[Avodah] Torah and Slavery

[saul mashbaum]

There has been some discussion of kinyan haguf, and its relation to kinyan kiddushin. 

Part of the difficulty involved in understanding this subject is that the halachic concept of "kinyan" is not identical with the concept of "purchase". There are many examples in halacha of making a kinyan where nothing is purchased: a kinyan is often made on a shibud or hitchaivut, giving it a more binding status, although no tangible object is purchased or acquired.

Kinyan kiddushin is of this nature. It is a "kinyan issur"; the halachic efect of such a kinyan is *not* that that the husband has "acquired" the wife, or rights relating to her, but to bring into effect a change in her halachic status, such that she is forbidden to everyone but the husband (and the husband incidentally is forbidden to some of her relatives). For the most part, the financial connection between the husband and wife is effected by nissuin, not kiddushin. In any event, the act of kinyan kiddushin is clearly not related to a monetary purchase. 

Like the imprecise translation of "melacha" as "work", which has engendered much confusion as to the nature of the malachot of Shabbat, so the translation of "kinyan" as "purchase" has caused much confusion as to the nature of kiddushin.

Saul Mashbaum