משנה: פּוֹתְחִין לָאָדָם בִּכְתוּבַּת אִשְׁתּוֹ. מַעֲשֶׂה בְאֶחָד שֶׁנָּדַר מֵאִשְׁתּוֹ הֲנָייָה וְהָֽיְתָה כְתוּבָּתָהּ אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת דֵּינָרִין וּבָאת לִפְנֵי רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה וְחִיְּבוֹ לִיתֵּן לָהּ כְּתוּבָּתָהּ. אָמַר לוֹ רִבִּי שְׁמוֹנֶה מֵאוֹת דֵּינָרִין הִנִּיחַ אַבָּא וְנָטַל אָחִי אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וַאֲנִי אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת לֹא דַייָהּ שֶׁתִּיטּוֹל מָאתַיִם וַאֲנִי מָאתַיִם. אָמַר לוֹ רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה אֲפִילּוּ אַתְּ מוֹכֵר שְׂעַר רֹאשָׁךְ אַתְּ נוֹתֵן לָהּ כְּתוּבָּתָהּ. אָמַר לוֹ אִילּוּ הָיִיתִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא כֵן לֹא הָיִיתִי נוֹדֵר וְהִתִּירוֹ רִבִּי עֲקִיבָה. MISHNAH: One creates an opening for a man with his wife’s ketubah74The marriage contract, here taken as technical term for the sum the groom promises to pay his wife in case of a divorce. The minimal sum for a first marriage of the woman is 200 zuz, defined in Mishnah Peah 8:8 as sufficient capital to lift its owner above the poverty level and disqualify him from public charity. The zuz is usually identified with the silver denarius.. It happened that one vowed usufruct from his wife75This makes it impossible for him to live with his wife and forces him to divorce her. whose ketubah was 400 denar. She76In the Babylonian Mishnah, he came before R. Aqiba. came before Rebbi Aqiba who obliged him to give her her ketubah. He said, Rebbi, my father left 800 denar. My brother took 400 and I 400, would it not be enough if she take 20077The minimum amount admissible as ketubah. and I 200? Rebbi Aqiba told him, even if you have to sell the hair on your head, you will pay her ketubah. He said to him, if I had known that, I would not have vowed. Rebbi Aqiba freed him78From his vow so he could remain married. One might also translate: R. Aqiba voided it [the vow]. In the Babylonian Mishnah, R. Aqiba permitted her to remain with her husband..
הלכה: פּוֹתְחִין לָאָדָם בִּכְתוּבַּת אִשְׁתּוֹ כול׳. וְגוֹבִין מִן הַמְּטַלְטְלִין. אָמַר רִבִּי בָּא. אַף עַל גַּו דְּתֵימַר. גּוֹבִין מִן הַמְּטַלְטְלִין. אוֹמֵר לוֹ שֶׁיִּתֵּן. רִבִּי מַנִּישָׁא שָׁאַל. מַהוּ לוֹמַר לְיוֹרְשִׁין לִגְבוֹת מִן הַמְּשׁוּעְבָּדִין. אָמַר רִבִּי אַבָּא מָרִי. מַתְנִיתָא אָֽמְרָה כֵן שֶׁאֵין אוֹמֵר לָהֶן. דְּתַנִינָן תַּמָּן. אֵלָּא יִינָּֽתְנוּ לְיוֹרְשִׁין. שֶׁכּוּלָּן צְרִיכִין שְׁבוּעָה וְאֵין הַיּוֹרְשִׁין צְרִיכִין שְׁבוּעָה. מַהוּ מִישְׁבְּעוּנָהּ. תַּמָּן אָֽמְרִין מִן תִּבְנָא לֹא גְבָאִי וּמִן גּוּפֵיהּ גְּבָאִי. HALAKHAH: “One creates an opening for a man with his wife’s ketubah” etc. Does one collect from movables79It is talmudic theory that debts covered by a document (such as a ketubah or a mortgage) must be satisfied by foreclosing real estate (unless otherwise stated in the document of indebtedness). It was only after the Arab conquest, when the Jews in Babylonia had lost their real estate holdings, that the Gaonic authorities decreed that every ketubah must be paid in currency and/or movables. How could R. Aqiba order the man to cut off and sell his hair to pay his ex-wife since cut hair clearly is movable? (The Babli explains that the man should hand over all his real estate to his wife and sell his hair to buy food for himself.)? Rebbi Abba said, even if one could say, one collects from movables, one tells him to pay80It seems that one has here a disagreement of the two Talmudim (explanation of I. Eisenstein in עמודי ירושלים ad loc.). The Babli sticks to its thesis that a ketubah is satisfied only by real estate and holds that a partially satisfied ketubah represents a title to all future property the ex-husband might acquire. The Yerushalmi holds that if the husband cannot satisfy his divorcee’s claim with real estate, one tells him to satisfy it with any other means available.. Rebbi Manisha asked, could one tell the heirs to collect from pledged property81If this would refer to real estate, the question would be trivial. Mortgaged or otherwise pledged property is part of the inheritance. Standard mortgages (including ketubah) are not on a specified piece of land but on all holdings of the debtor. If the debtor dies, the entire property comes to the heirs from whom the mortgage holder can require satisfaction under the supervision of the court.
The quote with which the question is answered shows clearly that the issue is about movables. Then it cannot be a question of mortgages other than a ketubah. The question is whether the court can order the heirs to honor their father’s obligation to his ex-wife from movables, to let her collect from movables.? Rebbi Abba Mari said, the Mishnah says that one does not say so, as we have stated there82Ketubot 9:2:1" href="/Jerusalem_Talmud_Ketubot.9.2.1">Mishnah Ketubot 9:2. In the Mishnah, R. Aqiba states that the heirs take all movables since any creditor would have to swear that his claim was not in any way satisfied by the deceased but the heirs take everything without oath. (R. Tarphon disagrees and would give the widow preference).: “It should be given to the heirs since everybody has to swear but the heirs do not have to swear.” What does one make her swear? There, they say, from straw I did not collect, from his person I did collect83“There” is Babylonia. It is difficult to understand what is meant. It seems that she has to swear that her claim was not satisfied even in an indirect way..