R. Yehoshua a dit: J'ai entendu dire qu'un saris (celui qui est impuissant) donne la chalitzah et que sa femme reçoit la chalitzah; et qu'un saris ne donne pas de chalitzah et que sa femme ne reçoit pas de chalitzah [à savoir. (Deutéronome 25: 6): "… et son nom ne sera pas effacé"—pour exclure celui dont le nom est déjà effacé], et je ne peux pas expliquer [avec lequel saris chalitzah obtient et avec lequel il n'obtient pas.] R. Akiva a dit: Je vais l'expliquer: Seris adam ("un saris causé par l'homme") [qui est devenu un saris après sa naissance] donne la chalitzah et sa femme reçoit la chalitzah parce qu'il fut un temps où il était kasher; un seris-chammah ("un sun-saris") ne donne pas de chalitzah et sa femme ne reçoit pas de chalitzah, car il n'y a jamais eu de temps où il était kasher. [("seris-chammah") depuis le ventre de sa mère, n'ayant jamais vu le soleil que lorsqu'il était un saris. Ses signes: celui qui n'a pas de barbe, dont les cheveux sont doux, dont la peau est lisse, dont l'urine ne soulève pas de vapeur, dont le jet d'urine n'est pas en forme de dôme (c'est-à-dire qu'il ne va pas assez loin pour former un dôme) , dont le sperme est mince, dont l'urine n'a pas d'odeur de vinaigre, dont la peau ne dégage pas de vapeur quand il se baigne en hiver, et dont la voix n'est pas distinctement celle d'un homme.] R. Elazar dit: Non, mais un seris-chammah donne la chalitzah et sa femme reçoit la chalitzah, parce qu'il peut être guéri; un seris-adam ne donne pas de chalitzah et sa femme ne reçoit pas de chalitzah, car il ne peut pas être guéri. [La halakha est conforme à R. Akiva, qui dit qu'un seris-adam donne la chalitzah et que sa femme est soumise à la chalitzah et au yibum; mais il ne prend pas de femme en yibum, car il lui est interdit d'entrer dans la congrégation.] R. Yehoshua b. Betheira a témoigné au sujet d'un Ben Megoset, un seris-adam à Jérusalem, dont la femme a été emmenée en yibum, pour confirmer les paroles de R. Akiva.
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
סריס – there is a eunuch who performs the rite of Halitzah and has his shoe taken off for refusing the leviratical marriage.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Introduction
This mishnah contains a discussion about whether or not a eunuch is obligated to perform halitzah for his dead brother’s wife and whether or not halitzah is performed for his wife, should he die without children. Note that this issue is tied to the eunuch’s ability or lack thereof to have children. One who cannot have children would be less likely to be subject to the laws of halitzah and yibbum whose purpose is to supply children for the dead brother.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
והסריס לא חולץ וכו' – as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:6): “that his name (i.e., the dead brother’s) not be blotted out [in Israel],” except for that whose name is blotted out (see Talmud Yevamot 24a).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Rabbi Joshua said: I have heard that a eunuch performs halitzah and that halitzah is performed by others for his wife, and also that a eunuch does not perform halitzah and that no halitzah is performed for his wife, and I am unable to explain this. Rabbi Joshua transmits an old halakhah that he has heard, but that he doesn’t know how to explain. In these words we can see how halakhot were often transmitted in pithy, memorable phrases, such that later sages sometimes did not know how to explain them. Rabbi Joshua has heard that eunuchs are subject to the laws of halitzah and he has also heard the opposite. He does not know if these two halakhot apply to two different types of eunuchs or whether they contradict each other.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
ואין לי לפרש – I do not know how o interpret which eunuch is required to perform Halitzah and which is exempt.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Rabbi Akiva said: I will explain it: a man-made eunuch performs halitzah and halitzah is also performed for his wife, because there was a time when he was fit [to have children]. A eunuch by nature neither performs halitzah nor is halitzah performed for his wife, since there never was a time when he was fit. Rabbi Akiva explains the puzzle brought up by Rabbi Joshua. The eunuch who was castrated by humans performs halitzah for his dead brother’s wife. [He cannot have yibbum, because he is forbidden to marry Israelites, as we learned above.] If he should die without children, halitzah or yibbum is performed for his wife. The reason that he is subject to the laws of yibbum is that he was at one time not a eunuch and he was fit to have children. In contrast, the eunuch who was born a eunuch was never fit to have children, and therefore is not subject to the laws of halitzah. Should he die, his wife is exempt from both halitzah and yibbum. Should his brother die, he does not perform halitzah for his widow.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
סריס אדם – who was castrated after he was born.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Rabbi Eliezer said: Not so! Rather a eunuch by nature performs halitzah and halitzah is performed for his wife, because he may be cured. A man-made eunuch neither performs halitzah nor is halitzah performed for his wife, since he cannot be cured. Rabbi Eliezer offers the opposite reading and solution to the tradition transmitted by Rabbi Joshua. The eunuch who is subject to the laws of halitzah and yibbum is one who was born a eunuch, since he could potentially be cured, and then he could have children. A eunuch who was castrated by others cannot be cured (even today this is not a simple procedure). Therefore, he is not subject to the laws of halitzah and yibbum.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
סריס חמה – from the womb of his mother, that never saw the sun, but rather, when he is a eunuch and its signs are explained: anyone who lacks the “beard” (i.e., the hair of the genitals) and his hair is abnormal (see Tractate Yevamot 80b) and his flesh is smoothened, and his urine does not produce scum and when he urinates it doesn’t make a pile and the spouting forth of the urine does not travel from afar until it makes a circle like a pile and his semen is feeble and his urine does not ferment, and he washes in the rainy season and his flesh does not produce vapor and is voice is not abnormal and is not recognized as either than of a man or of a woman. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiva who states that a eunuch castrated by a man performs Halitzah and his wife removes the shoe of the deceased husband’s brother who refuses to perform levirate marriage, and they perform levirate marriage with his wife but [he] does not perform the role of the levir, for he is disqualified to enter into the community [of Israel].
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Rabbi Joshua ben Baterra testified concerning Ben Megusat, who was a man-made eunuch living in Jerusalem and they performed yibbum for his wife, thus confirming the opinion of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Joshua ben Batera testifies about a man-made eunuch, that they performed yibbum for his wife. This proves what Rabbi Akiva said, that man-made eunuchs are subject to the laws of halitzah and yibbum. Note that what proves that Rabbi Akiva is correct is a precedent, and not any inherent logic to his words.
