Siman 58

Our sages, of blessed memory, said [Ketubot 52b], it is written in Jeremiah [29:6] that the prophet sent to the members of the exile: "Take wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men." It is understandable regarding his son, for it is in his hand, as it is the way of a man to seek out a woman; but regarding his daughters, is it in his hand? For it is not the way of a woman to seek out a man [Rashi]. Rather, this is what it means: that we should clothe her and cover her and give her something so that people will jump at the opportunity and come to marry her. And until how much? Abaye and Rava both said: up to a tenth of the property. Thus far their words. Behold, it is a commandment of the sages based on the Torah to give his daughter a dowry, garments, and coverings so that men will jump at the opportunity to marry her.

And there we learned [chapter 6]: One who marries off his daughter without specification shall not provide her with less than fifty zuz, etc., and similarly, one who marries off an orphan girl shall not provide her with less than fifty zuz; if there is enough in the communal fund, they provide for her according to her dignity. And it appears that these fifty zuz are for clothing alone, for so we learned there [64b] that even the poorest in Israel shall not provide his wife with less than fifty zuz for clothing per year, see there. And so wrote the Rambam in chapter 13 regarding the obligations of a man to his wife, and he wrote there that this sum depends on the time and the place, see there.

And according to this, that which the Rambam wrote in chapter 20: The sages commanded that a person give a small amount of his property to his daughter so that she may marry with it, and this is what is called parnasah; one who marries off his daughter without specification shall not provide her with less than the clothing that is adjudicated for the wife of a poor man in Israel, as I have written [in chapter 13]; in what case does this apply? When the father was poor, but if he was wealthy, it is fitting for him to give to her according to his wealth. Thus far his words. And it appears explicitly that the law he wrote to give a small amount of his property so that she may marry with it is the law we brought in section 1, and why did he not write a tenth of the property? Because we hold that it is not precisely so, as will be explained in siman 113, that orphans who marry off their sisters from their inheritance, we estimate how much the father would have given them, and if we do not know his estimation, we give her a tenth of the property; therefore he wrote generally that he should give a small amount of his property according to his will. And the second law that he wrote, that he shall not provide her with less than the clothing that is adjudicated for the wife of a poor man in Israel, this is the Mishnah we brought in section 2, and he also explains that this refers to garments alone. And why did he not write fifty zuz? Because he follows his reasoning in chapter 13 that this sum depends on the place and the time.

This is what the Tur wrote in this siman: One who marries off his daughter without specification should not provide her with less than clothing worth fifty gold coins of the sela medina currency. In what case does this apply? To a poor person; however, for a wealthy person, he must give according to his honor. Thus far his words. And he only wrote the law of clothing, and why did he not write the first law? Because in his opinion it is not relevant to practice, according to what he wrote in siman 111 regarding the matter of the ketubat benin dikhrin, that the Geonim abolished it because the enactment was so that a person would jump and give to his daughter as much as to his son, and now it is the custom to give them more and more. Thus far his words. And this refers to the nedunya, which is called parnasa in the language of our sages, as Rashi explained: For parnasa we estimate based on the father; an orphaned daughter who comes to be married, we give her a nedunya according to the assessment of what we know of her father, whether he was generous or stingy. Thus far his words. But he needed to bring the law of clothing because in this matter it is possible they were not extravagant, or this is regarding the poorest person, that he should not provide her with less for garments than such a sum.

And according to this, that which our teachers, the authors of the Shulchan Aruch, wrote: The sages commanded that one should give a small amount of his property to his daughter, and this is what is called parnasah; one who marries off his daughter without specification shall not provide her with less than the clothing that is allotted to the wife of a poor man in Israel. In what case does this apply? When the father was poor, but if he was wealthy, it is fitting for him to give to her according to his wealth. Thus far their words. And this is the wording of the Rambam. And there are two laws of what one must give her: parnasah, which is the nedunya, and clothing, which is a matter unto itself. And that which is written in the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah, siman 250, regarding gabbaim who marry off an orphan girl, that they shall not provide her with less than fifty zuz—this refers to clothing, and they are not obligated to give her a nedunya when there is a financial strain on the charity fund.

Garments – he must give her what she needs for the year for the summer days and for the winter days, and only what she needs for one year. According to the time of the Mishnah, this was sufficient with fifty zuz of provincial silver, and now it depends on the prices and the custom of the province. And some say that we compel him to this, and if he is wealthy, we compel him to give according to his status. And some say that we do not compel him. And regarding the amount of the dowry, it is obvious that we do not compel him regarding the measure of the giving of the dowry, and we only compel him to marry them off, for behold, it is a positive commandment of the words of tradition, as the prophet Jeremiah warned as has been written. And in what has been written, the difficulty of the Makneh is settled, and he understood that the fifty zuz is the dowry, see there; but we have clarified with the help of Heaven that this is for clothing, as is proven from the Rambam and the Tur.

If the father stipulated with the groom to bring her to him naked, he may not say, "When she comes to my house I will clothe her," but rather he clothes her while she is still in her father's house, for it is a degradation for her to come to his house without honorable garments, and likewise it is a disgrace for the father. And how is the stipulation established? If by means of a kinyan or if they stipulate thus at the time of the kiddushin, and they are matters acquired by speech as written in siman 51; and for us, since the kiddushin is at the time of the chuppah, he must obligate himself with a complete obligation by means of a kinyan at the time of the tenaim. However, if the husband did not obligate himself to clothe her and the father is poor and does not give her more than the value of fifty zuz for garments, even though the husband is wealthy and will be obligated to clothe her in much more than this sum, nevertheless she cannot compel him to give to her beforehand, for he can say, "When you come to my house and the obligation is upon me, I will clothe you then according to my honor" [it appears to me].