## Yevamot Daf 109a

###### Yevamot 109a:1
[Yevamot 109a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:1)

וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹסֵר. וְכֵן הַמְגָרֵשׁ אֶת הַיְּתוֹמָה וְהֶחְזִירָהּ — מוּתֶּרֶת לַיָּבָם. וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹסֵר. קְטַנָּה שֶׁהִשִּׂיאָהּ אָבִיהָ, וְנִתְגָּרְשָׁה — כִּיתוֹמָה בְּחַיֵּי הָאָב. וְהֶחְזִירָהּ — דִּבְרֵי הַכֹּל אֲסוּרָה לַיָּבָם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**but Rabbi Elazar prohibits** this. **Likewise,** with regard to **one who divorces an orphaned** minor **girl** whose mother and brothers married her off **and remarries her** and subsequently dies, **she is permitted to the *yavam*** in levirate marriage, **and Rabbi Elazar prohibits** it. **A minor girl whose father married her off,** in which case the marriage is valid by Torah law, **and who was** subsequently **divorced** while she was still a minor **is like an orphan during the lifetime of** her **father,** as he no longer has the right to marry her off, and she cannot become fully married because she is a minor. **And if** the husband **remarries her** while she is still a minor and then dies childless, **everyone agrees** that **she is forbidden to the *yavam*** and may not enter into levirate marriage.


###### Yevamot 109a:2
[Yevamot 109a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:2)

**גְּמָ׳** אָמַר עֵיפָה: מַאי טַעְמָא דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר — הוֹאִיל וְעָמְדָה עָלָיו שָׁעָה אַחַת בְּאִיסּוּרָא. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ רַבָּנַן לְעֵיפָה: אִי הָכִי, חֲלִיצָה נָמֵי לָא תִּיבְעֵי!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**GEMARA:** The Sage **Eifa said: What is the reasoning of Rabbi Elazar,** who prohibits a man from entering into levirate marriage with a woman whom his brother had divorced and remarried? It is **because she was forbidden to him at one time;** when the first brother divorced her, she became forbidden to the second brother due to her status as the first brother’s ex-wife. A husband’s relatives are forbidden to the wife even after death or divorce. However, the mitzva of levirate marriage grants a special exemption from the prohibition against marrying one’s brother’s wife. In this case, if the first brother had died while they were still divorced, the mitzva of levirate marriage would not have applied, and she would have been forbidden to him. **The Sages said to Eifa: If that is so, she should also not require *ḥalitza*,** since she is a forbidden relative.


###### Yevamot 109a:3
[Yevamot 109a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:3)

וְכִי תֵּימָא: הָכִי נָמֵי, וְהָתַנְיָא, מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמְרוּ: חוֹלֶצֶת! אֶלָּא אָמַר עֵיפָה: רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר לָא יָדַעְנָא מַאי טַעְמָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And if you would say: Indeed,** Rabbi Elazar also exempts her from *ḥalitza*, **isn’t it taught** in a *baraita*: **It was said in the name of Rabbi Elazar** that **she performs *ḥalitza*? Rather, Eifa said: I do not know the reason for** the opinion of **Rabbi Elazar.**


###### Yevamot 109a:4
[Yevamot 109a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:4)

אָמַר אַבָּיֵי, הַיְינוּ טַעְמָא דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מְסַפְּקָא לֵיהּ אִי מִיתָה מַפֶּלֶת, אִי נִשּׂוּאִין הָרִאשׁוֹנִים מַפִּילִים. אִי מִיתָה מַפֶּלֶת — הָא רַמְיָא קַמֵּיהּ לְיִיבּוּם, אִי נִשּׂוּאִין הָרִאשׁוֹנִים מַפִּילִים — הָא עָמְדָה עָלָיו שָׁעָה אַחַת בְּאִיסּוּר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Abaye said: This is the reasoning of Rabbi Elazar: He is uncertain whether the death** of the husband **determines** that she is a candidate for levirate marriage, **or** whether **the original marriage determines** it. In other words, he is uncertain as to whether the obligation to perform levirate marriage is established only at the death of one’s brother or already from the beginning of the brother’s marriage. **If death determines** that she is a candidate for levirate marriage, **then she has happened before him for levirate marriage,** as she is the wife of his childless brother who died. **If the original marriage determines** that she is a candidate for levirate marriage, **then she was forbidden to him for a time** as his brother’s ex-wife and is consequently exempt from levirate marriage. According to Rabbi Elazar, it is due to this uncertainty that the brother may not enter into levirate marriage yet must perform *ḥalitza*.


