Commentary for Yevamot 13:1
בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, אֵין מְמָאֲנִין אֶלָּא אֲרוּסוֹת. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אֲרוּסוֹת וּנְשׂוּאוֹת. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בַּבַּעַל וְלֹא בַיָּבָם. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בַּבַּעַל וּבַיָּבָם. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בְּפָנָיו. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בְּפָנָיו וְשֶׁלֹּא בְפָנָיו. בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, בְּבֵית דִּין. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, בְּבֵית דִּין וְשֶׁלֹּא בְבֵית דִּין. אָמְרוּ לָהֶן בֵּית הִלֵּל לְבֵית שַׁמַּאי, מְמָאֶנֶת וְהִיא קְטַנָּה, אֲפִלּוּ אַרְבָּעָה וַחֲמִשָּׁה פְעָמִים. אָמְרוּ לָהֶן בֵּית שַׁמַּאי, אֵין בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל הֶפְקֵר, אֶלָּא מְמָאֶנֶת וּמַמְתֶּנֶת עַד שֶׁתַּגְדִּיל, וּתְמָאֵן וְתִנָּשֵׂא:
Beth Shammai say: Refusal [miun] obtains only with the betrothed. [An orphan girl who was wed by her mother and her brothers can refuse only from betrothal (and not from marriage).] Beth Hillel say: Both with the betrothed and with the married. Beth Shammai say: With the husband, but not with the yavam. [If her husband died without her having refused him, and she fell before the yavam, she is not released with miun, but she waits until she comes of age and she performs chalitzah]. Beth Hillel say: (Refusal obtains) with both the husband and the yavam. Beth Shammai say: (Only) before him. Beth Hillel say: (Both) in beth-din and not in beth-din. Beth Hillel said to Beth Shammai: She may refuse when she is a minor, even four or five times. Beth Shammai rejoined: "The daughters of Israel are not hefker" ("abandoned ones") [and even from betrothal she cannot refuse and betroth herself to another and refuse again], but she refuses [this one] and waits [to become betrothed to another] until she comes of age, and she refuses and marries. [Not that she refuses another time, but that she refuses and waits to betroth another until she comes of age. Or, if she wishes to marry, she refuses her husband and marries immediately, for being married, she can no longer refuse according to Beth Shammai.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Beth Shammai says: [A declaration of refusal may be made] against a husband but not against a yavam; But Beth Hillel says: Either against a husband or against a yavam.
Beth Shammai says: [The declaration] must be made in his presence, But Beth Hillel says: Either in his presence or not in his presence.
Beth Shammai says: [The declaration must be made] before the court, But Beth Hillel says: Either before the court or not before the court.
Beth Hillel said to Beth Shammai: [A girl] may exercise the right of refusal while she is a minor even four or five times. Beth Shammai said to them: “The daughters of Israel are not ownerless property! Rather, either she makes a declaration of refusal and then waits until she is of age, or she makes a declaration of refusal and marries again [immediately]. Section one: According to Beth Shammai only those who are betrothed are allowed to make a declaration of refusal and thereby leave their husbands without a get. Beth Hillel says even if she was married she may do so. According to the Talmud, Beth Shammai allows only the betrothed woman to refuse because if the married woman also was able to refuse, men would not want to spend the money involved in marrying a minor, lest she later refuse the marriage. Section two: If the minor girl was married off by her mother or brother and then her husband died, according to Beth Shammai she cannot make a declaration against her yavam. Rather she must wait until she reaches majority age and then request halitzah. However, according to Beth Hillel she may make such a declaration against the yavam as well. However, even though she has annulled her marriage to the yavam’s brother, she cannot at a later point marry the yavam, since she was at one point his brother’s wife. Section three: According to Beth Shammai, she must make the declaration of refusal in front of him. According to Beth Hillel, this is not necessary. Section four: According to Beth Shammai, she must make the declaration of refusal in front of a court. According to Beth Hillel, this is not necessary. Section five: According to Beth Hillel, as long as she is still a minor, she may be married off as many times as her brothers and mother wish and she may later refuse as many marriages as they offer. Beth Shammai offers a moral objection to this possibility, for through it a girl could be betrothed (but according to Beth Shammai not to several men without ever having received a get. Rather she either waits until she is an adult or makes a declaration of refusal and then marries immediately, at which point she could no longer refuse, according to Beth Shammai. Note that this last section is phrased differently than the previous sections. According to some mishnaic commentators, since Beth Shammai explains their position the halakhah is according to them in this section. In all of the other sections, the halakhah follows Beth Hillel, as it usually does.
Chapter thirteen discusses the marriage of a minor, her right to refuse and thereby annul the marriage when she reaches majority age and the implications that this has on the laws of yibbum.
According to the rabbinic understanding of the Torah, a father can marry off his daughter when she is a minor and cause her to be fully married (deoraita). This marriage can only be severed by death or divorce. If the father dies, the daughter cannot be fully married until she reaches majority age. The rabbis, however, gave the girl’s mother and brother the ability to marry her off while still a minor. The status of such a marriage is rabbinic (derabanan). Since this is a lesser form of marriage, she may “refuse” the marriage and any point until she is no longer a minor. Such a refusal is called “meun”. If she does the marriage is annulled and she does not even require a get.
Our mishnah contains five debates between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel concerning this right of refusal.