פירוש על יבמות 3:8

וכולן – the fifteen [cases] of incest (see Tractate Yevamot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1), of a woman forbidden to a man on account of consanguinity that they had with his brothers a doubtful betrothal/Kiddushin or doubtful Jewish divorce for there is a doubt of the rivals of a woman forbidden on account of consanguinity.

Introduction This mishnah refers back to the first mishnah of the tractate, which stated that if one of the wives was forbidden to the yavam, and therefore did not require yibbum or halitzah, the rival wife was also exempt from yibbum or halitzah. In that mishnah (and in the previous mishnah of our chapter) we learned that if the forbidden wife had been divorced, the rival wife was again liable for yibbum or halitzah. Our mishnah teaches what happens to the rival wife if the forbidden wife was doubtfully divorced or only doubtfully married in the first place.

חולצת – but it does not free her without anything for perhaps she is not the rival of a a woman forbidden on account of consanguinity.

[If in any of these cases] the betrothal or divorce was in doubt, behold, these rivals must perform halitzah but may not be taken in yibbum. What is a case of doubtful betrothal? If when he threw to her betrothal money it was uncertain whether it fell nearer to him or nearer to her – this is a case of doubtful betrothal. [What is a case of] doubtful divorce? If he wrote a get in his own handwriting and it bore no signatures of witnesses, or if it bore signatures of witnesses but was note dated, or if it was dated but had the signature of only one witness this is a case of doubtful divorce. If the forbidden wife was doubtfully betrothed, then there is a doubt whether or not the rival wife must or even can have yibbum. If the divorce was valid, then the rival wife can and must have yibbum; if the divorce was invalid then the rival wife is exempt. Similarly, if there was a doubt about whether or not the wife forbidden to the yavam was even married in the first place, there is a doubt whether or not the rival wife must or can have yibbum. If the betrothal was valid, then the rival wife is exempt; if the betrothal was not valid, then the rival wife was never even this woman’s true rival wife, and hence she is liable for yibbum or halitzah.

ספק קרוב לו – for there were eight exactly defined cubits between them in the public domain, and the four cubits of a person acquires for him there, and he threw it, doubtfully within his four cubits and doubtfully within her four cubits.

This section and the next define potential cases of doubtful divorce and betrothal. We should note that there are other cases of doubtful divorce and betrothal that we will learn when we learn tractates Gittin and Kiddushin. A man may betroth his wife by throwing the money used for betrothal at her (money is one of the means by which a woman is legally betrothed), as long as it is closer to her than to him. [Note that the woman must always consent to becoming his betrothed. A man cannot throw money at any woman he wishes and thereby betroth her against her will]. If it was doubtful whether the money landed closer to him or closer to her, she is doubtfully betrothed.

A normal get (divorce document) is written by a scribe, is signed by two witnesses and is dated. If the two witnesses are missing, but the husband wrote the get himself, or it has two witnesses but no date, or one witness but it has the date, the get is valid according to the Torah but the sages stated that it was invalid (see Gittin 8:2, 9:4). If a woman were to get remarried using one of these divorce documents, the children from the second marriage are not mamzers (as they would be if she remarried without ever being divorced). Our mishnah considers these divorce documents cases of “doubtful divorce” since they are on the one hand valid (from Torah law) and on the other hand invalid (due to a stringency of the rabbis).