Yevamot 41b (מא:) — the Talmud in English

Rather, she may not become betrothed throughout all thirty days of her mourning

because of the mourning.

This is because, in my view, she is prohibited from becoming betrothed during the thirty days of mourning for her husband, since there is joy in betrothal, and not only in marriage [even without a celebratory meal].

Gemara:

And we raise a difficulty:

Granted, she may not perform yibbum

within three months, because

perhaps

she is pregnant, and

the fetus will be viable,

and she is not subject to yibbum, since she is the wife of a brother who has children,

and the yavam would encounter

the prohibition against a brother's wife

by Torah law.

But she may not perform halitza—

why

not!?

Why should she not perform halitza and wait three months, and then, if she is not pregnant or if she miscarries, she could immediately marry someone outside the levirate bond on the basis of the halitza?

Shall we say

that

our

Mishna

is a tıyuвta against Rabbi Yohanan, who said: The halitza of a pregnant woman is valid halitza!

And therefore our Mishna says that she should not perform halitza because the halitza of a pregnant woman is not valid halitza!?

And we ask:

But, did we not

already

raise an objection against Rabbi Yohanan

at the beginning of the chapter

once before!?

Why do we need to challenge him again from our Mishna?

And we answer:

Let us say that from this source as well there is a tıyuвta,

so that even if he finds a resolution for that objection, the objection from here will remain.

And we answer:

No.

There is no tıyuвta here against the statement of Rabbi Yohanan.

Because

here, this is the reason

that she may not perform halitza within three months:

perhaps the fetus will be viable,

and it will become clear that her halitza was not valid halitza, and she is not disqualified from marrying a koen,

and you will thereby find yourself requiring a public proclamation

in order to render her fit

to marry a koen.

And we ask:

Then let her require

a proclamation to render her fit to marry a koen; what of it!?

And we answer: They decreed that she should not perform halitza, since there is concern

that perhaps there is

someone

who was present at the halitza but was not present at the proclamation, and they will disqualify her from marrying a koen.

But there is still a difficulty:

This works for a widow,

who is fit to marry a koen.

A divorcee,

who is unfit to marry a koen and is not disqualified through halitza, since she was already disqualified from the time she was divorced—

what can be said

as to why she should not perform halitza within three months?

And we answer:

Because he causes her to forfeit

the yavam's

maintenance

through her halitza.

For throughout the three months she is entitled to receive maintenance from her husband's estate, since during that period she is subject to yibbum, while he cannot perform yibbum with her.

But if the yavam performs halitza with her, she is no longer entitled to maintenance, and she cannot marry until three months have passed. Therefore, they instituted that he should not perform halitza with her within three months.

This works for a married woman,

who is entitled to maintenance.

But

a divorced betrothed woman,

who is not entitled to maintenance, and here there is no concern that you will require a proclamation declaring her fit to marry a koen if it becomes clear that she did not require halitza, since she is unfit to marry a koen as a divorcee—

what can be said?

Why should she not perform halitza within three months?

The Gemara offers another answer:

Rather,

she may not perform halitza within three months

because of Rabbi Yosei—

As it was taught in a beraita: An incident occurred involving a certain man who came before Rabbi Yosei and said to him: What is the halakha with regard to performing halitza

with a yevama

within three

months of her husband's death?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yosei:

Do not perform halitza.

He said to him:

Then perform halitza; what of it!?

Rabbi Yosei cited

the following

verse

: [Deuteronomy 25:7] "

And

if the man does not desire

to take his yevama, then his yevama shall go up to the gate ... and remove his shoe from his foot."

And it can be inferred:

But if he desires

to perform yibbum,

let him perform yibbum.

Anyone who is eligible for yibbum is eligible for halitza.

But anyone who is not eligible for yibbum is not eligible for halitza.

And this woman, who is not eligible for yibbum during the three months, since perhaps he would encounter the wife of a brother who has children, is not eligible for halitza at that time.

Rav Ḥinnana raised an objection

from the following beraita:

Women of uncertain status—

they perform halitza but do not perform yibbum.

And we raise a difficulty:

What are the women of uncertain status?

With regard to which women of uncertain status is this stated?

If you say

that they had

uncertain betrothal

to his deceased brother—

why may they not perform yibbum?

Let them perform yibbum, and there is nothing wrong with that!

For even if his brother did not betroth her, he may take her as a wife.

Rather, is it not a case of uncertainty

in which

the brother

his brother

betrothed one of two sisters, but he does not know which one he betrothed,

so that each one is prohibited to the yavam as a matter of uncertainty, lest she be the sister of his yevama?

And

even though she is not eligible for yibbum, nevertheless

it teaches

that she

performs halitza,

and we do not require her to wait until it becomes clear which of the two sisters his brother betrothed!?

The Gemara rejects the comparison between a woman who must wait three months and one who is possibly the sister of his yevama:

How can these cases be compared!?

What is the comparison!?

There,

in the case of a woman who may be the sister of his yevama, she is considered eligible for yibbum, since

if Elijah were to come and say that this is the one whom he betrothed,

her brother having betrothed her, then

she would be eligible for halitza and yibbum.

Here,

in the case of a woman waiting three months, even

if Elijah were to come and say that she did not become pregnant,—

would we heed him

and his revelation

and perform yibbum with her!?

For once the Sages instituted the ordinance requiring a three-month wait, they instituted it in every case, even when we know with certainty that she is not pregnant.

And the proof is:

As for a minor, who

certainly

cannot become pregnant, nevertheless she too must

also

wait three months.

And since in every case she is not eligible for yibbum within three months, she is likewise not eligible for halitza during that time.

The Sages taught: During the first three months, a yevama—

is sustained

the yevama

from

the

husband's estate,

because during this period she cannot marry another man on account of him. And he writes in her ketuba that as long as she does not marry because of him, she has the right to remain in his house and receive maintenance from his estate.

From this point onward—

she is not sustained either from the husband's estate or from the yavam's.

She is not like other widows, who receive maintenance from their deceased husband's estate because they do not marry another man out of respect for their deceased husband. This woman, however, does not marry another man because she is bound to the yavam.

And if

the yavam stood

before

the court,

meaning that the yevama sued him in court, saying, "Perform yibbum with me or perform halitza with me,"

and he fled—

she is sustained from the yavam's estate,

as a penalty imposed on him for fleeing.

And if

she fell before a minor yavam,

and must wait for him until he grows up—

Maintenance

from the yavam—

certainly

she does not have.

But maintenance

from

the

husband's estate—

what

is the halakha? Does she receive maintenance from the husband's estate while she waits for the minor yavam to grow up?

Rav Aḥa and Ravina disagree about this.

One says: She has it.

And one says: She does not have it.

And the halakha is: She does not have it, for Heaven penalized her

by placing her in a situation in which she cannot marry and has no one to sustain her.

The Sages taught: If a yevama's brothers-in-law performed halitza with her within three months—

she must wait three months

from the day of her husband's death, and she is prohibited from immediately marrying someone outside the levirate bond.