Glossary

Aguna

A woman whose husband disappears on a journey and it is unclear whether he is alive; under this uncertainty, the rabbis prohibit the woman from remarrying. The term literally means “anchored.”

Aguna

A woman whose husband disappears on a journey and it is unclear whether he is alive or not; under this uncertainty, the woman is prohibited to remarry.

Akirat haGuf

Uprooting a mitzva entirely. In context of the masechet, it refers to cases in which the Beit Din’s legislation completely negates a mitzva.

Amtala

A believable retraction of an earlier statement. For example, if a woman initially claimed that she was married, then later stated that she was unmarried, we do not accept her later declaration unless she can explain the contradiction. If she says she made the first claim to men in whom she was not interested, but the second to someone more to her liking, then she may marry.

Amtala

A believable retraction of an earlier statement. For example, if a woman initially claimed that she was married, then later stated that she was unmarried, we do not accept her later declaration unless she can explain the contradiction. If she says she made the first claim to men in whom she was not interested, but the second to someone more to her liking, then she may marry.

Ar’ar

A challenge to the legal validity of a document, such as a get.

Arba Mitot Beit Din

Four types of capital punishment that the Beit Din may impose. In light of the severity of the punishment, the conditions for these sentences are extremely difficult to meet.

Arev

The guarantor on a loan.

Aris

A sharecropper or an employee who works another person’s field in exchange for a percentage of the crops.

Arva

The guarantor on a loan.

Asham Talui

Provisional guilt-offering – the offering that one who is uncertain about whether she has committed a transgression that requires a guilt-offering brings. (For example, if there were two pieces of fat, one permitted and the other forbidden, and a person isn’t sure which she ate, she brings an asham talui). If her transgression is later confirmed, she must bring a sin-offering.

Asham Talui

The guilt offering of someone who is uncertain whether he/she sinned. He/she brought this sacrifice in cases that would require a sin offering or karet had he/she indeed committed the transgression.