Yalta breaks the bottles: patriarchy, women's anger, and men's incomprehension

אמר רבי זירא אמר רבי אבהו ואמרי לה במתניתא תנא עשרה דברים נאמרו בכוס של ברכה … ויש אומרים אף משגרו במתנה לאנשי ביתו

Rabbi Zeira said that Rabbi Abbahu said, and some say that this halakha was taught in a baraita: Ten things were said with regard to a cup of blessing, e.g., the cup of wine over which Grace after Meals is recited: … And some say: He also sends it as a gift to members of his household.

ברכות נ״א ב:ד׳

ומשגרו לאנשי ביתו במתנה כי היכי דתתברך דביתהו

Berakhot 51b:4

And he sends it as a gift to members of his household; so that his wife will be blessed.

ברכות נ״א ב:ה׳

עולא אקלע לבי רב נחמן כריך ריפתא בריך ברכת מזונא יהב ליה כסא דברכתא לרב נחמן אמר ליה רב נחמן לישדר מר כסא דברכתא לילתא אמר ליה הכי אמר רבי יוחנן אין פרי בטנה של אשה מתברך אלא מפרי בטנו של איש שנאמר וברך פרי בטנך פרי בטנה לא נאמר אלא פרי בטנך…

Berakhot 51b:5

The Gemara relates: Ulla happened to come to the house of Rav Naḥman. He ate bread, recited Grace after Meals, and gave the cup of blessing to Rav Naḥman. Rav Naḥman said to him: Master, please send the cup of blessing to Yalta, my wife. Ulla responded to him: There is no need, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said as follows: The fruit of a woman’s body is blessed only from the fruit of a man’s body, as it is stated: “And He will love you, and bless you, and make you numerous, and He will bless the fruit of your body” (Deuteronomy 7:13). The Gemara infers: “He will bless the fruit of her body” was not stated. Rather, “He will bless the fruit of your [masculine singular] body.” For his wife to be blessed with children, it is sufficient to give the cup to Rav Naḥman. …

ברכות נ״א ב:ז׳

אדהכי שמעה ילתא קמה בזיהרא ועלתה לבי חמרא ותברא ארבע מאה דני דחמרא אמר ליה רב נחמן נשדר לה מר כסא אחרינא שלח לה כל האי נבגא דברכתא היא שלחה ליה ממהדורי מילי ומסמרטוטי כלמי

Berakhot 51b:7

The Gemara relates that meanwhile Yalta heard Ulla’s refusal to send her the cup of blessing. [Yalta was the daughter of the Exilarch and was accustomed to being treated with deference,] so she arose in a rage, entered the wine-storage, and broke four hundred barrels of wine. Afterward, Rav Naḥman said to Ulla: Let the Master send her another cup. Ulla sent Yalta a different cup with a message saying that all of the wine in this barrel is wine of blessing; although you did not drink from the cup of blessing itself, you may at least drink from the barrel from which the cup of blessing was poured. She sent him a stinging response: From itinerant peddlers, Ulla traveled regularly from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia and back, come meaningless words, and from rags come lice.

גיטין ל״ה א:י״ב

ההיא דאתאי לקמיה דרבה בר רב הונא אמר לה מאי אעביד ליך דרב לא מגבי כתובה לארמלתא ואבא מרי לא מגבי כתובה לארמלתא

Gittin 35a:12

The Gemara relates: There was an incident involving a certain widow who came before Rabba bar Rav Huna to collect payment of her marriage contract. He said to her: What can I do for you, as Rav does not collect payment of a marriage contract for a widow, and my father, my master, i.e., Rav Huna, does not collect payment of a marriage contract for a widow?

גיטין ל״ה א:י״ג

אמרה ליה הב לי מזוני אמר לה מזוני נמי לית ליך דאמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל התובעת כתובתה בב"ד אין לה מזונות

Gittin 35a:13

She said to him: If I cannot collect payment of the marriage contract, then provide sustenance for me from my husband’s property, to support me until I remarry. He said to her: You also do not have any right to sustenance, as Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: One who demands payment of her marriage contract in court has no right to receive sustenance any longer. The husband committed to provide for her sustenance only as long as she does not wish to remarry. Generally, once a widow demands payment of her marriage contract, she demonstrates that she wishes now to remarry and is no longer entitled to receive sustenance from her deceased husband’s property.

שבת נ״ה א:ב׳

רב יהודה הוה יתיב קמיה דשמואל אתאי ההיא איתתא קא צווחה קמיה ולא הוה משגח בה אמר ליה לא סבר ליה מר אוטם אזנו מזעקת דל גם הוא יקרא ולא יענה אמר ליה שיננא רישך בקרירי רישא דרישיך בחמימי הא יתיב מר עוקבא אב בית דין

Shabbat 55a:2

The Gemara relates: Rav Yehuda was sitting before Shmuel when this woman came and cried before Shmuel about an injustice that had been committed against her, and Shmuel paid no attention to her. Rav Yehuda said to Shmuel: Doesn’t the Master hold in accordance with the verse: “Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard” (Proverbs 21:13)? He said to him: Big-toothed one, your superior, i.e., I, your teacher, will be punished in cold water. The superior of your superior will be punished in hot water. Mar Ukva, who sits as president of the court, is responsible for those matters.

שבת נ״ה א:ג׳

דכתיב בית דוד כה אמר ה׳ דינו לבקר משפט והצילו גזול מיד עושק פן תצא כאש חמתי ובערה ואין מכבה מפני רוע מעלליהם וגו׳

Shabbat 55a:3

And from where is it derived that this responsibility is incumbent upon the house of the Exilarch? As it is written: “House of David, so says the Lord: Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 21:12). The Exilarch is a direct descendant of the house of David.