Commentaire sur Nida 5:5
בֶּן תֵּשַׁע שָׁנִים וְיוֹם אֶחָד שֶׁבָּא עַל יְבִמְתּוֹ, קְנָאָהּ. וְאֵינוֹ נוֹתֵן גֵּט עַד שֶׁיַּגְדִּיל. וּמִטַּמֵּא בְנִדָּה, לְטַמֵּא מִשְׁכָּב תַּחְתּוֹן כָּעֶלְיוֹן. וּפוֹסֵל וְאֵינוֹ מַאֲכִיל בַּתְּרוּמָה. וּפוֹסֵל אֶת הַבְּהֵמָה מֵעַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְנִסְקֶלֶת עַל יָדוֹ. וְאִם בָּא עַל אַחַת מִכָּל הָעֲרָיוֹת הָאֲמוּרוֹת בַּתּוֹרָה, מוּמָתִים עַל יָדוֹ, וְהוּא פָטוּר:
Si un garçon de neuf ans et un jour a des relations avec sa Yevamah [une veuve de son frère sans enfant], il l'acquiert [comme sa femme]. Et il n'a pas [besoin de] lui donner une lettre de divorce jusqu'à ce qu'il grandisse. Et il peut être rendu impur par un niddah , de telle sorte qu'il rend impur ce sur quoi il est assis, la couche inférieure, même s'il ne la touche pas directement, tout comme la couche supérieure; et il peut rendre invalide celui [avec lequel il avait des relations] [de pouvoir manger de la terumah ]; et il ne peut pas nourrir un terumah [c'est-à-dire permettre à quelqu'un de le manger à son compte]; et il peut rendre un animal invalide pour [pouvoir être sacrifié] sur l'alter [c'est-à-dire s'il a eu des relations avec lui, cela suffit pour le rendre invalide comme sacrifice], et il est lapidé pour son compte. Et s'il avait des relations avec l'un des parents illicites mentionnés dans la Torah, ils sont tués à cause de lui, et il en est exempt.
Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
שבא על יבמתו קנאה- and he takes possession of the property of his brother. But even though it is not a complete acquisition/purchase, it is different here for it is from Heaven (i.e., from the Torah) that it was acquired by him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
Introduction
Today's mishnah teaches that for a boy to be legally capable of intercourse, he must be 9 years old. Again, I should stress that this is a legal definition. The mishnah is not sanctioning boys having sex at that age. Indeed, I'm sure this was quite uncommon, if not completely unheard of. All they are saying is that a boy under that age is not legally capable of doing having sex.
While a boy nine years of age can have legally consequential sex, he is not old enough to enter into verbal contracts. We shall see that this creates some interesting ramifications.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ואינו נותן גט עד שיגדיל – if he comes to divorce her, for the betrothal of his brother is a complete betrothal/Kiddushin, but the divorce of this one (i.e., the levir of nine years of age) is not a complete divorce. And especially when he came upon her (i.e., in terms of sexual intercourse) after he had grown up (i.e., reached the age of thirteen years and one day), it is enough for her with a Jewish bill of divorce. But if he had not come upon her after he had grown up, she needs a Jewish bill of divorce and Halitzah (i.e., the removal by he widow of a special sandal from the foot of one of the deceased husband’s brothers).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
If a boy the age of nine years and one day had relations with his yevamah, he acquires her thereby; A yevamah, a woman whose husband has died without children, is acquired by the yavam, the brother of the dead husband, through sexual intercourse. What this means is that marriage with a yevam is done not through the money of kiddushin and then huppah, but through intercourse. Since a boy's intercourse at nine years counts, he can acquire his yevamah at that age. Note, he cannot marry a regular woman until he is of majority age.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ומטמא בנדה – if he came upon her while she was in her menstruating state (i.e., Niddah), for his act of sexual intercourse/coition is an act of sexual intercourse/coition in all manners.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
But he cannot divorce her until he is of majority age. However, divorce is done through a written document and boys of this age do not have the legal ability to execute such documents. Therefore, he couldn't divorce her until he is of majority age.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ופוסל – as for example, a heathen and/or a slave or the son born to a Kohen and a woman to whom the Kohen is forbidden to marry who is nine years of age who comes upon the daughter of a Kohen , has invalidated her [from partaking] from the heave-offering of her father.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
He contracts uncleanness through intercourse with a menstruant so that he in turn conveys uncleanness to a couch underneath as to a cover above. Since his intercourse counts, if he has relations with a niddah, he takes on the according level of impurity. This impurity was explained in 4:1.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ואינו מאכיל – if he is a Kohen and married an Israelite woman, he does not feed her heave-offering, because his acquisition [of her] is not a complete acquisition. And even if he a levir whose acquisition through this act of coition is as we stated, even so, he does not feed her heave-offering/Terumah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
He disqualifies a woman from the priesthood. If he is disqualified from being a priest, for instance he is a halal (a disqualified priest) or a mamzer, and he has relations with a woman, he disqualifies her from eating terumah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
ופוסל את הבהמה – if the beast copulates with her (i.e., a human) through the testimony of one witness.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
But he doesn't give her the right to eat terumah. Since he can't legally marry a woman, he can't confer upon her the right to eat terumah if he is a priest. This is true even if the woman is his yevamah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
נסקלת על ידו – if there are two witnesses.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
He renders a beast invalid for the altar, and it is stoned on his account. If he has sex with an animal (I know, this is a bit sick), the sex disqualifies use of the animal as a sacrifice. The animal with which he had sex is stoned on his account. Both of these rules are the usual rules for an animal that had sex with a human.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
If he had intercourse with any of the forbidden relations mentioned in the Torah, she is to be executed on his account, but he is exempt from punishment. If he has intercourse with a woman prohibited to him by the Torah (adultery or incest) she is punished with the death penalty. He cannot, however, be punished until he is of majority age. To sum up this mishnah, it teaches that boys' physical ability precedes their legal liabilities, which are based on their mental capacities. While some of the details of this mishnah might be revolting and troubling, the essence seems to me quite prescient.
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