###### Yevamot 109a:5
[Yevamot 109a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:5)

רָבָא אָמַר: לְעוֹלָם פְּשִׁיטָא לְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר דְּמִיתָה מַפֶּלֶת, וּמִיהוּ הַכֹּל בְּקִיאִין בְּגֵירוּשִׁין, וְאֵין הַכֹּל בְּקִיאִין בַּחֲזָרָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava said: Actually, it is obvious to Rabbi Elazar that death determines** that she is a candidate for levirate marriage. **However, everyone is well informed with regard to divorces.** Everyone knows that the woman was divorced, **while not everyone is well informed with regard to remarriage,** and they do not necessarily know that she remarried him. Therefore, there is concern that people will mistakenly think that one entered into levirate marriage with his brother’s ex-wife.


###### Yevamot 109a:6
[Yevamot 109a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:6)

אַדְּרַבָּה: חֲזָרָה, כֵּיוָן דְּיָתְבָא תּוּתֵיהּ, אִית לֵיהּ קָלָא! מִי לָא עָסְקִינַן דְּאַהְדְּרַהּ בְּאוּרְתָּא וּשְׁכֵיב בְּצַפְרָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara argues against this point: **On the contrary, her return** to her former husband, **since she is living with him, generates publicity,** so that it is known that they are remarried. The Gemara answers: **Are we not dealing** even with **a case in which he remarried her in the evening and died in the morning?** In this instance and others like it, not everyone would know that he remarried her, and they will think that the brother took his deceased brother’s ex-wife in levirate marriage. In order to avoid such situations, Rabbi Elazar decreed that she is always forbidden.


###### Yevamot 109a:7
[Yevamot 109a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:7)

רַב אָשֵׁי אָמַר: הַיְינוּ טַעְמָא דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, דְּגָזַר הָנֵי מִשּׁוּם יְתוֹמָה בְּחַיֵּי הָאָב וְהֶחְזִירָהּ. הָכִי נָמֵי מִסְתַּבְּרָא, מִדְּקָתָנֵי סֵיפָא: קְטַנָּה שֶׁהִשִּׂיאָהּ אָבִיהָ וְנִתְגָּרְשָׁה, כִּיתוֹמָה בְּחַיֵּי הָאָב. וְהֶחְזִירָהּ — דִּבְרֵי הַכֹּל שֶׁאֲסוּרָה לַיָּבָם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Ashi said: This is the reasoning of Rabbi Elazar: He decreed** to prohibit levirate marriage with **these,** i.e., women who were divorced and remarried, **due to** the case of a girl who is considered **an orphan in the lifetime of** her **father,** who was divorced by her husband **and he** subsequently **remarried her.** If a minor girl was married off by her father and was subsequently divorced, she is no longer subject to her father with regard to marriage and divorce, but because she is a minor, any marriage she enters into is by rabbinic rather than by Torah law. The Gemara comments: **So too, this is reasonable based on what was taught in the latter clause** of the mishna: **A minor girl whose father married her off and who was** subsequently **divorced** while she was still a minor, **is like an orphan during her father’s lifetime. And if** the husband **remarries her** while she is still a minor and then dies, **everyone agrees that she is forbidden to the *yavam*** and may not enter into levirate marriage.


