Se c'erano tre fratelli sposati con tre sconosciuti, e la moglie di uno di loro morì, e il secondo fece un maamar in lei e morì, ricevono chalitzah e non sono presi in yibum, che è scritto (Deuteronomio 25: 5 ): "... e uno di loro muore ... allora il suo yavam (singolare) la raggiungerà" —quando il legame di uno yavam, e non due, è su di lei. [Fino a quando lui (colui che ha fatto il maamar) non l'ha sposata, il legame del primo è ancora su di lui, e vi è aggiunto il legame del secondo tramite il maamar; e quando muore, rimane su di lei il legame di due yavmin.] R. Shimon dice: Può prenderne uno in yibum [Sostiene che siamo in dubbio sul fatto che Ma'amar acquisisca completamente o non acquisisca affatto . Pertanto, può prendere uno dei due in yibum. Perché se Ma'amar acquisisce, ha solo il legame del secondo su di lei; e se non acquisisce, ha solo il legame del primo.], e dà chalitzah all'altro. [Perché uno non è esente dal prendere (sessuale) l'altro (nel matrimonio). Perché forse Maamar non acquisisce, nel qual caso ci sono "due yevamoth provenienti da due case". E non può prenderli entrambi in yibum, poiché può darsi che Ma'amar acquisisca, nel qual caso ci sono due yevamoth provenienti da una casa. "L'halachah non è conforme a R. Shimon. E anche se diciamo nel nostro Mishnah che secondo la Scrittura esiste (una cosa come) un legame di due yavmin, come indicato da: "Il suo yavam (singolare) verrà su di lei", nella gemara viene mostrato che si ottiene solo con ordinanza rabbinica, per timore che si dice che due yevamoth provenienti da una casa sono presi in yibum.] Se c'erano due fratelli sposati con due sorelle e uno di loro è morto, e poi è morta la moglie della seconda, gli è proibito per sempre, dal momento che era gli fu proibito una volta. (Vedi 3: 7).
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
זיקת שני יבמין – for as long as this living brother didn’t marry her, the levirate relation of first is upon him and the levirate relation of the second was added upon him because of the statement of intention he made [to perform a levirate marriage], and when he died, there remained upon her the levirate relation of two brothers-in-law.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Introduction
This mishnah is quite complex so I recommend paying careful attention to the details. If you are beginning to despair, we are almost out of the most complex section of Yevamoth.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
רש"א וכו' – since he holds that it is doubtful to us if the statement of intention [of performing levirate marriage] acquires completely or does not acquire at all, therefore, he performs levirate marriage on whichever of them that he desires, for if the statement of intention [to perform levirate marriage] acquires, he does not have anything other than the levirate relation of the second but if the statement of intention [of levirate marriage] does not acquire, he has nothing upon him other than the levirate relation of the first woman.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Three brothers were married to three women who were strangers [to one another] and one of them died and the second brother did ma’amar with her and then he died, behold, these must perform halitzah but may not be taken in yibbum; for it is said “And one of them died…her husband’s brother shall unite with her” (Deuteronomy 25:5) only she who is bound due to one yavam but not she who is bound to due to two yavamim. R. Shimon says: he may have yibbum with whichever of these he wishes and then perform halitzah for the other. If two brothers were married to two sisters, and one of the brothers died, and afterwards the wife of the second brother died, behold, she is forbidden to him forever, since she was forbidden to him for one moment. Reuven, Shimon and Levi are married to Rachel, Tovah and Yael, none of whom are sisters. Reuven dies and Shimon does ma’amar with Rachel. When Shimon dies, Rachel and Tovah should, we would think, become liable for yibbum r halitzah with Levi. Our mishnah, using a midrash based on Deut. 25:5, states that neither woman may have yibbum with Levi. This is because Rachel is bound to Levi through her marriage to two of Levi’s brothers. She is still bound to him by force of her marriage with Reuven, because the ma’amar that Shimon did with her was not as strong as a full yibbum. [If Shimon had done yibbum, her ties to Reuven would have been fully severed.] She is bound to Levi through her marriage to Shimon because of the ma’amar she did do with him. In other words ma’amar is strong enough to create a relationship with the second brother, but not strong enough to sever the ties with the first brother. Therefore Rachel is bound to Levi through the force of her marriage to two brothers who are now deceased. The mishnah understands the words “And one of them died” to exclude a case where two brothers died. Since Rachel is exempt, her rival wife, Tovah, is also exempt. However, since ma’amar is not a biblical institution, and therefore the ties to Shimon are not complete, halitzah must be performed.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Yevamot
וחולץ לשניה – for one does not free him from [sexual intercourse] with the other, for perhaps the statement of intention [of levirate marriage] does not acquire, and there was two sisters-in-law that come from two homes. But there is no levirate marriage with both for perhaps the statement of intention [of levirate marriage] acquires, and there would be two sisters-in-law coming from one house. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon, and even though we state in our Mishnah that the levirate relation of the two brothers-in-law is from the Torah from a Biblical verse (Deuteronomy 25:5): “Her brother’s husband shall unite with her: [he shall take her as his wife and perform the levir’s duty],” in the Gemara (Tractate Yevamot 31b) it proves hat the levirate relation of two brothers-in-law is Rabbinic as a decree, lest the people state that two sisters-in-law coming from the same house (i.e., widows of the same brother) may both be taken in levirate marriage.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Rabbi Shimon holds that ma’amar either completely acquires the woman for the man who does ma’amar, in other words it creates a complete and valid relationship according to the Torah, or it doesn’t create any legal relationship whatsoever, not even a rabbinicly ordained marriage. If it creates a complete betrothal, then Rachel’s ties to her first husband, Reuven, are ended by Shimon’s ma’amar. When Shimon dies, she becomes liable to yibbum with Levi only because of her marriage to Shimon. If it doesn’t create any tie, then she was never at all married to Shimon, and she is liable for yibbum with Levi only because of her marriage to Reuven. In either case, she does not fit the category of one who is liable to yibbum through two dead husbands at the same time. Therefore, either of these wives may have yibbum. The second wife must have halitzah, lest the ma’amar not have created a tie with Shimon, and therefore Rachel became obligated for yibbum because of her marriage with Reuven and Tovah became obligated because of her marriage with Shimon. He cannot have yibbum with the second one as well, lest the ma’amar did create a tie, and a yavam cannot have yibbum with two wives of one dead husband.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Yevamot
Reuven and Shimon are married to Rachel and Leah. Reuven dies and Rachel then would become liable for yibbum with Shimon, except she is exempt because he is married to her sister. The mishnah teaches that even though Leah subsequently dies, and hence Rachel might be able to have yibbum with Shimon, she cannot because she was at one point forbidden to him. Note that this law was already explained in mishnah seven.
