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Yevamot (יבמות, "Brother's Widow") is a tractate of the Talmud that deals with, among other concepts, the laws of Yibbum (יבום), loosely translated in English as the levirate marriage, and, briefly, with conversion to Judaism. This tractate is the first in the order of Nashim (נשים, "Women"). In summary, Yibbum is the Torah law (Deuteronomy 25:5–10) commanded to Jews where the brother of a man who died without children has an obligation to marry the widow. This law only applies to paternal brothers, i.e., bothers by the same father; whether they have the same mother or different mothers is irrelevant. There is likewise a restriction on the deceased's widow(s) against marrying anyone else while waiting for one of the brothers to marry her, or release her by performing a ceremony known as Chalitza (חליצה). In any case where Yibbum applies, Chalitza may be performed as an alternative. There are numerous cases discussed in this tractate where Yibbum does not apply, and therefore Chalitza does not apply either.

Chapter 1: Chamesh Esreh Nashim חמש עשרה נשים

Mishnah א - There are 15 women (15 types of relatives) whom the survivng bother is not allowed to marry in Yibbum due to his relationship with her. These 15 are actually a subset of the 21 relatives which any man is prohibited from marrying; they are the 15 which his [deceased] bother was allowed to marry, but he is not. This Mishna teaches that his [deceased] bother's OTHER wife (if married to more than one woman, called her "co-wife" or צרה) is released even though she is not any of these prohibited relatives. An example is if the man's [deceased] bother was married to [that man's] daughter and to some other woman at the time of death, he can't even marry that other woman since she was his daughter's co-wife. Therefore, he does not perform Chalitza. If there are no other surviving bothers, all the wives are free to remarry with no Chalitza. (1:1)

Mishnah ב - This releasing of the co-wife applies to the co-wife of the co-wife (of his daughter or other such close relative), and so on. This extended case is where the co-wife of the co-wife is not the direct co-wife. For example, the man's other [surviving] bother married the co-wife of the man's daugher in Yibbum and then died leaving her and another wife as widows. That other wife is the co-wife of a co-wife, through different marriages. (1:2)

Mishnah ג - The other 6 types of relatives (of the 21 prohibited other than the 15 in Mishnah א) were also prohibited to his [deceased] brother. Therefore, any such marriage with his brother is completely invalid and is not considered a marriage at all. These are relatives on his father's side, but the relatives from his mother's side are among the 15 in Mishnah א who could be legally married to his bother because they might have different mothers. They can't have different fathers because the rule throughout the Mishna is that Yibbum only applies to paternal bothers. (1:3)

Mishnah ד - According to Beit Shammai, The co-wife (צרה) of a man's close relative (discussed before in Mishnah ב) is permitted to him in Yibbum. The ruling in Mishnah ב follows House of Hillel. This has 2 consequences regarding that woman's future permissibility to marry a Kohen: (1) In the event a man took that co-wife in Yibbum, House of Hillel says she's disqualified (i.e. prohibited to a Kohen) because she's living with someone she's not allowed to marry and Beit Shammai says she's qualified. (2) In the event that man performed Chalitza with her, Beit Shammai says she's disqualified (i.e. prohibited to a Kohen), because by Rabbinic decree, Chalitza renders a woman disqualified like a divorce, and House of Hillel says she's qualified, because the Chalitza is completely invalid.

Chapter 2: Keitzad Eishes Achiv כיצד אשת אחיו

Mishnah א - This Mishna and the next discuss the case of "non-contemporaneous" brothers, i.e., brothers whose lifetimes never overlapped. It is obvious that if a new brother is born (to the same father) after the first brother died, then the first brother's widow does not have any Yibbum ties with that new brother. However, this Mishna is discussing the more complicated case where another brother (who was alive at the time the first bother died) did Yibbum with the widow (after the new bother was born), and then later died. That same widow cannot be taken in Yibbum by the new brother because of her previous marriage to his non-contemporaneous brother. Furthermore, any co-wife (through the second brother) is also excluded from Yibbum consideration. This non-contemporaneous brother's wife is actually one of the 15 prohibited relatives mentioned in 1:1, whose co-wives are also released. The Mishna concludes with the ruling in the case where the second brother had performed Maamar with the widow (declaring he will) but dies before actually performing Yibbum -- on the Biblical level, Maamar is meaningless, but Rabbinically, they are married -- so from the Biblical perspective, the other widow (of the second, contemporaneous brother) is a regular candidate for Yibbum/Chalitza with the new brother, BUT from the Rabbinic perspective, she is a co-wife of a prohibited relative. Therefore the practical ruling is for the new brother to perform Chalitza with her and not Yibbum. (2:1)