###### Yevamot 109a:8
[Yevamot 109a:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:8)

הַאי מַאי לְמֵימְרָא? פְּשִׁיטָא! אֶלָּא לָאו הָא קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן, טַעְמָא דְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר דְּגָזַר הָנָךְ מִשּׁוּם הַאי. שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**What** is the purpose **of stating** this *halakha*? **It is obvious. Rather, is it not teaching us Rabbi Elazar’s reason for decreeing that these** women who were divorced and remarried are forbidden **due to that** woman, the girl who is considered an orphan in the lifetime of her father? The Gemara concludes: **Learn from here** that this is his reason.


###### Yevamot 109a:9
[Yevamot 109a:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:9)

תַּנְיָא כְּווֹתֵיהּ דְּרַב אָשֵׁי: מוֹדִים חֲכָמִים לְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בִּקְטַנָּה שֶׁהִשִּׂיאָהּ אָבִיהָ וְנִתְגָּרְשָׁה — הֲרֵי הִיא כִּיתוֹמָה בְּחַיֵּי הָאָב, וְהֶחְזִירָהּ — שֶׁאֲסוּרָה לַיָּבָם, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁגֵּירוּשֶׁיהָ גֵּירוּשִׁין גְּמוּרִין, וְאֵין חֲזָרָתָהּ חֲזָרָה גְּמוּרָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara comments: **It is taught** in a *baraita* **in accordance with** the opinion of **Rav Ashi: The Rabbis concede to Rabbi Elazar concerning a minor girl whose father married her off and who was divorced, that she is like an orphan in the lifetime of** her **father, and** that **if** her husband **remarried her, she is forbidden to the *yavam*, because her divorce was a full-fledged divorce** by Torah law **while her remarriage was not a full-fledged remarriage,** as she was still a minor. This implies that Rabbi Elazar’s ruling is prompted by the case of a girl who is like an orphan in her father’s lifetime and that this was the reason for his decree.


###### Yevamot 109a:10
[Yevamot 109a:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:10)

בַּמֶּה דְּבָרִים אֲמוּרִים — שֶׁגֵּירְשָׁהּ כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה וְהֶחְזִירָהּ כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה. אֲבָל גֵּירְשָׁהּ כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה וְהֶחְזִירָהּ כְּשֶׁהִיא גְּדוֹלָה, אִי נָמֵי הֶחְזִירָהּ כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה וְגָדְלָה אֶצְלוֹ וָמֵת — אוֹ חוֹלֶצֶת אוֹ מִתְיַיבֶּמֶת. מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמְרוּ: חוֹלֶצֶת וְלֹא מִתְיַיבֶּמֶת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The *baraita* continues: **In what** case **is this statement said?** In a case **where he divorced her while she was a minor and he remarried her while she was** still **a minor. But if he divorced her while she was a minor and remarried her when she was** already **an adult, or if he remarried her while she was a minor and she matured** to legal adulthood **while with him, and he** subsequently **died, she may either perform *ḥalitza* or enter into levirate marriage. It was said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: She must perform *ḥalitza* and may not enter into levirate marriage,** since he decreed that all remarried women may not enter into levirate marriage due to the case of one who is like an orphan in her father’s lifetime.


###### Yevamot 109a:11
[Yevamot 109a:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:11)

בְּעָא מִינֵּיהּ רָבָא מֵרַב נַחְמָן: צָרָתָהּ, מַהוּ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הִיא גּוּפַהּ גְּזֵירָה, וַאֲנַן נֵיקוּם וְנִיגְזוֹר גְּזֵירָה לִגְזֵירָה?

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava asked Rav Naḥman: What is** the *halakha* with regard to **the rival wife of** a girl whose husband remarried her, according to Rabbi Elazar? Is the girl regarded as a forbidden relative to the extent that even her **rival wife** may not enter into levirate marriage? **He said to him: She herself is** forbidden due to **a rabbinic decree,** as explained already. **And will we** then **proceed to issue a decree to** prevent violation of **a decree?** Accordingly, her **rival wife** is permitted to enter into levirate marriage.


