Yevamos 110b

יבמות ק״י ע״ב

Yevamot 110b

Learn Yevamos 110b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether a חרשת can do חליצה (ending in the refutation of רבה), and how to release a minor and a deaf co-wife who fall to יבום.

Overview

The גמרא tests whether a חרשת (deaf-mute woman) who falls to יבום can be released with חליצה, or only taken in יבום. Two proofs are pushed aside, because the woman in each source may have become deaf only after her wedding, which makes her bond fully from the תורה. אביי then objects to רבה from a משנה about brothers married to sisters, and רבה is silent. רב יוסף says that objection was weak. He points to a stronger משנה: it lets deaf brothers divorce, so they must have been deaf from the start, and so were the women. That משנה allows unrelated deaf women only יבום, not חליצה, so רבה is refuted. Next the גמרא turns to a man whose wives are a minor and a deaf woman. רב נחמן reports a debate over why יבום with one of them does not free the other. רב, quoted by רב חסדא, gives the fix: יבום and then a גט for the deaf woman, and חליצה for the minor once she grows up. רב חסדא learns from this that a deaf wife is partly acquired, while a minor is a doubt: either fully acquired or not acquired at all. His proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. RejectionThe woman may have become deaf only after her wedding
2. ProofA ברייתא about two healthy brothers married to unrelated women
3. ProofInferring that this woman was deaf from the start
4. RejectionEach person's status can be read separately
5. ChallengeObjection from a משנה about two brothers married to two sisters
6. ChallengeThe deaf brother must divorce his wife, and the widow is forbidden forever
7. ChallengeSomeone who became deaf later cannot divorce
8. ChallengeEveryone in the משנה was deaf from the start, yet only יבום is allowed
9. Resolutionרב יוסף: the sisters were deaf from the start, the unrelated women only later
10. ChallengeA better source to challenge רבה
11. QuestionRuling out brothers who became deaf later
12. ConclusionFinal refutation of רבה
13. StatementA minor and a deaf wife: when the rule applies
14. StatementWhy a healthy husband's preference is uncertain, but a deaf husband's is clear
15. Rejectionרב נחמן says the doubt remains even with a deaf brother
16. QuestionHow can these women be freed?
17. Responseרב's solution: יבום and a גט for the deaf woman, חליצה for the minor
18. Statementרב חסדא learns how firmly each woman is acquired
19. ProofProof: the reverse view would not fit רב's solution