Q&A: Psychological Assessments of the Sages
Psychological Assessments of the Sages
Question
In Ketubot 5a, the Talmud discusses whether we are concerned that a person’s resolve might cool off, and therefore that a man should marry a virgin on Wednesday and have relations specifically on Thursday, so that his resolve will not cool if he does not find signs of virginity. The Talmud infers from the words of Bar Kappara that we are not concerned about the husband’s resolve cooling off.
My question is: how did Bar Kappara, or the Talmud, reach the conclusion that we are not concerned about the husband’s resolve cooling off? What is the method for arriving at that? Is it similar to the Sages’ determination that “whoever betroths, betroths subject to the authority of the rabbis,” and they are not concerned with the view of a specific individual?
How do the Sages arrive at their conclusions in the area of the psychology of the individual?
Answer
How is this different from any other assessment of reality? How did they reach the conclusion that if a girl is three years old her virginity returns? How did they reach the conclusion that “it is better to sit as two than to sit alone”? They observe reality and establish a presumption. The role of a presumption is to determine a legal status that serves as the default unless proven otherwise. That is how things are done in every legal system, and in Jewish law as well. By the way, in my opinion, precisely “whoever betroths” is not an assessment of intent, but this is not the place to go into it.