For the source text click/tap here: Kiddushin 41
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We begin Perek II today, and we begin with a Mishna about agency in betrothal. Both men and women are permitted to appoint agents for the purpose of betrothal. They are also permitted to perform that action themselves.
Fathers are permitted to appoint agents to betroth their minor daughters.
R Yosef in the Gemara is quick to note that although marriage can be accomplished by means of a messenger, that is not the ideal situation, and that “mitzva bo yoter mi-bi-sheluho – it is a greater mitzva for a person to perform the act themselves,” rather than have someone else perform the mitzva for him.
We explore the issue of consent and child marriage.