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Siblonot

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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Talmudic term for gifts presented to a bride by the bridegroom or by the parents. According to some authorities, the word is derived from the Greek σύμβολον, which means "gift or payment made in token of something" (Kohut, "Aruch Completum," s.), while, according to others, it is the plural form of "sebel" (= "load"), the synonym of which, "massah" (load), also assumes in the plural ("massot") the meaning of "presents" (Jastrow, "Dict." s. ). Doubt was expressed by some Talmudic authorities as to whether the term "siblonot" employed in the Mishnah and in the Gemara designated all gifts to a bride or only the first gift ("Leḳeṭ ha-Ḳemaḥ" on Eben ha-'Ezer, p. 129).

The rabbinical legislation made provisions with regard to siblonot in case of death or divorce after betrothal and before marriage. Siblonot consisting of garments or other things used by the bride while still in her father's house, and which might be worn out before the marriage, need not be returned; those of jewelry or ornaments must be returned; while those of food or drink must be returned only if the bridegroom has not partaken of a meal to the value of one dinar in the house of his father-in-law. In the case of a divorce occasioned by the woman's refusal to marry, even the smallest article must be returned (B. B. 9:6; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Eben ha-'Ezer, 50).

Siblonot were considered as "nikse melug" (the property of plucking); and the husband was entitled to all the fruits and profits thereof, although he was not held responsible for their loss or deterioration (Isaac ben Sheshet, "She'elot u-Teshubot," § 101; Solomon ben Adret, "Teshubot ha-Rashba," § 900). David ibn Abi Zimra discusses the question whether siblonot given by the bridegroom's father and returned after the death of the latter, on the dissolution of the marriage belong to the bridegroom alone or to him and his brothers jointly ("Teshubot ha-Radbaz," § 151).