Si deux frères étaient mariés à deux sœurs, [s’ils étaient] orphelins-mineurs, et que le mari de l’une d’elles était décédé, elle partait en raison de «la sœur de sa femme», [et elle est exempte de chalitzah et de yibum.] il en est de même pour deux sourds-muets (dont le mariage est également par ordonnance rabbinique). Si l'une (sœur) était adulte et l'autre mineure, si le mari du mineur décède, le mineur part en raison de «la sœur de sa femme». Si le mari de l'adulte meurt, [et qu'elle est tombée amoureuse du yibum devant le mari du mineur, le lien de l'adulte, qui est basé sur la Torah, lui interdit le mineur parce que son mariage est (seulement) par ordonnance rabbinique, et elle est «la soeur de son lié». Que faire alors?] R. Eliezer a dit: On apprend au mineur à le refuser [et à dissoudre le mariage, après quoi il prend l'adulte en yibum. Et c'est la halakha.] R. Gamliel dit: Si elle a refusé, elle a refusé; et sinon, elle attend d'être majeur, quand l'autre part à cause de «la sœur de sa femme». [Le lien de l'adulte ne lui interdit pas le mineur, R. Gamliel estimant que le lien n'est pas assez fort pour lui interdire sa femme. Par conséquent, si elle a refusé, tout va bien, et il prend l'adulte en yibum. Et sinon, la mineure demeure avec lui jusqu'à ce qu'elle atteigne l'âge de la majorité et que son mariage soit fondé sur la Torah, après quoi l'adulte part en raison de «la sœur de sa femme». Mais il ne donne pas de chalitzah à l'adulte, car il s'interdirait ainsi sa femme à lui-même en raison de "la sœur de sa chalutzah."] R. Yehoshua dit: Malheur à lui pour sa femme [Malheur à celui qui envoie sa femme avec un get. Car nous ne lui apprenons pas à refuser, soutenant qu '«il faut se distancier des refus»], et malheur à lui pour la femme de son frère! Il envoie sa femme avec un get, et la femme de son frère avec chalitzah.
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
תצא משום אחות אשה – and she is exempt from Halitzah and from levirate marriage.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Introduction
This mishnah discusses situations where a woman becomes liable for yibbum or halitzah to her sister’s husband. Generally in such a case the woman is completely exempt. However, these cases are slightly different because at least on of the marriages is only of rabbinic status.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
מת בעלה של גדולה – and she fell before the husband of the younger [sister], the levirate relation of the older [sister]which she according to the Torah prohibits the younger [sister] upon him because her marriage is according to the Rabbis and she would be the sister of her levirate relation. What are they to do?
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If two brothers were married to two sisters who were minors and orphans, and the husband of one of them died, [the widow] is free since she is the [the yavam’s] wife’s sister. The marriage of these two brothers to these two sisters is of rabbinic status, since they were married off by their brothers or mother. We might have thought that since this was so, the sister whose husband died needs halitzah from the yavam, even though the yavam is married to her sister (and hence yibbum is forbidden). This is because the ties created by the necessity of halitzah are biblical whereas the marriage is only rabbinic. The mishnah teaches that just as in a case of regular marriage where the widow is exempt from yibbum and halitzah, so too here she is exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
רבי אליעזר אומר מלמדים הקטנה שתמאן בו – and uproot her marriage, and he would perform levirate marriage to the older, and the Halakha is according to him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Similarly in the case of two deaf-mute [sisters]. The marriage of a girl deaf-mute is also only of rabbinic status, since she was legally considered by the rabbis to be lacking the required intelligence to contract marriage. This case is similar to the previous case because the marriage of both women is only of rabbinic status.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
רבן גמליאל אומר – the levirate relation of the older [sister] does not prohibit the younger [sister], for Rabban Gamaliel holds that the levirate marriage is not strong to prohibit his wife upon him; therefore, if she refuses, it is better and the older [sister] should under go levirate marriage, and if not, the younger [sister] should wait with him until she grows up and her marriage will be according to the Torah, and afterwards, the older [sister] will leave because of [the prohibition of] the wife’s sister. But not to have Halitzah for the older [sister], because he has invalidated the first [sister] upon him because of being the sister of the woman who performed Halitzah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
[If the two brothers were married to two sisters one of whom was] of age and [the other] a minor, if the husband of the minor died, the minor is free since she is the [the yavam’s] wife’s sister. In this case two brothers were married to two sisters, one of whom was of majority age and hence her marriage was of biblical status (deoraita) and one of whom was a minor, whose marriage was only of rabbinic status (derabbanan). If the husband of the minor died, she certainly does not need yibbum or halitzah from the other husband, because he is married to her sister. Since the marriage to the older sister is deoraita, there is no question about this case.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
אי לו – Woe to him who removes his wife with a Jewish bill of divorce and doesn’t teach her to refuse/protest, for we state that a person should distance himself protests/refusals.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If the husband of the elder sister died: Rabbi Eliezer says the minor is to be instructed to make a declaration of refusal against him. Rabban Gamaliel says: If she made a declaration of refusal, then she did so; but if [she did] not, let her wait until she is of age and then she will be free since she is the [the yavam’s] wife's sister. Rabbi Joshua says: Woe to him because of his wife and woe to him because of his brother’s wife! He must allow his wife to go by [giving her] a get, and [he must let go] his brother’s wife through halitzah. The more difficult and controversial case is if the elder sister’s husband dies. She now needs yibbum or halitzah from a deoraita marriage, but her sister is already married, at least rabbinically to the yavam. If the yavam were to have halitzah with the older sister, the younger sister to whom he is married would become forbidden to him as his halutzah’s sister. Rabbi Eliezer says that in order to get out of this problematic situation, the court instructs the younger sister to make a declaration of refusal, thereby annulling the marriage and making it possible for the elder sister to have yibbum. According to Rabbi Eliezer, the ties that the older sister has to the yavam (the younger sister’s husband) makes the younger sister forbidden to her husband. Therefore the only solution is for the younger sister to make a declaration of refusal. Rabban Gamaliel disagrees with Rabbi Eliezer and does not hold that the ties to the older sister make the younger sister forbidden. Therefore, the younger sister can either make a declaration of refusal immediately, or she may remain with her husband and the older sister can wait until the younger sister reaches majority age at which time she, the older sister, becomes exempt from yibbum and halitzah because her yavam is biblically married to her sister. Rabbi Joshua says that in this case the husband/yavam will lose both his wife and his yevamah. Rabbi Joshua agrees with Rabbi Eliezer that his minor wife is now forbidden to him due to the biblical ties that he has with her sister. However, Rabbi Joshua disagrees with Rabbi Eliezer’s strategy of teaching her to make a declaration of refusal. This is because Rabbi Joshua holds that declarations of refusal are not desirable and that one should distance himself from them as much as possible. The yavam cannot have yibbum with the yevamah since she is now the sister of his divorcee. Therefore he must have halitzah with her. In this way, he loses both women. Question for Further Thought: What is the difference between the first case and the last case? Why in one does she not require halitzah but in the other she might?
