Oh My, It’s Copper!
‘…And One Who Is A Coppersmith’
(Kethubboth 77a)
Our mishnah includes a metzaref nechoshes (refiner of copper) as someone whom beis din, upon the request of a wife, pressures into granting a divorce. The Gemara asks: What is a metzaref? Is it one who pounds out copper kettles, as Rav Ashi maintains, or is it one who mines copper from the earth, as Rabbah bar Chanah maintains? The Gemara cites a baraisa that supports the opinion of Rabbah bar Chanah.
Our daf discusses the product the metzaref works with. In that vein, let us ask: Can a copper ring effectuate kiddushin even if the husband and wife were under the impression that it was gold?
Shaveh Perutah
For kiddushin to be valid, the value of the item given to the woman must be worth at least a perutah. If a man gives a silk garment to a woman for kiddushin admitting that he does not know the garment’s exact value and that only an expert is capable of appraising its true worth, the kiddushin is valid if she accepts it – even if the appraisal later shows it is worth only a mere perutah.
Oh, My!
Recently, an unusual case was brought before Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, the senior posek in Jerusalem. A man took his wife’s wedding ring to a jeweler for repair. The jeweler examined the ring and asked the man in amazement, “Is this your wedding ring? Wedding rings should be made of gold. Your ring is copper!”
Questioning The Sale
Officiating rabbis generally tell the woman under the chuppah that she should be prepared to accept the ring for the sake of kiddushin even if it is worth only a perutah. Though this particular woman thought she had received a gold ring – not one made of copper – the ring was certainly worth a perutah. However, the husband was concerned that the ring may never have been legally his in order to effectuate kiddushin with it. His concern was based on the halacha that if someone sells gold and it turns out to be copper, the sale is invalid and either party may cancel the transaction retroactively.
Groundless
Rabbi Elyashiv ruled (see Beis David, Zichron Tuvia p. 249) that the husband’s fear was groundless, for even if the original sale of the ring had been invalid, it was because the jeweler was dishonest – in which case the jeweler owes the husband a refund. Until he gives him the refund, the husband has the halachic status of someone who lent money (i.e., what he paid for the ring) and the copper ring is considered a mashkon, a collateral in the hands of the husband. A mashkon of this nature is not like a regular collateral which is deposited as security. Rather, this mashkon is like a collateral that a lender seizes for non-payment of a loan. After the seizure, the loan is partially paid, with a balance still owed to the lender. Therefore the ring, which represents partial payment of the loan to the husband, was his property and the kiddushin was valid.