Halakhah for Yevamot 16:4

נָפַל לְמַיִם, בֵּין שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהֶן סוֹף, בֵּין שֶׁאֵין לָהֶן סוֹף, אִשְׁתּוֹ אֲסוּרָה. אָמַר רַבִּי מֵאִיר, מַעֲשֶׂה בְאֶחָד שֶׁנָּפַל לְבוֹר הַגָּדוֹל, וְעָלָה לְאַחַר שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי, מַעֲשֶׂה בְסוּמָא שֶׁיָּרַד לִטְבֹּל בִּמְעָרָה, וְיָרַד מוֹשְׁכוֹ אַחֲרָיו, וְשָׁהוּ כְדֵי שֶׁתֵּצֵא נַפְשָׁם, וְהִשִּׂיאוּ נְשׁוֹתֵיהֶם. וְשׁוּב מַעֲשֶׂה בְעַסְיָא בְּאֶחָד שֶׁשִּׁלְשְׁלוּהוּ לַיָּם, וְלֹא עָלָה בְיָדָם אֶלָּא רַגְלוֹ, אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים, מִן הָאַרְכֻּבָּה וּלְמַעְלָה, תִּנָּשֵׂא. מִן הָאַרְכֻּבָּה וּלְמַטָּה, לֹא תִנָּשֵׂא:

If one fell into (a body of) water, whether it has an end or does not have an end, his wife is forbidden (to remarry). R. Meir said: It once happened that a man fell into the great pit and came up after three days. ["water that has an end" — where all four sides are visible around the water; "water that does not have an end" — where one cannot see all around it. R. Meir makes no distinction between the one and the other, but the sages do in the baraitha, saying that (if he fell into) water that has an end, his wife is permitted if he remained there longer than the optimal survival time; and (if he fell into) water that does not have an end, his wife is forbidden, for it may be that he may have come up (on the other side) and continued on, as per R. Yossi in our Mishnah. The halachah is in accordance with the sages. ("And he came up after three days":) R. Meir holds that one can survive in water many days. Therefore, even in water which has an end, where if he emerged he would have been seen, we apprehend that he may have emerged after many days and not been seen. And R. Yossi disagrees and says: "It happened with a certain blind man that he went down to bathe in a cave, etc."; and the instance of a cave is one of water which has an end, and they waited until they would have died and married their wives.] R. Yossi said: It happened with a certain blind man that he went down to bathe in a cave, and his attendant went down after him, and they waited (the amount of time it would take) for them to die, and they married their wives. Another incident (which occurred) in Assia. They lowered someone into the sea and came up only with his leg. The sages said: (If the leg were severed) above the knee-joint, she may remarry; below the knee-joint, she may not remarry. [Since he can live (in that condition), she may not remarry, for it may be that he had emerged and not been seen, it being water that did not have an end.]

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