Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Kesubos 40a - If She is Not Interested, There is No Mitzvah

The gemara says that we can't use the concept of aseh docheh lo ta'aseh to allow a me'anes to marry a girl who is assur to him, since "if she is not interested there is no aseh". There seems to be 3 possible explanations to this:
1. Rashi seems to understand that the aseh is strong enough to push off a lo ta'aseh, but since it is possible to fulfill both by teaching her to say she is not interested in marriage, the beis din is responsible to talk her out of wanting to marry him. However, Rashi seems to understand that if she is insistent on marrying him, the aseh would in fact push off a lo ta'aseh.
2. Tosafos (d.h. neisi) seems to understand the gemara simply that an aseh which is subject to her will, is essentially a weaker type of aseh and does not have the power to push off a lo ta'aseh. Similarly we find in baba metziah 30a that we don't allow a monetary aseh to push off an issur related lo ta'aseh, as the Ritvah explains there, since the aseh is subject to mechila it is not strong enough to push off a lo ta'aseh.
3. Tosafos Yeshanim (d.h. iy amra) understands in his second answer that the fact that the aseh is only applicable if she is interested, is in essence an indication that there is no aseh on her, rather the aseh is only on him. The gemara therefore says that since the lo ta'aseh is applicable to both of them, although his aseh can push off his lo ta'aseh, we cannot allow his aseh to push off her lo ta'aseh.
What does the Tosafos Yeshanim mean in his first answer? Does he understand the gemara similar to Rashi?

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