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The Rambam · Sefer Nashim

הלכות נערה בתולה א׳Virgin Maiden 1

Chapter 1 of 3 in Virgin Maiden — 15 halachot

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Halacha 1א׳

מִי שֶׁפִּתָּה בְּתוּלָה קוֹנְסִין אוֹתוֹ מִשְׁקַל חֲמִשִּׁים סְלָעִים שֶׁל כֶּסֶף מְזֻקָּק וְהוּא הַנִּקְרָא קְנָס. וְכֵן אִם אָנַס אוֹתָהּ. וּקְנָס זֶה מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל תּוֹרָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כב כט) "וְנָתַן הָאִישׁ הַשּׁוֹכֵב עִמָּהּ לַאֲבִי הַנַּעֲרָה חֲמִשִּׁים כֶּסֶף":

One who seduces a virgin maiden is fined fifty sela'im pure silver and this is a fine. And if he raped her the same penalty would be levied. This fine is a positive commandment from the Torah, as it says "the man who lay with her shall pay the girl’s father fifty [shekels of] silver":

Halacha 2ב׳

וְאֵי זֶה הוּא מְפַתֶּה וְאֵי זֶה הוּא אוֹנֵס. מְפַתֶּה לִרְצוֹנָהּ. אוֹנֵס שֶׁבָּא עָלֶיהָ בְּעַל כָּרְחָהּ. כָּל הַנִּבְעֶלֶת בַּשָּׂדֶה הֲרֵי זוֹ בְּחֶזְקַת אֲנוּסָה וְדָנִין אוֹתָהּ בְּדִין אֲנוּסָה עַד שֶׁיָּעִידוּ הָעֵדִים שֶׁבִּרְצוֹנָהּ נִבְעֲלָה. וְכָל הַנִּבְעֶלֶת בָּעִיר הֲרֵי זוֹ בְּחֶזְקַת מְפֻתָּה מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא זָעֲקָה עַד שֶׁיָּעִידוּ הָעֵדִים שֶׁהִיא אֲנוּסָה, כְּגוֹן שֶׁשָּׁלַף לָהּ חֶרֶב וְאָמַר לָהּ אִם תִּזְעֲקִי אֶהֱרֹג אוֹתָךְ:

What is considered seduction and what is considered rape? Seduction is an encounter she desired. Rape is when he has relations with her against her will. Any woman who has relations in the field is presumed to have been raped and we treat such a case as a rape case until witnesses testify that she had relations of her own volition. And any woman who has relations in the city is presumed to have been seduced since she did not cry out in distress, unless witnesses testify that she was raped, for example if a man drew his sword and said "if you scream I will kill you."

Halacha 3ג׳

הַמְפֻתָּה שֶׁלֹּא רָצְתָה לְהִנָּשֵׂא לַמְפַתֶּה. אוֹ שֶׁלֹּא רָצָה אָבִיהָ לִתְּנָהּ לוֹ. אוֹ שֶׁלֹּא רָצָה הוּא לִכְנֹס. הֲרֵי זֶה נוֹתֵן קְנָס וְהוֹלֵךְ וְאֵין כּוֹפִין אוֹתוֹ לִכְנֹס. וְאִם רָצוּ וּכְנָסָהּ אֵינוֹ מְשַׁלֵּם קְנָס אֶלָּא כּוֹתֵב לָהּ כְּתֻבָּה כִּשְׁאָר הַבְּתוּלוֹת. אֲבָל הָאֲנוּסָה שֶׁלֹּא רָצְתָה הִיא אוֹ אָבִיהָ לְהִנָּשֵׂא לְאוֹנֵס הָרְשׁוּת בְּיָדָם וְנוֹתֵן קְנָס וְהוֹלֵךְ. רָצְתָה הִיא וְאָבִיהָ וְלֹא רָצָה הוּא כּוֹפִין אוֹתוֹ וְכוֹנֵס וְנוֹתֵן קְנָס שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כב כט) "וְלוֹ תִהְיֶה לְאִשָּׁה" הֲרֵי זוֹ מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה. אֲפִלּוּ הִיא חִגֶּרֶת אוֹ סוּמָא אוֹ מְצֹרַעַת כּוֹפִין אוֹתוֹ לִכְנֹס וְאֵינוֹ מוֹצִיא לִרְצוֹנוֹ לְעוֹלָם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כב יט) "לֹא יוּכַל לְשַׁלְּחָהּ כָּל יָמָיו" הֲרֵי זוֹ מִצְוַת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה:

The seduced woman who doesn't want to marry her seducer, or if her father did not want her to wed him, or if the seducer didn't want to enter [into marriage]- the seducer pays the [fifty sela'im] penalty and goes on his way and we don't force him to marry her. However if he does want to marry her, he doesn't pay a fine rather he writes her a ketubah like one would for any virgin maiden. However regarding the woman who was raped, if she or her father don't want her to marry her rapist they can decline collect the [fifty sela'im] penalty and go on their way. If she and her father want her to marry her rapist but the rapist doesn't want to marry her, we force him to marry her and he has to pay the penalty, as it states: "she shall be his wife" and this is a positive commandment. Even if she is lame, blind, or has leprosy he is forced to marry her and he cannot divorce her forever, as it is stated: "he shall never have the right to divorce her." This is a negative commandment.

…and 10 more halachot in this chapter.

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Mishneh Torah, Torat Emet 363 edition, via Sefaria — public domain

English: Sefaria Community Translation — CC0