Today's shiur is dedicated to the memory of my revered father, Aharon Eliah ben Feige ve-Ĥayyim Hirsch z"l, whose 34th Yahrzeit falls today.
TRACTATE AVOT, CHAPTER ONE, MISHNAH NINE (recap):
Shim'on ben-Shataĥ says: Examine the witnesses thoroughly; but be very careful with your words, lest from them they learn how to lie [successfully].
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
5:
So far we have reviewed the halakhic contribution of Shim'on ben Shataĥ in the sphere of jurispridence. But he was also responsible for several takkanot [rulings] in the spheres of domestic life and education. Perhaps the most important of all was the fact that he took the very first step in Jewish history towards the equality of husband and wife in marriage. As the Chinese proverb says, the longest journey starts with a single step: the journey of halakhah towards marital equality has so far been a very long journey indeed, but the first step was taken by Shim'on ben-Shataĥ.
6:
In the Gemara [Ketubot 82b] we read:
Originally they would write [in the marriage contract] for a virgin [first marriage] two hundred dinars and for a widow [subsequent marriage] one maneh[half that amount]; but the men would grow old and not marry [either because they could not afford to make the payment or because they were jealous of their wives having the money]. Then they instituted that the sum [of the marriage contract] should be left on deposit with the wife's father, but when [the husband] would get angry he would tell his wife, "Go and collect your marriage contract [which is payable in the event of a divorce]!". So they instituted that it should be left as deposit with the husband's father. The rich women would turn it into silver jewelery and the poor women would turn it into a chamber pot, but still, when [the husband] got angry he could tell his wife, "Go and collect your marriage contract!" Then came Shim'on ben-Shataĥ and he instituted the [following] text [in the marriage contract]: All my worldly goods are mortgaged to [the sum of] this marriage contract.
In other words, by this ruling Shim'on ben-Shataĥ gave all wives a modicum of security from the danger of arbitrary divorce: the husband would know that everything he possessed was mortgaged for the amount of the marriage deed. Thus he would think twice and three times before divorcing his wife.
7:
However, the version we find in the Talmud of Eretz-Israel [Ketubot 50b] makes more sense:
Originally [the sum of] the wife's marriage contract was deposited with her parents; but thus it was easy for the husband to divorce her [because all he had to do was to tell her to collect the money that had been deposited with her parents for safe keeping]. So they instituted that [the sum of] her marriage contract should be left with the husband, but it was still easy for the husband to divorce his wife [because he had the money at hand]. So they instituted that he should use [the sum of] his wife's marriage contract to buy crockery and household utensils [which would have to be sold again in order to realize their value] and thus the husband would not be able to point to the sum of money on the table [and summarily dismiss his wife; but this was still not a great deterrant]… So they instituted that the husband should use [the sum of] her marriage contract as cash for investment: he would use [the sum of] her marriage contract and lose it, and this it would be more difficult for him to [summarily] divorce her. [In order to secure the wife's rights] they instituted that the marriage contract would contain a clause in which all the husband's property was mortgaged to the sum of the marriage contract [so that if he lost it he would have to sell property to realize the promised sum]>. It was Shim'on ben-Shataĥ who instituted this.
According to this source Shim'on ben-Shataĥ decreed that the amount of money promised to the wife in the event of a divorce was a kind of IOU. The husband would not have to produce the sum if he did not divorce his wife, but if he did divorce his wife everything that he owned could be compulsorily sold by the court in order to pay his debt to his wife. This was seen as being a much greater deterrant against arbitrary divorce.
8:
This same source also atributes to Shim'on ben-Shataĥ the institution of compulsory state schooling for children. While the Babylonian Talmud attributes this innovation to a later period, most scholars agree that the version of the Talmud of Eretz-Israel is much more likely to be correct, and that this wonderful innovation must be attributed to Shim'on ben-Shataĥ and his sister. Hitherto the education of children had been regarded as the responsibility of the parents alone; the result was that some children were educated and some were not, depending on the knowledge and understanding of the parents. Shim'on established primary schools in Jerusalem and in the district towns and obliged parents to send their children to them so that all children received the same educational opportunities.
9:
His life was remembered by people as a period of blessing and plenty: The Gemara [Ta'anit 23a] states (in hyperbole):
In the time of Shim'on ben-Shataĥ the rain would fall [in abundance, and only] on Wednesday and Friday nights [so as not to inconvenience people by raining during the day. Despite this seeming restriction] wheat came up as large as kidneys, barley like olivestones, lentils like golden dinars, and they preserved specimens for future generations.