Mishnah ב - This Mishna discusses almost the same case as the previous Mishna, but with a slight difference - the second brother performed Yibbum BEFORE the new brother was born. The Mishna rules the same, but Rabbi Shimon holds that since the new brother was born when the first widow was already taken in Yibbum by the second brother, that erased her status as the wife of the first, non-contemporaneous brother, and therefore, she is simply the regular widow of the second brother, eligible for Yibbum or Chalitza, and likewise her co-wife as well. Rabbi Shimon agrees that in the case of the previous Mishna, where the new brother was born while the widow was still waiting for Yibbum/Chalitza, her status as the wife of his non-contemporaneous brother remains. (2:2)

Mishnah ג - This Mishna begins with restating the general rule that widows who are prohibited relatives of their brother-in-law (and their co-wives) are completely exempt from Yibbum/Chalitza. Then it goes on to discuss widows who are prohibited to their brother-in-law for other reasons, such as Rabbinical decrees. These widows are Biblically attached as Yibbum/Chalitza candidates, so must undergo Chalitza since Yibbum is not allowed. A case of this is when a man had two brothers who died, each leaving a widow, and those two widows were sisters. Then by Rabbinical decree, he must do Chalitza with both because each is the sister of his zekuka (widow waiting for Yibbum/Chalitza); Biblically, that is not a state of marriage, but by Rabbinical decree a man may not marry the relatives of his zekuka just the same as the relatives of his wife. BUT if one of the sisters is a prohibited relative of his (and thus is never a zekuka), he may choose Yibbum with the other sister. (1:3)

Mishnah ד - According to Beit Shammai, The co-wife (צרה) of a man's close relative (discussed before in Mishnah ב) is permitted to him in Yibbum. The ruling in Mishnah ב follows Beit Hillel. This has 2 consequences regarding that woman's future permissibility to marry a Kohen: (1) In the event a man took that co-wife in Yibbum, Beit Hillel says she's disqualified (i.e. prohibited to a Kohen) because she's living with someone she's not allowed to marry and Beit Shammai says she's qualified. (2) In the event that man performed Chalitza with her, Beit Shammai says she's disqualified (i.e. prohibited to a Kohen), because by Rabbinic decree, Chalitza renders a woman disqualified like a divorce, and Beit Hillel says she's qualified, because the Chalitza is completely invalid.

Mishnah ה - This Mishna begins by stating that any kind of paternal bother counts for the purpose of Yibbum, except if that brother was born from a woman who was a slave or non-jew. The Mishma then discusses (for regular brothers) what children count as having children, i.e., his deceased bother's children born from a slave or non-jew, will not count as children.

Chapter 3: Arba Achin ארבעה אחין

This chapter teaches, just like a man may not marry his wife's relatives, by Rabbinical decree he may not not marry the relatives of his Zekuka (a woman he had this bond with while she was waiting for his Yibbum/Chalitza). The Zekuka bond is formed when, upon the death of his brother, he could potentially perform Yibbum or Chalitza with her, even if he doesn't actually (e.g. if he performs Yibbum or Chalitza with another co-wife, or if another brother performs it with her or a co-wife). But the Zekuka bond is not formed if she was (Biblically) prohibited to him from the outset.

Mishnah א - This Mishna teaches the above principle by way of example - 4 brothers, 2 of whom married 2 sisters and then died. The 2 surviving bothers may not take either sister in Yibbum because either one is the sister of his Zekuka. But they both require Chalitza. Note: because these sisters were married to different bothers, each deceased bother must have his widow (or one of his widows if that brother had more than one wife) go through Chalitza. The Mishnah could have taught this with an example of only 3 bothers, 2 deceased, 1 surviving. However, this example is stronger because it shows that any bother, simply having the potential of Yibbum/Chalitza with a woman, creates the Zekuka bond, even though another brother could perform it.

