daf bit: Niddah 52

[cellio]

The mishna on today's daf lays out the criteria for a child becoming a legal adult (bar or bat mitzvah). For both girls and boys this point is reached upon growing two pubic hairs. A boy then becomes subject to the law of the stubborn and rebellious son. For how long does he remain subject to this law? Until the time his beard forms a circle, and the mishna clarifies that this is a euphemism and does not refer to facial hair. When a girl grows two hairs some say that she loses the right to refuse a betrothal (arranged by her parents?), though R. Yehudah says that she retains the right until the black predominates (i.e. she grows more hair). (52a)

These days we just say age 13 for boys and 12 for girls, the law of the stubborn and rebellious son doesn't apply, and I don't know what the halacha is for reluctant 13-year-old brides.

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

It makes me wonder what those rabbis then would think of the extreme variance in onset of puberty these days. I mean, back then, a 12 or 13 year old was more close to being a functional adult in the rest of society, not just in a religious sense. Now, it's functionally 18 or 21 for most people, and yet puberty, at least for girls, can start even in the single digits.

[cellio]

That's a good question. The talmud goes on to discuss things like how long a hair has to be to count; I imagine, but of course don't know, that the rabbis might deal with early onset by looking for stricter criteria. Or perhaps they would look more closely at this "in-between" state that the ben sorer u'moreh finds himself in, not fully child nor fully adult for, what, half a year? Whatever's going on there could possibly be broadened for other applications if one is trying to keep 9-year-olds out of adult-responsibility territory.