Yevamos 54b

יבמות נ״ד ע״ב

Yevamot 54b

Learn Yevamos 54b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Sources that every ערוה counts from העראה, what the extra words נדה and העראה teach, and which half-relatives are forbidden

Overview

The גמרא finishes rejecting an attempt to learn from נדה and אשת אח that every ערוה counts from the first stage of contact (העראה). Instead, רבי יונה brings a פסוק that compares all עריות to נדה. That leaves two words with no job. The word נדה written by אשת אח is used for רב הונא's teaching: a brother's wife is forbidden with כרת while her husband is alive, just as a נדה is forbidden with כרת until she becomes permitted. The extra העראה written by a father's sister and a mother's sister is moved over by רבא to teach that העראה counts even with a בהמה. A ברייתא then shows that the logic about these aunts can go either way, so a פסוק is needed to teach that they are forbidden through either parent. רבי אבהו explains why both aunts had to be written. רבא learns from the word דודו in the redemption laws that an uncle's wife is forbidden only through a paternal uncle. Finally, the גמרא quotes a משנה about a man who kept marrying his supposedly dead wife's sister, and the question about it comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. RejectionWhat controls the status of נדה and אשת אח
2. ChallengeWhy נדה and אשת אח cannot teach about אשת איש
3. ProofA פסוק groups all עריות together with נדה
4. ChallengeThen why is נדה written by אשת אח?
5. ResolutionThe word is used for רב הונא's teaching
6. ChallengeBut יבום is written openly
7. ResolutionWhat רב הונא really asked
8. ChallengeWhy do we need a hint? Logic already tells us
9. RejectionLogic alone does not prove the prohibition is כרת
10. ProofThe פסוק calls a brother's wife נדה to teach כרת
11. ChallengeThen why is העראה written by the aunts?
12. ResolutionThe extra word is needed for רבינא's question about a male
13. RejectionNo question about a male, since the פסוק compares him to a woman
14. ResolutionRather, רבינא's question was about a בהמה
15. Responseרבא: move the extra word over to teach בהמה
16. ChallengeWhy teach בהמה from a כרת case and not a court-death case?
17. ResolutionThe whole פסוק is there to teach, so this part teaches too
18. QuestionWhat extra lesson does the פסוק teach?
19. ResponseA father's sister from either side is forbidden
20. QuestionMaybe only a sister from the father's side counts
21. ProofCompare her to one's own sister
22. RejectionOr compare her to one's uncle's wife
23. ResolutionArguing that a sister is the better comparison
24. RejectionPushing back: maybe compare to the uncle's wife after all
25. ConclusionThe verse teaches: forbidden from either parent
26. QuestionWhy write both the father's sister and the mother's sister?
27. Responseרבי אבהו: the father's sister shares the family line
28. ResponseThe mother's sister is certainly related, so both are needed
29. QuestionWhere do we know the uncle's wife is only from the father's side?
30. Responseרבא learns it from the word 'his uncle' in the redemption laws
31. QuestionHow do we know the redemption law is only on the father's side?
32. ResponseOnly the father's side is called 'family'
33. QuestionA new משנה: the man who kept marrying his wife's sister
34. StatementWives one, three, and five are valid; two and four are not
35. StatementIf the first wife really died, the valid wives flip