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Yevamos 94b

יבמות צ״ד ע״ב

Yevamot 94b

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Topic

A man who married his wife's sister after a false report of his wife's death: the status of his wife, the sister and the children, and whether this fits רבי עקיבא's view

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה about a man who was told his wife had died and then married her sister. The משנה rules that his real wife may go back to him, that the mistaken marriage creates no family ties, and that a child born from the sister while the wife was still alive is a ממזר. רבי יוסי adds a short rule about disqualifying others and oneself, which the גמרא explains later. The גמרא adds that even when the sister was herself married and becomes forbidden to her own husband, the man's own wife stays permitted. It then asks whether this fits רבי עקיבא, who requires a גט for a wife's sister. The answer is that רבי עקיבא only meant a case where the first wife was just betrothed, since nobody assumes a full marriage had a condition. רב אשי asks why רבי עקיבא's list leaves out the mother-in-law. רב כהנא answers that removing the punishment of burning does not remove the איסור. Finally the גמרא asks why the wife isn't forbidden through her husband's relations with her sister, and it begins to explain why this differs from the case of a woman whose husband went overseas.

Opening lines

לוֹ.

to him.

וּמוּתָּר בִּקְרוֹבוֹת שְׁנִיָּה,

And he is permitted to the relatives of the second woman,

וּשְׁנִיָּה מוּתֶּרֶת בִּקְרוֹבָיו.

and the second woman is permitted to his relatives.

וְאִם מֵתָה רִאשׁוֹנָה —

And if the first woman died —

The steps (16)

  1. StatementThe false marriage creates no family ties
  2. StatementWhich child is a ממזר
  3. Statementרבי יוסי's rule about disqualifying
  4. StatementThe married sister becomes forbidden, but his wife stays permitted
  5. ChallengeDoes the משנה go against רבי עקיבא?
  6. ProofThe ברייתא that shows רבי עקיבא's view
  7. Rejectionרב explains רבי עקיבא's brother's-wife case
  8. Rejectionרב explains the wife's-sister case the same way
  9. ConclusionA full marriage is not assumed to have a condition
  10. Challengeרב אשי asks why the משנה leaves out the mother-in-law
  11. ProofThe source: רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא argue over 'him and them'
  12. ChallengeAccording to אביי, the dispute is only about how to read the פסוק
  13. ChallengeAccording to רבא, חמותו should be on the list
  14. ResolutionNo punishment does not mean no prohibition
  15. ChallengeShould the wife become forbidden through her sister?
  16. ResolutionThe cases are not alike: the wife's own sin