Yerushalmi Ketubot 5:11 ירושלמי כתובות ה׳:י״א

MISHNAH: One gives her a silver obolus for her needs and she eats with him Friday nights¹⁹⁸“Eating” is a common metaphor for sexual relations; cf. Gen. 39:6, Prov.30:20.. If he does not give her a silver obolus for her needs, she works for herself. And what does she work for him? In Judea, a weight of five tetradrachmas warp²⁴³She spins. The warp, being fixed under tension in the weaving frame, has to be spun much tighter than the woof., which is ten tetradrachmas in Galilee, or in Judea the weight of ten tetradrachmas woof which are twenty tetradrachmas in Galilee. If she was nursing, one reduces the amount of her work and increases her food. When has this been said²⁴⁴For whom are the amounts mentioned in Mishnaiot 11–13 binding?? For the poorest man in Israel. But for the most honored one, everything commensurable with his honor²⁴⁵The wife would have standing in court if she complains about being treated shabbily..

HALAKHAH: “One gives her a silver obolus for her needs and she eats with him every Friday night,” etc. The matters are formulated in clean language²⁴⁶This is the opinion of Rav at the end of Halakhah 8, Note 198. In the Babli, 65b, it is attributed to Rav Assi, the colleague of Rav (in many mss. and the editto princeps erroneously: Rav Ashi).. Simeon bar Abba in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: Really eating²⁴⁷In the Babli, this opinion is attributed to Rav Naḥman, Samuel’s student.. In the opinion of Rav, she eats at his expense²⁴⁸Since “eating” is meant as an euphemism for sexual intercourse, it implies in the context that she does not eat Friday nights from the food allotted her during the week.; in the opinion of Rebbi Joḥanan she eats at her own expense.

She has no claim to wine since poor Jewish women do not drink wine²⁴⁹And the rules are written only for the poor; Tosephta 5:8; Babli 64b.. Do rich women drink? Did we not state: It happened that the Sages assigned to Martha bat Boethos²⁵⁰The paradigm of a rich widow; cf. Yebamot 6:4, Note 75. two se‘ah of wine every day. How can the court assign wine²⁵¹Let a woman drink wine in the absence of a husband. The Babli, 65a, approves of not more than one cup of wine per meal.? Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Ada said, because of “Whoring, wine, and cider will destroy the mind.²⁵²Hosea 4:11. It is inferred that drinking wine induces sexual desires.” But did we not state: ”If she was nursing, one reduces the amount of her work and increases her food”? Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said wine, for it increases the milk²⁵³The same statement is in the Babli, 65b.. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: Also²⁵⁴The original scribe wrote אין which by the first corrector was changed into אף. One has to assume that the scribe intended אִין, Babylonian Aramaic “yes”; in a Yerushalmi text this is a corruption. they assigned it for cooking²⁵⁵If her food was cooked with wine there was no problem since cooking eliminates the alcohol.. Nevertheless, she cursed them and said to them, so you should give to your daughters. Rebbi Aḥa said, and we answered her, Amen²⁵⁶As confirmation.. Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Ẓadoq said, I should not see consolation²⁵⁷Being part of an oath formula, the positive has a negative implication and vice versa. The implication is that the speaker would give up his share of paradise if what he says is not true. if I did not see her collecting barley grains between horses’ hooves at Acco. I quoted about her the verse: “The dainty one among you and the pampered, …²⁵⁸Deut. 28:56, the chapter of curses.” “If you have no experience, most beautiful of women, go following the flock …²⁵⁹Cant. 1:8. This verse has a positive interpretation in all Midrash sources.”. But did we not state²⁶⁰The reliability of the tradition about Martha bat Boethos is questioned since a parallel tradition is reported about another woman. But it seems that both traditions are one and that Martha (“the lady”) bat (“of the family of”) Boethos is Miryam bat Simeon ben Boethos, cf. Yebamot 6:4, Note 75; Josephus Antiquities xv. 320 ff. In the Babli, 65a and 66b/67a (for the second story, Tosephta 5:9–10), both stories refer to one person, the widowed daughter-in-law of one Nikodaimon ben Gorion waiting for her levir; in the second story (in an intended contrast to the Yerushalmi) it is emphasized that nobody said “amen”, (because the unhappiness of a childless widow cannot be compensated with money.): It happened that the Sages assigned to Miryam, the daughter of Simeon ben Gorion, a daily supply of perfume for 500 denar, when she was only waiting for her levir. Nevertheless, she cursed them and said to them, so you should give to your daughters. Rebbi Aḥa said, and we answered her, Amen. Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Ẓadoq said, I should not see consolation if I did not see her bound with her hair to a horse’s tail at Acco. I quoted about her the verse: “The dainty one among you and the pampered, …”.