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Yevamos 40b

יבמות מ׳ ע״ב

Yevamot 40b

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Topic

Relatives forbidden after חליצה: whether שניות apply to a חלוצה, and the status of the חלוצה's צרה

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה about a man who did חליצה with his יבמה. The חכמים treat her somewhat like his wife: he may not marry her close relatives, and she may not marry his close relatives, but the other brothers are not affected. The גמרא then asks whether the חכמים also forbade the more distant relatives (שניות) of a חלוצה, as they did for a real wife. Several proofs from the משנה and from a ברייתא of רבי חייא are pushed off, because each ban could come from her real marriage to the dead brother. Finally, the case of the חולץ's daughter's son cannot be explained that way, so the גמרא concludes that the חכמים did decree שניות for a חלוצה. The גמרא then turns to the חלוצה's צרה (co-wife). שמואל rules that a child from her is a ממזר, and רב יוסף supports him from the משנה. רבי יוחנן escapes that proof, because a חלוצה's sister is forbidden only by the rabbis. The amud ends by asking why the משנה permits a relative of the צרה but forbids a צרה of the relative, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

הוּא אָסוּר בְּאִמָּהּ,

He is forbidden to her mother,

וּבְאֵם אִמָּהּ, וּבְאֵם אָבִיהָ,

and to her mother's mother, and to her father's mother,

וּבְבִתָּהּ, וּבְבַת בִּתָּהּ, וּבְבַת בְּנָהּ,

and to her daughter, and to her daughter's daughter, and to her son's daughter,

וּבַאֲחוֹתָהּ בִּזְמַן שֶׁהִיא קַיֶּימֶת.

and to her sister while she is alive.

The steps (36)

  1. StatementThe man who did חליצה may not marry her close relatives
  2. StatementThe חלוצה may not marry his close relatives
  3. StatementRelative of the צרה permitted, צרה of the relative forbidden
  4. QuestionDid the חכמים forbid secondary relatives of a חלוצה?
  5. QuestionThe two sides of the question
  6. ProofProof from what the משנה leaves out
  7. RejectionMaybe the משנה stopped early for another reason
  8. ChallengeWhy not list her and say 'permitted to all of them'?
  9. ProofProof from the ban on the grandfather
  10. RejectionThe grandfather ban comes from the dead husband
  11. ProofProof from the ban on the grandson
  12. RejectionThe grandson ban also comes from the dead husband
  13. Challengeאמימר Permits a Great-Uncle's Wife
  14. Resolutionאמימר Reads 'His Son's Son' as the Grandfather's Grandson
  15. ChallengeThen the משנה Repeats the Brother and Nephew
  16. ResolutionPaternal Brother and Maternal Brother
  17. Proofרבי חייא's List: Four from the Torah, Four from the Rabbis
  18. ProofProof from the grandfather on the father's side
  19. RejectionThe grandfather is forbidden because of the deceased brother
  20. ProofProof from the grandfather on the mother's side
  21. RejectionThe mother's father is also forbidden because of the deceased
  22. ProofTrying a proof from 'his son's son'
  23. RejectionNo, it is because of the dead brother
  24. ChallengeBut אמימר permits a great-uncle's wife
  25. Resolutionאמימר does read it as because of the חולץ
  26. ProofTrying a proof from 'his daughter's son'
  27. RejectionMaybe the dead brother is the reason
  28. ChallengeThe rabbis never banned this relationship
  29. ConclusionProven: the rabbis applied שניות to a חלוצה
  30. Statementשמואל: the child of a צרת חלוצה is a ממזר
  31. ResponseWhy: she goes back to her original ban
  32. Proofרב יוסף begins a support from the משנה
  33. ProofFinishing רב יוסף's proof: if the co-wife were like the חלוצה, her relatives would be forbidden
  34. ChallengeDoes this disprove רבי יוחנן?
  35. Resolutionרבי יוחנן's answer: a חלוצה's sister is only forbidden by the rabbis
  36. QuestionWhy is one case in the משנה permitted and the other forbidden?