Can a daughter collect her dowry money from assets sold or used as collateral by the brothers? Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi says yes. Rabbi Yohanan ruled no. Did he not know Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi’s ruling (and if he had, he would change his mind) or did he know it and disagree? Does the daughter claim her dowry as an heir or as a debtor? What is the relevance of this question? Is it possible to recover the dowry from land or also from movables? It is told about Rabbi Anan who sent a question to Rabbi Huna and phrased his introduction in a disparaging manner. Rav Huna was angry with him and sent him back a disparaging reply. If the father said at the time of his death that he was designating money for his daughter and a specific person to buy her a field with that money, can she ask that the money be transferred to her husband instead of the person her father designated? To Rabbi Meir, the mitzvah is to fulfill the words of the person on one’s deathbed and therefore she cannot decide who gets the money. Rabbi Yossi holds that she has the right to transfer it to her husband. Do they disagree regarding a woman who is engaged or married? A minor or a grown woman? When Rabbi Yochanan rose to prominence and Ilfa did not (see the story Ta’anit 21), Ifla wanted to prove his abilities and stood on the mast of a ship and announced that if anyone bring before him a braita from Rabbi Chiya or Rabbi Oshaya, he will find a Mishna to support it. And if not, he will fall off the ship and die. They brought him a braita regarding the ruling to fulfill the words of a person on one’s deathbed, and Ilfa brought a proof from Rabbi Meir’s opinion in our Mishna.
