For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 39
To download, click/tap here: PDF
The Mishna on our daf teaches the differences between punishments for rape and for seduction.
Seducers must pay a fine, pay for humiliation and degradation, pay when he releases her but not immediately, and he must release her only if he wants to release her.
Rapists must pay a fine, pay for humiliation and degradation. But he also must pay for pain. He must pay immediately, and he must marry her with the consent of the woman and her father.
Is there pain when a woman is seduced? Or only when she is raped? What causes the pain in rape? Is the pain of intercourse different if a woman is consenting? Does the pleasure derived from consenting intercourse override the experience of pain?
We explore compensation for pain (Rav Shmuel Shimoni), and the differences in punishment for rape in Assyrian codes vs the Bible (Dr Eva Levavi Feinstein).
Lastly Judith Hauptman and Gail Labovitz’ analysis of consent and agency in the talmud.