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Yevamos 42a

יבמות מ״ב ע״א

Yevamot 42a

Learn Yevamos 42a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The three-month wait before remarriage: when it starts, why it exists, why it must be three months, and the ban on marrying another man's pregnant or nursing wife

Overview

This amud discusses the three-month wait before a woman may remarry. First, a ברייתא about a יבמה shows that her three months count from her husband's death, not from the חליצה. רבא defends this with a קל וחומר: if the three months already lift a כרת prohibition, they surely lift a lighter לאו. Next the גמרא asks why all other women must wait too. שמואל says it is so we can tell apart the first husband's child from the second's. רבא says it is a גזירה so the child will not later fall into ערוה. The גמרא then shows why the wait must be a full three months: shorter waits, or checking her for pregnancy, still leave doubt about who the father is. Finally, it asks why a woman already known to be pregnant or nursing may not marry another man. It tests several reasons for this, and the last one, that a pregnant woman will soon be nursing, continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְאַחַר שְׁלֹשָׁה —

If after three months,

אֵין צְרִיכָה לְהַמְתִּין שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים.

she does not need to wait three months.

הֱוֵי (הַ)שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים שֶׁאָמְרוּ,

It must be that the three months that they spoke about

מִשְּׁעַת מִיתַת הַבַּעַל,

are counted from the time of the husband's death,

The steps (30)

  1. StatementThe last clause of the ברייתא: after three months, no new wait
  2. ConclusionInference: the three months count from the husband's death
  3. ChallengeWhy is this different from a גט?
  4. Resolutionרבא's קל וחומר: if כרת is lifted, a לאו surely is
  5. QuestionWhy must ordinary women wait three months?
  6. ResponseSo we can tell which husband is the father
  7. ChallengeA converted couple also waits, though the father is clear
  8. ResolutionTelling apart before and after the conversion
  9. Statementרבא's reason: so the child won't later stumble into forbidden relationships
  10. ChallengeA ברייתא calls the wait an enactment for the child, not about forbidden relations
  11. Resolution'For the child' means: so the child won't run into forbidden relations
  12. ChallengeWhy not wait only one month?
  13. ResolutionShe may have conceived a month after the second marriage
  14. ChallengeWhy not wait two and a half months?
  15. ResolutionEven two and a half months leaves doubt
  16. ProofThe source: the birth of שמואל הנביא
  17. ChallengeWhy not marry quickly and check her later?
  18. Resolutionרב ספרא: we do not examine married women
  19. ChallengeThen check the way she walks
  20. ResolutionA woman might hide her pregnancy on purpose
  21. ChallengeIf she is clearly pregnant, why can't she marry right away?
  22. ResolutionA safety rule to protect the baby
  23. ChallengeShouldn't the same worry apply to his own pregnant wife?
  24. ResolutionWith his own wife: use a מוך, or trust Heaven
  25. ChallengeThe same solutions should work for another man's pregnant wife
  26. ResolutionA new reason: pressure on the baby
  27. ChallengeThen his own pregnant wife should be forbidden too
  28. ResolutionA father is careful with his own baby
  29. ChallengeHe would be careful with another man's baby too
  30. ResolutionA new reason: a pregnant woman will soon be nursing