[Avodah] k'daas moshe v'yisrael; validity of ketubah

[Michael Makovi]

In Gemara, we're learning Gittin perek revi'i, and kol d'm'qadesh and
hafka'at qidushim came up.

I asked the ra"m: what about a Karaite? Even if DOES say "K'da'at
moshe v'yisrael" (I don't know what Karaites do), does he have Hazal
in mind? Perhaps we say that "K'da'at moshe v'yisrael" is whatever the
husband personally thinks, and so he if he thinks of someone besides
Hazal, then kol d'm'qadesh no longer applies. Alternatively, I said,
Rambam says we can whip recalcitrant husbands because deep down
inside, they really want to follow halakhah, even if their yetzer hara
hides this fact from them.

My rabbi responded:

Tosafot on Gittin Lamed-gimel amud aleph (s.v. Kol d'm'qadesh ada'ata
d'rabanan m'qadesh) - V'LEKACH omer b'sha'at qidushin k'dat moshe
v'yisrael.

My rabbi explained: Had it said V'KI, then we'd say that it depends on
the husband's personal kavana. But since Tosafot says V'LEKACH, the
husband is merely voicing an empirical reality, and his kavana is
meaningless; even a Karaite or Tzadoki marries on tenai that Hazal
approve, whether he knows it or not. So it's like Rambam and the
recalcitrant husband. (Another of my rabbis noted: this Rambam is
where Rambam and the Kuzari/Maharal meet.)

So hafqa'at kiddushin works even on a Karaite; mamzerut problem solved!

Michael Makovi