Yevamot 41b — the Talmud in English

But she may not become betrothed throughout all thirty days of her mourning.

Because of the mourning.

Because, in my view, she is forbidden to become betrothed during the thirty days of mourning for her husband, since there is rejoicing in betrothal, and not only in marriage [even without a feast].

Gemara:

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

Granted, she may not perform yibbum

within three months, because

perhaps she is pregnant, and

she is pregnant, and

the offspring will be viable,

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

and the one performing yibbum encounters

the one performing yibbum

the prohibition of a brother’s wife, from the Torah.

But she may not perform chalitza—

why

not!?

Why should she not perform chalitza, and wait three months, and then, if she is not pregnant, or if she miscarries, she will immediately be permitted to marry outside, on the basis of the chalitza?

Shall we say:

whether

our Mishna

is

a refutation of Rabbi Yohanan, who said: the chalitza of a pregnant woman is valid chalitza!

And therefore our Mishna said that she may not perform chalitza, because the chalitza of a pregnant woman is not valid chalitza!?

And we wonder:

But did we not already

already

raise an objection to Rabbi Yohanan

at the beginning of the chapter,

once already!?

And why do we need to return and raise a difficulty against him also from our Mishna?

And we answer:

Let us say: from this too let there be a refutation,

so that if he finds an answer to that refutation, the refutation from here will remain.

And we answer:

No.

From here there is no refutation of the words of Rabbi Yohanan.

For

here, this is the reason

that she may not perform chalitza within three months:

perhaps the offspring will be viable,

and it will become clear that her chalitza is not chalitza, and she is not disqualified from the priesthood,

and you will thereby find yourself requiring a proclamation

in order to qualify her

for the priesthood.

And we wonder:

Let her require

a proclamation to qualify her for the priesthood—what of it!?

And we answer: They decreed that she may not perform chalitza, since there is concern

perhaps there is

a person

who was present at the chalitza but was not present at the proclamation, and they will disqualify her from the priesthood.

But it is still possible to raise a difficulty:

Granted, a widow,

who is fit for the priesthood.

A divorcee

who is unfit for the priesthood and is not disqualified through chalitza, since she was already disqualified from the time she was divorced—

what is there to say,

why should she not perform chalitza within three months?

And we answer:

Because he causes her to lose

the levir

maintenance

through her chalitza.

For during three months she is entitled to eat maintenance from her husband’s property, since during them she is subject to yibbum, while he cannot perform yibbum with her at that time.

And if the levir performs chalitza for her, she will no longer be entitled to maintenance, while she will not be able to marry until three months have passed; therefore they instituted that he should not perform chalitza for her within three months.

Granted, 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 that she is fit for the priesthood if it becomes clear that she does not require chalitza, since she is disqualified from the priesthood as a divorcee—

what is there to say?

Why should she not perform chalitza within three months?

And the Gemara gives another answer:

Rather,

she may not perform chalitza within three months

because of Rabbi Yosei—

For it was taught in a beraita: An incident occurred involving a certain man who came before Rabbi Yosei. He said to him: What is the ruling regarding performing chalitza

for a yevama

within three

months of the husband’s death?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yosei:

Do not perform chalitza.

He said to him:

Then let her perform chalitza—what of it!?

Rabbi Yosei recited to him

Rabbi Yosei

this verse: [דברים כה ז] "

: [Deuteronomy 25:7] "

And

And if the man does not desire

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

And it follows:

But if he desires

to perform yibbum—

let him perform yibbum.

Everyone who is eligible for yibbum is eligible for chalitza.

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

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

Rav Hinena raised an objection

from that which was taught:

Women of uncertain status—

perform chalitza but do not perform yibbum.

And we raise a difficulty concerning it:

What are “women of uncertain status”?

What uncertainties are being discussed?

If you say

that there was among them

an uncertainty concerning betrothal

to his deceased brother—

why do they not perform yibbum?

Let her perform yibbum, and there is nothing to it!

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

Rather, is it not an uncertainty

such as

that his brother betrothed

his brother

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

so that each one is forbidden to the levir due to the uncertainty, lest she be the sister of his yevama?

And

even though she is not eligible for yibbum, nevertheless

it teaches

that she

performs chalitza,

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

And the Gemara rejects the comparison between the woman who waits three months and the uncertain sister of his yevama:

How can these cases be compared!?

What is the comparison!?

There,

in the case of the uncertain sister of his yevama, she is considered “eligible for yibbum,” since

if Elijah were to come and say that he indeed betrothed

his brother, then

she would be fit for chalitza and yibbum.

Here,

in the case of the woman waiting three months, even

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

would anyone heed him

in Elijah’s revelation,

and perform yibbum with her!?

For once the Sages instituted the enactment of waiting three months, they instituted it in every case, even when it is certain to us that she is not pregnant.

And the proof is:

But a minor, who

certainly

is not capable of becoming pregnant, and nevertheless requires

she too

to wait three months.

And since in every case she is not eligible for yibbum within three months, she is also not eligible for chalitza at that time.

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

is maintained

the yevama

from

property

of the husband,

because during this period she cannot marry another because of him. And he writes to her in her ketuba that for as long as she does not marry because of him, she shall have the right to sit in his house and eat maintenance from his property.

From this point onward—

she is maintained neither from the property of the husband nor from that of the levir.

And she is not like other widows, who receive maintenance from the property of their deceased husbands because they do not marry another for the sake of the honor of their deceased husbands. But this woman does not marry another because she is bound to the levir.

And if

the levir stood

the levir

in court,

when the yevama summoned him to court, saying, “Either perform yibbum with me or perform chalitza for me,”

and he fled—

she is maintained from the property of the levir,

for we penalize him for having fled.

And if

she fell before a minor levir,

and she must wait for him until he grows up—

Maintenance

from the levir—

certainly

she has none.

But maintenance

from

the property of the

husband—

what is the law?

Is she maintained from the husband’s property while she waits for the minor levir until he grows up?

Rav Aḥa and Ravina disagree about it.

One said: she has it.

And one said: she does not have it.

And the halakha is: she does not have it; Heaven has penalized her

that she should be in such a situation that she cannot marry, and she has no one to maintain her.

The Sages taught: A yevama for whom the brothers performed chalitza within three months—

must wait three months

from the day of her husband’s death, and she is forbidden to marry outside immediately.