Yevamos 59a

יבמות נ״ט ע״א

Yevamot 59a

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Topic

Which women a כהן גדול may marry: a girl who matured after אירוסין, any widow, a בוגרת, and a woman who had atypical intercourse.

Overview

This amud picks up in the middle of רבי חייא בר יוסף's question to שמואל. A כהן גדול did קידושין with a young girl, and she became a בוגרת before the נישואין. Does the rule of 'a woman in her virginity' go by the time of אירוסין or the time of נישואין? שמואל brings two משניות. Both are pushed aside: the first is about becoming a חללה, which comes from ביאה. The second, about a widow betrothed before he became כהן גדול, rests on the special word אשה in the פסוק. That word includes only one case. It goes to the widow, because only the בוגרת's own body changed, so the matured girl stays forbidden. A new משנה then lists women a כהן גדול may not marry. The גמרא shows why even a widow from אירוסין is forbidden: she is compared to a divorcée, not to תמר. It then explains how רבי מאיר and רבי אלעזר and רבי שמעון read 'בבתוליה' differently about a בוגרת. Finally רב rules that atypical intercourse disqualifies a woman from a כהן גדול, and רבא challenges him from a ברייתא; the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. QuestionDo we go by the time of נישואין or the time of אירוסין?
2. Responseשמואל answers from a משנה: marriage is what counts
3. RejectionBecoming a חללה comes from ביאה, so that משנה does not answer the question
4. QuestionThe real question: what kind of 'taking' does the פסוק mean?
5. Responseשמואל brings a second משנה: a widow betrothed before he became כהן גדול
6. RejectionThe widow case is different because of the words 'יקח אשה'
7. ChallengeThe word 'woman' should help the matured girl too
8. ResolutionThe word includes only one case
9. QuestionWhy choose the widow over the matured girl?
10. ResponseHer body changed, but the widow's did not
11. StatementThe משנה: women a כהן גדול may not marry
12. StatementA ברייתא: every widow is forbidden
13. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
14. ResolutionWe might have learned from תמר
15. ChallengeMaybe the analogy from תמר really is correct
16. ResolutionA widow is compared to a divorcée
17. StatementA ברייתא on the כהן גדול and the בוגרת
18. QuestionWhat is the basis of their disagreement?
19. ResponseHow רבי מאיר reads the פסוק
20. ResponseHow רבי אלעזר and רבי שמעון read the פסוק
21. Statementרב: Atypical intercourse disqualifies a woman from the כהונה
22. Challengeרבא quotes a ברייתא about a man who forced himself on a girl
23. ChallengeWhy mention widow and not בעולה?