For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 86
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We begin with a conversation regarding the promissory notes that were spoken of in our last Mishna. The piece of this debate that relates directly to Masechet Ketubot is the argument that we are discussing oaths made by women when they receive their gets, divorce contracts.
What if a husband dies or divorces his wife leaving both his wife and a creditor owed money? The rabbis teach us that creditors get money and women get land in these circumstances for women don't care about whether they get money or land; they want to stay married. What if there isn't enough to pay both the creditor and the wife? The creditor gets the money or land in this case.
The Mishna on our daf teaches that this rule also applies to a wife who works in her husband’s store or is put in charge of his investments. Rabbi Eliezer extends this even to everyday household tasks. If the husband suspects that she is taking dough or wool that she is working with for herself, he can demand that she take an oath that she has not taken what does not belong to her.
We discuss the GEZERTA, term used by the geonim for the oath of imprecation that they instituted in place of the oath by God's name or by a divine attribute (kinnuy). And women’s rights in medieval society.