Si deux [qui n'étaient pas frères] ont fiancé deux sœurs, chacune ne sachant pas laquelle il avait fiancé, chacune donne deux gittin. S'ils mouraient, et que chacun avait un frère, chacun donne la chalitzah aux deux, [chacun étant interdit d'accomplir le yibum en raison de la possibilité de "la sœur de son lié"]. Si l'un avait un frère et les deux autres, l'un des frères donne la chalitzah aux deux, [yibum étant impossible à la fois avant la chalitzah de la seconde femme, en raison de "la sœur de son liée", et après, en raison de " la sœur de sa chalutzah. " Par conséquent, comme yibum est interdit, il donne d'abord la chalitzah aux deux, pour libérer celui qui est sa yevamah aux autres]; et les deux frères—l'un donne chalitzah [pour dissoudre le lien de son frère, si c'est sa yevamah], et le second prend (l'autre) en yibum. [La sœur est autorisée à la seconde en tout cas. Si elle est sa Yevamah, tout va bien; et si elle est la soeur de sa yevamah, le lien de ce dernier a été dissous par la chalitzah de son frère.] S'ils étaient au préalable et les ont épousés, ils ne leur sont pas enlevés. Si chacun avait deux frères, le frère de l'un donne la chalitzah à l'un, et le frère de l'autre donne la chalitzah à l'autre. Le dernier frère prend la chalutzah du premier en yibum, et l'ancien frère prend la chalutzah du second en yibum. [Car, en tout cas, si celui qu'il prend est sa yevamah, il l'a prise correctement, son frère ayant donné la chalitzah non pas à elle, mais à sa sœur, qui n'était pas sa yevamah, de sorte que la chalitzah n'a aucune importance . Et si celui qu'il prend n'est pas sa yevamah, il a épousé correctement une femme seule. Car «la sœur de son lié» n'obtient pas ici, son frère ayant donné la chalitzah à sa sœur, sa yevamah, afin que le lien soit dissous.] Si deux [frères de (l'un des défunts)] étaient auparavant, et a donné chalitzah [aux deux, (chacun) ne sachant pas qui était sa yevamah], les deux [autres frères] ne peuvent pas les prendre [respectivement] en yibum [car il se peut que le premier prenne la sœur de son lié l'un], mais l'un donne la chalitzah [le premier à l'un d'eux], et l'autre prend [le second] en yibum. [Car, dans les deux cas, si elle est sa Yevamah, tout va bien; et sinon, il n'aura pas violé «la sœur de son lié», son frère ayant donné la chalitzah à sa yevamah. Et elle (cette dernière) ne sera pas considérée comme «une yevamah au marché», ayant reçu la chalitzah du frère de son mari.] Et s'ils [les deux autres frères] étaient avant, et les ont épousés [après la chalitzah des deux premiers , n'ayant pas consulté beth-din], ils ne leur sont pas enlevés [comme expliqué précédemment. Car il n'y a que la possibilité de «la sœur de son lié» dans le mariage du premier. Et il se peut qu'il ait effectivement, et correctement, épousé sa yevamah, de sorte que l'autre frère, lui aussi, aurait correctement épousé une femme seule. Et même si le contraire avait été le cas, et que la première avait violé «la sœur de son lié», lorsque la seconde est venue et a pris l'autre en yibum, son lien aurait été (rétroactivement) dissous et son (le premier frère) sa femme lui serait autorisée, bien qu'il ait transgressé en la prenant.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
שנים שקדשו שתי אחיות – two strangers (i.e., not related to each other).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Introduction
This mishnah continues to provides scenarios whereby two men betroth two women, but neither know who betrothed whom.