###### Yevamot 109a:12
[Yevamot 109a:12](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:12)

וְהָא תַּנְיָא, מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמְרוּ: הִיא וְצָרָתָהּ חוֹלֶצֶת. הִיא וְצָרָתָהּ סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ?! אֶלָּא לָאו: אוֹ הִיא אוֹ צָרָתָהּ חוֹלֶצֶת? לָאו תָּרוֹצֵי קָמְתָרְצַתְּ, תָּרֵיץ הָכִי: הִיא — חוֹלֶצֶת, צָרָתָהּ — אוֹ חוֹלֶצֶת אוֹ מִתְיַיבֶּמֶת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara challenges: **Isn’t it taught** in a *baraita*: **It was said in the name of Rabbi Elazar:** Both **she and her rival wife must perform *ḥalitza*?** The Gemara asks: **Would it enter your mind** to say: **She and her rival wife?** Why should two women from the same household perform *ḥalitza*? *Ḥalitza* performed by one of them exempts the other. **Rather, should it not** say: **Either she or her rival wife must perform *ḥalitza*,** but even the rival wife may not enter into levirate marriage. The Gemara responds: **Are you not emending** the mishna? If so, **emend it as follows: She** can only **perform *ḥalitza*; her rival wife may either perform *ḥalitza* or enter into levirate marriage.**


###### Yevamot 109a:13
[Yevamot 109a:13](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:13)

**מַתְנִי׳** שְׁנֵי אַחִין נְשׂוּאִין לִשְׁתֵּי אֲחָיוֹת קְטַנּוֹת, וּמֵת בַּעְלָהּ שֶׁל אַחַת מֵהֶן — הַלֵּזוּ תֵּצֵא מִשּׁוּם אֲחוֹת אִשָּׁה. וְכֵן שְׁתֵּי חֵרְשׁוֹת. גְּדוֹלָה וּקְטַנָּה, מֵת בַּעְלָהּ שֶׁל קְטַנָּה — תֵּצֵא הַקְּטַנָּה מִשּׁוּם אֲחוֹת אִשָּׁה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**MISHNA:** If **two brothers are married to two minor sisters, and the husband of one of them dies** childless, **this** widowed girl **shall be exempt** from levirate marriage **due to** her status as a forbidden relative, **as** one is prohibited from marrying the **sister** of **his wife. The same** *halakha* applies to **two deaf-mute women,** whose status is like that of two minors in this matter, as their marriages are valid by rabbinic law. And if two brothers were married to two sisters, one of them **an adult and** the other **a minor,** and **the husband of the minor dies, the minor shall leave due to** her status as the **sister** of **a wife,** as in the first case in the mishna.


###### Yevamot 109a:14
[Yevamot 109a:14](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:14)

מֵת בַּעְלָהּ שֶׁל גְּדוֹלָה, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: מְלַמְּדִין אֶת הַקְּטַנָּה שֶׁתְּמָאֵן בּוֹ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
But **if the husband of the adult dies,** it generates a Torah obligation of levirate marriage, which is not abrogated by the rabbinic prohibition proscribing the *yevama* as his wife’s sister. This prohibition is by rabbinic law, because marriage to a minor is rabbinic in origin. What does one do under such circumstances? **Rabbi Eliezer says: We instruct the minor,** i.e., his wife, **to refuse him,** so that her marriage is dissolved and he may then enter into levirate marriage with her adult sister, the widow of his childless brother.


###### Yevamot 109a:15
[Yevamot 109a:15](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:15)

רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר: אִם מֵיאֲנָה — מֵיאֲנָה, וְאִם לָאו — תַּמְתִּין עַד שֶׁתַּגְדִּיל, וְתֵצֵא הַלֵּזוּ מִשּׁוּם אֲחוֹת אִשָּׁה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rabban Gamliel says: If** the minor **refuses** of her own accord, **her refusal is valid. And if not, she should wait until she reaches majority,** whereupon her marriage is valid by Torah law, **and that** widowed adult sister **shall be exempt** from levirate marriage **due to** her status as the **sister** of **a wife.**


