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Yevamos 64b

יבמות ס״ד ע״ב

Yevamot 64b

Learn Yevamos 64b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yevamos 64b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Childless marriages and the ten-year wait, and whether a חזקה is set by two times or three

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a proof from ישעיהו that אברהם and שרה were at first unable to have children, and adds that שרה was an אילונית. Next, רב and רב נחמן suggest that the משנה's ten-year wait was meant only for long-lived early generations. רבה rejects this: lifespans were already short in דוד's time, so ten years still applies. The גמרא then explains why only the husband is said to 'not merit' children. It also answers a challenge from רבי אבא בר זבדא, whose refusal to remarry was only an excuse, and this leads to stories about רב הונא's long lectures. Turning to the משנה's 'a second husband, yes; a third, no,' the גמרא finds a מחלוקת between רבי and רבן שמעון בן גמליאל about whether a חזקה needs two times or three. It works through cases of babies dying after מילה, sisters together making a חזקה, families with illness, and אביי's tragic marriage to a twice-widowed woman. It also gives two reasons a woman's husbands might keep dying: her body (מעין) or her fortune (מזל). Finally, רבא rules that marriage and lashings follow רבי (two times), while וסתות and שור המועד follow רבן שמעון בן גמליאל (three times). The source for וסתות continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

חֻצַּבְתֶּם וְאֶל מַקֶּבֶת בּוֹר נֻקַּרְתֶּם״,

...from where you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you were dug,

וּכְתִיב,

and it is written,

״הַבִּיטוּ אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֲבִיכֶם

'Look to Abraham your father

וְאֶל שָׂרָה תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם״.

and to Sarah who bore you.'

The steps (37)

  1. ProofFinishing the verse proof about אברהם and שרה
  2. Statementשרה was an אילונית
  3. StatementIn later generations the wait is two and a half years
  4. StatementAnother view: three years, matching three times of ראש השנה
  5. Rejectionרבה rejects the shorter waiting periods
  6. ChallengeWhy blame only the husband?
  7. ResolutionOnly the man is commanded to have children
  8. Challengeרבי אבא בר זבדא refused to remarry
  9. ResolutionIt was only an excuse
  10. StatementOther sages hurt by רב הונא's lectures
  11. Statementרב אחא בר יעקב is cured
  12. StatementOnly רב אחא בר יעקב was saved
  13. StatementA second husband yes, a third no
  14. QuestionWho is the author of our משנה?
  15. ResponseIt follows רבי, who sets a חזקה after two times
  16. QuestionAnother ברייתא has the opinions reversed
  17. ProofThe story of four sisters in ציפורי
  18. RejectionMaybe he would have told the third sister too
  19. ChallengeThen why tell the story at all?
  20. ResolutionThe story teaches that sisters create a חזקה
  21. StatementDo not marry into families with epilepsy or צרעת
  22. StatementOnly after it happened three times
  23. QuestionWhat was the final ruling?
  24. Responseרבי יוחנן told the third sister to circumcise
  25. Challengeאביי warns: be sure, this touches a prohibition and a danger
  26. Statementאביי relied on it, married a twice-widowed woman, and died
  27. ChallengeWould אביי really risk his life on that report?
  28. ChallengeMaybe the argument is only about circumcision
  29. ResolutionA ברייתא shows they argue about marriage too
  30. QuestionWhy would marriage create a pattern at all?
  31. ResponseTwo causes: her body or her fortune
  32. QuestionWhat is the practical difference?
  33. ResponseA husband who died before living with her, or in an accident
  34. Questionרב יוסף seemed to rule both ways
  35. ResponseEach view is the halakha in different cases
  36. ProofSources for marriage and lashings
  37. ProofStarting the source for monthly cycles