פירוש על יבמות 7:4

העובר והיבם וכו' -this fetus if [it is the product of] the daughter of a Kohen and an Israelite [male], it disqualifies her [from eating Terumah] as it is written (Leviticus 22:13): “[But if the priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and without offspring, and is back in her father’s house] as in her youth, [she may eat of her father’s food],” excluding someone pregnant, if she is an Israelite woman [awaiting the act of a levir] to a Kohen, he does not feed [Terumah] and that which is not born does not cause feed [either].

Introduction The first section of this mishnah broadens the category of those who disqualify women from eating terumah but cannot allow them to eat terumah. The second two sections discuss cases of doubt.

והיבם – if the daughter of a Kohen is [to engage in a levirate marriage] with an Israelite man, he disqualifies her [from partaking of Terumah] as it is written (Leviticus 22:13): “and is back in her father’s house,” excluding the widow waiting for her brother-in-law to act, who is not able to return [to her father’s house] because she is in union with the widow waiting for her brother-in-law to act and if it is the daughter of an Israelite [who is to engage in a levirate marriage] with a Kohen, he does not feed her [Terumah]. The All-Merciful said (Leviticus 22:11): “[But a person who is a priest’s] property by purchase [may eat of them],” but this is the purchase of his brother.

A fetus, a yavam, betrothal, a deaf-mute, and a boy who is nine years and one day old, disqualify [a woman] from [terumah], but do not allow her to eat terumah, In all of the cases listed in this section, if the boy/man was an Israelite he disqualifies the woman from eating terumah, and if he was a priest, he does not allow his wife to eat terumah. For instance, if a priest dies and leaves his wife pregnant, the fetus does not allow her to eat terumah. If he was an Israelite and she was the daughter of a priest, the fetus disqualifies her from eating terumah. When the daughter of an Israelite is betrothed to a priest she does not yet begin to eat terumah. However, if she is the daughter of a priest betrothed to an Israelite she already loses the right to eat terumah. A deaf-mute cannot contract marriage, according to Torah law. This is because he is not considered to have intelligence. [As a side note, now that sign language has been developed this concept no longer exists.] The status of his marriage is only derabbanan (of rabbinic origin). If he is a priest he does not allow his wife to eat terumah, but if he is an Israelite he disqualifies her from eating terumah. Intercourse with a boy less than nine years and one day of age is not considered real intercourse. The mishnah teaches that once the boy reaches this age, if he has intercourse with a woman forbidden to him, he disqualifies her from eating terumah. However, if he is a priest, he does not cause her to be able to eat terumah, since a boy who has not reached puberty (concretized by the appearance of two pubic hairs) cannot contract betrothal or marriage.

והאירוסין – if she [the widow waiting for her brother-in-law to act] is the daughter of Kohen [to undergo levirate marriage with] with an Israelite [male], he disqualifies her, as he acquires her through “becoming,” and from the time of “becoming” he disqualifies her, as it is written (Leviticus 22:12): “If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, [she may not eat of the sacred gifts],” if it is the daughter of an Israelite [to be taken through levirate marriage] to a Kohen, he does not feed her [Terumah], as a decree lest they pour for her a cup of wine of Terumah in the house of her father and she causes her brothers and sisters to drink of it [as well]

If it is doubtful whether the boy is nine years and one day old or not, or whether he has produced two hairs or not, According to the Rambam, this section is the beginning of the second halakhah in this mishnah. If it is doubtful whether a boy is nine years old and he does yibbum with her, or it is doubtful whether he has reached puberty or not, and he does halitzah with her, the woman still requires another halitzah, lest the first yibbum or halitzah was done by a child incapable of such an action. However, she may not have subsequent yibbum, lest the first action was valid.

והחרש – if the daughter of a Kohen is [the widow waiting for her brother-in-law to act] [to be married by levirate marriage] to an Israelite male, he disqualifies her [from eating Terumah] for he has acquired her through the Rabbinic ordinance, and if it is a daughter of an Israelite man [who is the widow waiting for her brother-in-law to act] and he is a Kohen, he does not feed her [Terumah] for she is his “property by purchase”(Leviticus 22:11), but a deaf-mute, according to the Torah does not acquire.

If a house collapsed upon a man and upon his brother’s daughter, and it is not known which of them died first, her rival must perform halitzah but may not be taken in yibbum. This section deals with another case of doubt. If a house falls on a husband and his wife, who is his brother’s daughter, and it is not known who died first, the rival wife must have halitzah and cannot have yibbum. She must have halitzah, lest her rival wife died first, and she was obligated to yibbum, because at the time of her husband’s death she had no rival wife who was forbidden to the yavam. She cannot have yibbum lest the husband died first, and therefore at the time of his death she was the rival wife of a woman forbidden to the yavam (the yavam’s sister).

ובן תשע שנים ויום אחד וכו' – one those who are ineligible to be married into the priesthood when he is nine years and one day old and comes upon the daughter of a Kohen or upon the daughter of a Levite, or upon the daughter of an Israelite he has disqualified her from eating Terumah for someone who is nine years and one day old, his act of sexual intercourse is considered sexual intercourse, and he has profaned/degraded her through his act of sexual intercourse. But if the daughter of an Israelite is married to a Kohen who is nine years and one day old, he does not feed her Terumah/priest’s due, for his acquisition is not a complete acquisition.

וכן ספק בן תשע שנים וכו' – his law is like someone who is definitely nine [years old an one day] and he disqualifies her [from eating Terumah – if he is a Kohen].

ספק הביא שתי שערות ספק לא הביא – a minor who betrothed a woman – it is doubtful if he had brought forth two [pubic] hairs or not, and her betrothal is a doubtful betrothal. His wife may remove the shoe of the brother of her dead husband, but she may not be placed in a levirate marriage.

נפל הבית עליו ובת אחיו – and she is his wife, it is doubtful if he died first and both of them fell to a levirate marriage in the presence of his brother, but she exempts her rival wife because it is doubtful if the daughter’s associate died first, and a the time when she fell to the levirate marriage, her rival wife was not forbidden on account of consanguinity as it teaches in the Mishnah, and if they died, or refuses, their rival wives are permitted [to marry]; her rival wife undergoes Halitzah but does not enter into a levirate marriage and since we are speaking of doubtful cases, it is taught stringently in their presence.