###### Yevamot 109a:16
[Yevamot 109a:16](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:16)

רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: אִי לוֹ עַל אִשְׁתּוֹ, אִי לוֹ עַל אֵשֶׁת אָחִיו. מוֹצִיא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ בְּגֵט — וְאֵשֶׁת אָחִיו בַּחֲלִיצָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rabbi Yehoshua says:** When the brother married to the adult sister dies, leaving the brother married to the minor, **woe [*ee*] to him for his wife, woe to him for his brother’s wife.** Under these circumstances, he loses both women: **He must release his own wife with a bill of divorce** and **his brother’s wife by** performing ***ḥalitza*.** He cannot stay married to his wife because she is the sister of his *yevama*, and he cannot enter into levirate marriage with the *yevama* even after divorcing his wife, because the *yevama* is his wife’s sister. The principle that one is completely absolved from levirate marriage when the potential *yevama* is a forbidden relative does not apply because Torah law does not recognize his marriage to his minor wife. That marriage’s rabbinic sanction does not suffice to render the *yevama*, his wife’s sister, a forbidden relative who is not a candidate for levirate marriage.


###### Yevamot 109a:17
[Yevamot 109a:17](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:17)

**גְּמָ׳** וּמִי שְׁרֵי? וְהָתָנֵי בַּר קַפָּרָא: לְעוֹלָם יִדְבַּק אָדָם בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים, וְיִתְרַחֵק מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים. יִדְבַּק בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים: בַּחֲלִיצָה, וּבַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם, וּבַהֲפָרַת נְדָרִים. וְיִתְרַחֵק מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים: מִן הַמֵּיאוּן, וּמִן הַפִּקְדוֹנוֹת, וּמִן הָעֵרְבוֹנוֹת! מֵיאוּן דְּמִצְוָה שָׁאנֵי.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**GEMARA:** The Gemara inquires about Rabbi Eliezer’s suggestion to instruct the minor to refuse: **Is it permitted** to instruct her to refuse? **Doesn’t bar Kappara teach: A person should always cling to three things and distance himself from three things. He should cling to three things: To *ḥalitza*** rather than levirate marriage, **to bringing about peace, and to the nullification of vows. And he should distance himself from three things: From refusal; and from** accepting **deposits,** as he is then responsible for them; **and from serving as a guarantor.** The Gemara answers: **A refusal for a mitzva is different,** as this refusal is performed to allow the mitzva of levirate marriage to be fulfilled with the other sister.


###### Yevamot 109a:18
[Yevamot 109a:18](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:18)

גּוּפָא. תָּנֵי בַּר קַפָּרָא: לְעוֹלָם יִדְבַּק אָדָם בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים: בַּחֲלִיצָה — כְּאַבָּא שָׁאוּל, דְּתַנְיָא, אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר: הַכּוֹנֵס אֶת יְבִמְתּוֹ לְשֵׁם נוֹי, לְשֵׁם אִישׁוּת, לְשֵׁם דָּבָר אַחֵר — כְּאִילּוּ פּוֹגֵעַ בְּעֶרְוָה, וְקָרוֹב בְּעֵינַי לִהְיוֹת הַוָּלָד מַמְזֵר.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The Gemara explains the details of **the** matter **itself. Bar Kappara taught: A person should always cling to three things: To *ḥalitza*;** this is **in accordance with** the opinion of **Abba Shaul, as it is taught** in a *baraita*: **Abba Shaul said: One who marries his *yevama* for** her **beauty,** or **for the sake of matrimony** because he wants to be married to her, **or for some other reason,** such as her money, **it is as if he is having intercourse with a woman forbidden to him, and in my eyes** it is **almost as if his offspring were a *mamzer*.** Therefore, it is preferable that one performs *ḥalitza* and avoids sin.


###### Yevamot 109a:19
[Yevamot 109a:19](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yevamot/r/109a:19)

בַּהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם, דִּכְתִיב: ״בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרׇדְפֵהוּ״,

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
One should cling to **bringing about peace, as it is written “Seek peace and pursue it”** (Psalms 34:15).