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    Chapter 6 · Bridge to chapter two - agency

    Agency - a bridge to the next chapter

    Lesson 20 of 58 20 min

    Study agency - a bridge to the next chapter and trace the argument.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Identify the chapter transition after the closing formula
    • 02Distinguish personal action from an agent’s action
    • 03State the passage’s conclusion and its limits
    01

    Source and decoding

    Kiddushin 41a
    האיש מקדש בו ובשלוחו.

    A man may betroth personally or through an agent. This opens chapter two.

    1. 1Identify the chapter transition after the closing formula
    2. 2Distinguish personal action from an agent’s action
    3. 3Read “a mitzvah is better performed personally than through an agent”
    Kushya

    If one can betroth through an agent, why also mention acting personally?

    Terutz

    In the first version, Rav Yosef teaches that personal performance is preferable to agency. The second version also states a prohibition on betrothing a woman before seeing her and applies Rav Yosef’s preference to the woman’s personal participation. This does not invalidate agency in kiddushin.

    Insight

    This is a bridge lesson on daf 41, not a sugya within chapter one.

    Practice

    Build a table: source, action, and result. Read “a mitzvah is better performed personally than through an agent”

    Lesson wrap-up

    A man may betroth personally or through an agent. This opens chapter two.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 2

    Which chapter opens with “The man betroths”?

    Previous lessonIs study greater, or action?
    Next lessonBetrothal through an agent - validity and personal participation