketubah of male children”, in the second case, only the maternal brothers share his part, while in the first they all share. R. Mana states here that an inheritance is acquired at the time of death of the bequeather. In the Babli, Baba batra 107a, this latter opinion is attributed to Rav; Samuel holds that “brothers at the distribution of the estate have the status of buyers from one another”, i. e., their status is determined only at the time of distribution. Since the Babli follows Samuel in money matters, it will deny R. Mana’s assertion.. If there was a (male) firstborn, you say the firstborn takes a double portion⁴¹Deut. 21:16–17. In that example, the firstborn takes ²/₃ since there are only two sons.. What does he take? A double portion among his house or among all brothers⁴²Is the “ketubah of male children” of the other wife exempt from the biblical rule of the firstborn?? Rebbi Hoshaia stated: If there were two groups of daughters, they all split evenly⁴³Mishnah 4:10 refers only to male children. If all children are female, they each receive an equal share of the estate.. If there was a firstborn, you say the firstborn takes a double portion. What does he take? A double portion among his house or among all ketubot?⁴⁴It is not clear why this question is repeated since R. Hoshaia does not deal with sons at all and a female firstborn has no special rights.

At which point in time does one appraise? The students of Rebbi Mana say, at the end⁴⁷At the time of distribution.. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said to them, are you not those who speak in the name of your teacher, “that is necessary if they did not yet divide the estate”⁴⁸If the share of each son in the “ketubah of male sons” is determined at the moment of their father’s death, the value of the estate must be determined at that moment since the “ketubah of male sons” depends on that value.? But one assesses from the first moment⁴⁹The moment of the father’s death. This is asserted in the Babli, 91a/b, by Rav Naḥman, the highest authority in money matters. In his opinion, the status of the estate is not connected with the point in time at which the heirs take possession of their inheritance.!