THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW
Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean

Lesson # 499

Rumors of Kiddushin

Sarah is an unmarried girl. A rumor has been circulating in town that Sarah has been betrothed today to Reuven. We suspect that the rumor might be true and she is considered to be betrothed in doubt. This in spite of the fact that there is no proof to the betrothal. If the rumor is not accepted in Beit Din, no heed is given to it.
How is a rumor accepted in Beit Din? Assume that two witnesses appeared in Beit Din and testified that lights (candles when the Shulhan Aruch was written) were brightly burning, and the tables were set and people coming and going into the house and the women were making her feel merry and say to her "happy betrothal" and say that Sarah was betrothed today. There is enough proof that she was indeed betrothed. If the well wishers did not so speak to the betrothed girl directly but about a betrothed girl, it is not an indication that she is betrothed. Perhaps there was to be a betrothal but it never took place. Rama adds to this last statement that the law is the same, that she is not considered to be betrothed if people said that a certain girl was betrothed but did not state to whom or any other details she is not deemed to be betrothed.

Similarly if two witnesses come to Beit Din and testify that they saw what appeared to be a betrothal celebration and we saw the friends and we heard the participants and we heard from a person who heard from a persom who was present there that Sarah was betrothed to Reuven and the witnesses who were present then went overseas or died so that they cannot be questioned, there is enough of a rumor that she is considered to be betrothed. Rama adds that the rumor is not to be considered unless we heard it from at least two people who were present there, but if only from one person who was present at the celebration it is not enough to consider her betrothed. If she is not considered betrothed, she can get married to another man without having to obtain a Get (divorce) from Reuven.

And further, it is not considered to be a reliable rumor unless it originated in Beit Din. That is, that Beit Din investigated the matter and concluded that there was indeed a betrothal between Reuven and Sarah. If the matter did not come before Beit Din, then the rumor is not relied upon. Beit Din can always order its own investigation and if it concludes that she was indeed betrothed to Reuven, it is not necessary for a formal Beit Din hearing.

These foregoing rules hold true if there was no pretext why these rumors began. But if there was a pretext why these rumors began, the rumors can be discounted. Beit Din must investigate to see if a pretext exists as to why these rumors of her betrothal were started. If there is pretext then Beit Din can discount the rumors. An example of a pretext would be that Sarah was betrothed conditionally, or there was doubtful betrothal as when it is stated by witnesses that he threw the kiddushin object to her and there is a doubt as to whether the object landed closer to her or to him. If to him, the kiddushin betrothal is not valid, if closer to her it is valid. Or there is now a doubt cast upon the value of the thrown object, was it worth a peruta (like a penny, the minimum value of the object to effect betrothal) or not. The same holds true if the role of Reuven is a minor who cannot effect betrothal and he is not available to be examined. In all of these situations if we have no proof, we rely on the statements of Sarah as to the truth of the matter as to whether she is betrothed. If the people who started the rumor of her being betrothed in their presence come to Beit Din and declare that they started the untrue rumor, then Beit Din moves to suppress the rumor and she is considered not to be betrothed.

If the rumor started because the people saw that Reuven was sending gifts to Sarah, then Beit Din will use this information to squelch the rumors of her betrothal.
Rama adds that in all situations where there is no compelling reason for a strict interpretation as to her status, we should act in a lenient manner.

Assume that Sarah, about whom there are rumors of her being betrothed to Reuven, accepts betrothal from Shimon in our presence. Beit Din has to investigate the alleged first betrothal. If there is convincing proof through testimony of reliable witnesses that she was indeed betrothed to Reuven as alleged by the rumor, then the betrothal of Shimon is not valid. If there is no such poof, we have Reuven give her a Get and she marries Shimon from whom she received the betrothal gift. If Shimon then divorced her, she cannot marry Reuven. If she lived with Shimon before she obtained her Get from Reuven, she may not ever marry Shimon.

There is a rumor that Leah is betrothed to Levi. Another rumor has it that Leah is betrothed to Yehuda. In this situation one of them has to give her a Get and she can live with the other one.

A rumor was circulating about Rivka that she was betrothed to Naftali who divorced her. She is not prohibited to marry another person because of the part of the rumor that she was betrothed to Naftali. She may not marry a Kohen because of the part of the rumor that she was divorced, since a Kohen cannot marry a divorcee.

Rachel was married to Asher or was betrothed to Asher. Thereafter, a rumor circulated that she was formerly betrothed to Yosef first. This latter type of rumor is not given any credence. She does not need a Get from Yosef. The laws of this paragraph hold true even if the rumor started before her betrothal to Asher, but had not yet circulated in Beit Din. Of course if Rachel admitted that she had been previously betrothed to Yosef, she is prohibited to live with Asher.
We are still discussing the betrothal procedure. Next lesson IYH about conflicting witnesses as to the kiddushin.

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