Mishnah ב - Continuing with the same example, what if one of the surviving brothers was prohibited from marrying one of those sisters due to a Biblical ervah prohibition? Then she is not a Zekuka, so her sister is not prohibited as a "relative of his Zekuka". Therefore, he may choose either Yibbum or Chalitza with the permitted sister. Again note the difference between this case versus Chapter 1 / Mishha 1 -- here, she is the sister of his ervah who was married to a different brother, not a co-wife. Of course it would be a rare case where one sister is and another is not his ervah; an example would be if his wife's mother is married to one of his brothers, and the mother-in-law's sister is married to his other brother. If both of those brothers die childless, then he may choose Yibbum with his mother-in-law's sister because his mother-in-law was never his Zekuka. But his other surviving bother may not perform Yibbum with either sister because both were his Zekuka (and therefore both are the sister of his Zekuka).

Mishnah ג - Going one step further, if [only] one sister is an ervah to one brother, and [only] the other sister is an ervah to the other brother, they may both perform Yibbum, each with the sister who is permitted to him.

Mishnah ד - After restating the principle above in the case of only one survivng brother, the Mishna brings Rabbi Shimon's view that neither sister requires Chalitza. Rabbi Shimon views them as Biblically prohibited.

Mishnah ה - This Mishna discusses a similar case, but where the 3rd brother betrothed one of the sisters who was widowed by one brother BEFORE his other brother (married to her sister) died. With this kind of betrothal (called Maamar) it is questionable if it counts as full marriage, and therefore, whether the second sister is an ervah or not. If it counts as full marriage, then it is a simple case of ervah (the second sister), where Yibbum is biblically prohibited and Chalitza is not required. If it is not a marriage (yet) then we have basically the same case as Mishnah א. Therefore, he should do Chalitza on the second sister. But regarding the first sister, the question is if he should stay married to her. Beit Shammai says he can stay married to her (because the betrothal made them fully married before the second brother's death) while House of Hillel says he should divorce the first one and perform Chalitza on both (to cover all possibilities).

Mishnah ו - Also a case of the first 2 brothers married to 2 sisters, but now the 3rd brother is married to a woman (called נכרית/stranger) unrelated to the sisters. The 3rd brother performs Yibbum with one of the sisters, after his first brother dies, and then he dies. The 2nd brother (married to the other sister) is the only survivor. Clearly, he can't marry his wife's sister, but what about the other widow of the 3rd brother (the unrelated woman)? She is also prohibited as the co-wife of an ervah (his sister-in-law), so there is no Yibbum or Chalitza. (So far, this is no different than a case without having the first brother at all, where the 3rd brother was simply married to 2 wives, one of whom is the sister of the 2nd brother's wife.) The Mishnah ends with the question on the intermediate case where the 3rd brother hadn't completed the Yibbum but only betrothed the first brother's widow. In this case, after the 3rd brother dies, the 2nd brother must perform Chalitza and not Yibbum with the unrelated widow (to cover both possibilities, that the 3rd brother was or wasn't really married to the first brother's widow).

Mishna ז - This Mishna is in 2 parts. The first part is similar to the first part of Mishna ו, but here, before the 3rd brother (the one who was married to the stranger and then did Yibbum with one of the sisters) dies, the other sister (married to the 2nd bother) dies. That might seem to change the ruling because the first sister (currently the widow of the 3rd brother) is no longer prohibited as his (the 2nd brother, who is the only surviving brother now) wife's sister (that prohibition goes away when his wife dies). However, the Mishna teaches that even in this case, this sister is prohibited to him as an ervah, and by extension, so is her co-wife (the stranger who was never any ervah relative). This is very perplexing because we know the death of a wife makes her sister permitted. The answer is, she is not prohibited as his wife's sister, but rather because she once was married to his brother (not the 3rd brother who just died now, but rather the first brother who died). The ervah prohibition against a man marrying his brother's wife remains forever, except in the case of Yibbum upon that brother's (childless) death. If for any reason whatsoever, he did not do Yibbum with her when she was first widowed by his brother (in this case the first bother), then she is forever prohibited as that brother's wife. The reason for not doing Yibbum may be anything - ervah, Chalitza, another brother doing Yibbum/Chalitza; that returns her to the regular status of his brother's wife, prohibited to him forever. The Mishna teaches that a new Yibbum/Chalitza opportunity from another brother's passing will not lift the prohibition which originated from a previous brother. The second case of this Mishna is where brother #2 divorces sister #2, bother #3 (married to the stranger) dies, and then brother #2 takes the stranger/widow in Yibbum. Now when brother #2 dies, sister #2 is not a co-wife of the stranger (being divorced prior), so the stranger is permitted in Yibbum to brother #1 (the only surviving brother, still married to sister #1).