For the sake of clarity I will use names in explaining this complex mishnah. There are two families of men in the mishnah. The first family I will call Reuven, Shimon and Levi, who are all brothers. The second family of men I will call George, Bill and Ron, again all brothers. The two sisters in the mishnah I will again call Rachel and Leah. This should make the mishnah somewhat easier.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
זה חולץ לשתיהן כו' – because each of them is prohibited to perform levirate marriages for perhaps eah one of them came in contact with the sister of his levirate connection.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If two men betrothed two sisters and one does not know whom he betrothed and the other does not know whom he betrothed, this one gives two bills of divorce and the other gives two bills of divorce. If they died and this one has a brother and this one has a brother, this brother performs halitzah for both widows and this brother performs halitzah for both widows. If one has one brother and the other has two brothers, one brother performs halitzah for both widows and [as regards] the two, one performs halitzah and the other may perform yibbum. If they both preempted and married they do not take [the women] away from them. If this one had two brothers and the other had two brothers, one brother of one performs halitzah for one widow and one brother of the other performs halitzah with the other widow, [and then the other] brother of the first may have yibbum with the halutzah of the second and [the other] brother of the second may have yibbum with the halutzah of the first. If both preempted and performed halitzah, the [other] two must not perform yibbum, rather one must perform halitzah and the other may then have yibbum. If they both preempted and married they do not take [the women] away from them. Reuven and George betroth Rachel and Leah but neither knows who betrothed whom. They both must then divorce both women in order for the women to go marry other men.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
היחיד חולץ לשתיהן – for it is impossible for him to perform levirate marriage not prior to the Halitzah of the second because of [the prohibition of] the sister of his levirate relation, but not after Halitzah because of the sister of the woman undergoing Halitzah; therefore, since it is prohibited to perform levirate marriage, he should perform Halitzah to both of them in order to remove her [i.e., the woman] who is his Yevamah /widow of her deceased husband who died without issue from the prohibition of a woman who is the widow of a deceased husband who died without issue from the general public.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If Reuven and George die, and each has only one brother (Shimon and Bill), Shimon must perform halitzah with both women and Bill must perform halitzah with both women. Neither can have yibbum with either women because each woman might be the sister of the woman with whom he is truly liable to have yibbum, the z’kukah (because we don’t know who betrothed whom).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
והשנים אחד חולץ – to cause a release of the levirate relation from his brother, if this woman is his Yevama/widow of his dead brother who died without issue, and permit her sister to the second [brother] whatever you want, if she is his sister-in-law/Yevamah, fine, and if she is her sister, you have released the levirate relation of the sister-in-law from him through the ac of Halitzah by his brother.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If Reuven has two brothers, Shimon and Levi and George still only has Bill as a brother, Bill must have halitzah with both Rachel and Leah. With regard to Shimon and Levi, one brother must have halitzah with both women but the other brother can have yibbum. This rule was explained in the above mishnah as well. The second brother can have yibbum with either women because if she was truly the woman who Reuven betrothed, then yibbum is proper. If Reuven betrothed the other sister, then the sister with whom this brother now has yibbum is no longer the sister of his z’kukah, because this other sister has already received halitzah from his other brother.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
אחיו של זה מייבם חלוצתו של זה – whatever you want if this is his sister-in-law, he marries her and it is well and good, for his brother did not perform Halitzah on that one but rather on her sister, who was not his sister-in-law and is not anything [to him] and if she is not his sister-in-law , he has done well by marrying a stranger (i.e., unconnected woman), for if it were because she is the sister of the levirate relation, it is nothing, since his brother performed on Halitzah with her sister who is his sister-in-law/Yevamah, and the levirate relation of the sister-in-law has been released, but if it was because it was an entrance to the open marketplace, this one has performed Halitzah with the brothers of her husband.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
As we learned above in mishnah six, if both brothers preemptively marry both sisters, they are not forced to have a divorce. Certainly the second marriage is okay, and even the first marriage was only problematic in the beginning, before the second sister had yibbum. Even though the woman whom he married may have once been the sister of his z’kukah, after she has had yibbum the other sister is no longer a z’kukah. For further explanation see mishnah six.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
קדמו שני אחין – of one of them and they performed Halitzah with both of them (i.e., the women) to his a
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If both Reuven and George have two brothers, one brother of each dead brother has halitzah with both sisters. Let’s say that Shimon and Bill have halitzah with both sisters. Now Levi can have yibbum with the sister who had halitzah with George and Ron can have yibbum with the sister who had halitzah with Shimon. This is permitted because if this sister was the one whom his brother had betrothed than yibbum is proper. If she is not the correct sister, then his other brother has already had halitzah with the other woman and she is no longer a z’kukah. The reason that Levi cannot have yibbum with the sister who had halitzah with Shimon and that Ron can’t have yibbum with the sister who had halitzah with Bill is that it is forbidden to marry a woman with whom your brother had halitzah.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
לא ייבמו – the two [other] brothers, one with this [woman] and that one (i.e., brother) with the other [woman] because the first one that marries, is able to say, this woman is the sister of his levirate relation, but rather, one [brother] performs Halitzah first to one of
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
If Shimon and Levi preemptively perform halitzah with both Rachel and Leah, the other two, Bill and Ron, cannot both have yibbum with Rachel and Leah, because the first to do yibbum might do so with the sister of his z’kukah. Rather one (either Bill or Ron) should do halitzah and then the other may have yibbum.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
ואחד מיבם – and the other [brother] performs levirate marriage with the second, whatever you want, if he is sister-in-law, fine, and if not, he has not come in contact with the sister of his levirate relation for his brother performed Halitzah and a sister-in-law in the free market does not happen, for she underwent Halitzah from the brothers of her husband.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Again, if Bill and Ron both do yibbum, after Shimon and Levi both performed halitzah, neither are forced to divorce them. This is the same ruling as in section four and in the previous mishnah.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
ואם קדמו – these latter two [brothers] and married after the Halitzah of the two other [women] and they did not come to take council with the Jewish court, we don’t remove them from their hands as we have explained, for here is nothing here other than a doubtful prohibition of the sister of one’s levirate relation om the first marriage, and one can state that the first that married his sister-in-law and it is well tha the married, and the latter, also did well by marrying strange (i.e., unattached) woman, or alternatively, if if they married in reverse, that the father-in-law came in contact with the sister of his levirate relation and since he second [brother] came and performed levirate marriage, her levirate connection has been severed from his brother and she is permitted to him as his wife, but the prohibition that he performed was performed.