Mishna ח - This Mishna continues with a discussion of the co-wife of an ervah, i.e., the deceased brother had 2 wives, one who was an ervah to the surviving brother and another who was not. Suppose we know for sure that co-wife (non-ervah) was definitely married to the deceased brother, but we have some doubt if the ervah was really married to him -- either because the marriage or a supposed divorce was questionable (the Mishna provides examples). Therefore, we need to cover both possibilities. If the ervah was actually married to him, then her co-wife is prohibited to his surviving bother, so he can't perform Yibbum. On the other hand, if the ervah was in fact not married to him at the time of his death, the he only had one wife -- the unrelated woman, who could do Yibbum or Chalitza, and without Chalitza is prohibited from marrying anyone else (who is not a brother of her deceased husband). So the practical solution is to perform Chalitza, not Yibbum.

Mishna ט - Three brothers are married to 3 unrelated women. Brother #1 dies, and then brother #2 performs Maamar on his widow (widow #1), and then he dies, leaving her and his original wife (widow #2). Rabbinically, we view the Maamar as a marriage fulfilling Yibbum. Therefore, widow #1 falls to brother #3 as a widow of 2 brothers. The Mishna rules that brother #3 may not perform Yibbum on widow #1 based on the biblical verse (Deut 25:5) "...one of them dies...", meaning ONLY one, and so he must perform Chalitza on both widows #1 and #2. However Rabbi Shimon rules that he may choose to perform Yibbum first on one of them and then Chalitza with the other. Rabbi Shimon views the Maamar as either completely (biblically) valid (in which case both are widows of brother #2 so he can choose one and then the other is released without any Chalitza) OR completely (even rabbinically) invalid (in which case they are widows of different brothers and not co-wives at all so he could do Yibbum with both or with one and Chalitza with the other). To cover both possibilities, Rabbi Shimon requires Chalitza with the other. In contrast, the Mishna's ruling is based on Maamar being a intermediate status. Next, the Mishna mentions the case of 2 bothers married to 2 sisters, bother #1 dies, and his widow (sister #1) is an ervah to brother #2 (because he's married to sister #2), so there is no Yibbum or Chalitza. But later sister #2 dies. Normally, after one's wife dies, her sister becomes permitted to him. But here, similar to Mishna ז, the prohibition continues because sister #1 retains the status of brother's wife since she was an ervah at the time. Of course if sister #2 died first, and brother #1 died after, bother #2 could perform Yibbum with sister #1.

Mishna י - This Mishna discusses a case of two men who were betrothed (legally engaged) to two women who were accidentally switched at the Chuppah, i.e., the consummation of the marriages was with the wrong wives, and therefore was unintentional adultery. This has nothing to do with Yibbum, but does touch on the laws of ervah. So they are liable to bring a Sin offering for the unintentional adultery and the following violations if they apply: if the 2 men were brothers, due to the prohibition of brother's wife; if the two women were sisters due to the prohibition of wife's sister; prohibition of Niddah if that applies. Now, besides the Sin offering, what must they do about their marriages? Since the adultery was unintentional, the women may return to their true husbands (assuming the men were not a Kohen), but there is a 3-month separation in case they might be pregnant (so it would be known if the baby is a mamzer). Then they can return to their true husbands. If they (either or both) are incapable of childbirth, they don't need to wait the 3 months. If they (either of both) are a daughter of a Kohen, they can't eat Terumah ever (even if their husband dies or divorces her).

Chapter 4: Hacholitz החולץ

Mishnah א - If a man dies childless but after his death, it's discovered that his widow is pregnant with his child. Even though his child will be born after he dies, that counts as having children, as long as the child is viable (capable of living, which is determined by certain conditions). If his widow does give birth to a viable child, then Yibbum/Chalitza does not apply at all. This Mishna discusses the case where the deceased's brother performs Chalitza before the pregnancy was known. In this case, the Chalitza does not count at all, and therefore the effects of Chalitza -- her relatives are prohibited to him and his to her, and she can't marry a Kohen. (2:1)

Mishnah ב - Thi. (2:2)

Mishnah ג - This r. (1:3)

Mishnah ד - Ad. (1:3)

Mishnah ה - T. (1:3)

References

External links

Partial text of mishnah Berakhot at Wikisource
Full text (in Hebrew) of mishnah Berakhot at Hebrew Wikisource

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