Resources for Yevamos daf 103

1.      The גמרא says that when a person does חליצה he should have his foot completely on the ground. The רא"ש in סימן ז says that the reason for this is that the חליצה shoe usually doesn’t fit perfectly since it is a one size fits all shoe kept in ב"ד and people might think if his feet are off the ground that the shoe basically fell off on its own (even though the woman is holding it). Therefore, in order to make it obvious that she is removing the shoe we tell the man to put his foot on the floor. The נודע ביהודה in אבן העזר קמא סימן צ"ד ד"ה ונבוא brings the common מנהג in his day that the woman picked the man’s foot up and took the shoe off the man. He brings a Rav who (based on the רא"ש mentioned above) said this was a terrible mistake and tried to get the מנהג changed since the foot must be on the floor at the time of חליצה. However, the נודע ביהודה disagrees and upholds the מנהג. He argues that the Rav who was upset about this practice read the רא"ש wrong. The רא"ש meant to say that if the man’s feet are off the floor and the shoe is too big people will think the יבמה pulled the shoe off because she thought it might fall off and was trying to save it. Therefore, in order to make it clear that she is being מכוון למצות חליצה we make him put his foot on the ground. However, if he put his foot on the floor and she lifted his foot up then it looks like she is pulling it off for the מצוה. Moreover, since most people pick up their foot to remove their shoes, if she doesn’t pick his foot up it is חסר in the מעשה חליצה! He also brings another explanation for the requirement for the יבם to put his foot on the floor: the shoe must be מגין (protect). Since the shoe is usually ב"ד’s, if he doesn’t put his foot on the floor then the shoe never protected his foot in any way. Therefore, prior to the חליצה he must put his foot on the floor so it will be מגין.

2.      The גמרא says that one should not use a shoe that has צרעת. The ישרש יעקב brings תוספות in ערכין ריש דף כ"א who says that the reason one can’t use a סנדל המוחלט is because it is אסור בהנאה. The ישרש יעקב addresses the following question: don’t we have a rule that מצוות לאו ליהנות נתנו? (This is actually the reason רש"י says at the end of the עמוד that בדיעבד it is כשר to use a shoe of ע"ז). If so, why could one not use איסורי הנאה to do a מצוה even לכתחילה? He answers that the ר"ן says in נדרים דף ט"ז ע"ב ד"ה והא that מצוות לאו ליהנות נתנו only applies to the benefit you get from accomplishing the מצוה itself. However, any physical benefit one might derive while doing the מצוה would be אסור. According to that, since one gets benefit from the shoe while wearing it, one would not be allowed to use it for חליצה. However, the רשב"א there disagrees and says all benefit derived while doing a מצוה is permitted. According to that you would have to say that the issue here is that the man wears the shoe prior to the חליצה occurring and would be getting הנאה before the מצוה took place which would be אסור. What is interesting is that the רשב"א himself in our גמרא regarding using a shoe of ע"ז doesn’t say that answer. Rather, he says the reason one cannot use a shoe of ע"ז is either that it looks like he is doing something wrong or that it is simply מאוס to use a shoe of ע"ז. While the second answer might not apply to a סנדל מוחלט, the first answer certainly does.

Rabbi Millman's Marei Mekomos Halacha

New Daf Hashavua newsletter - Shavua Matters

Rabbi Mordechai Papoff - English Topics

Rabbi Yechiel Grunhaus - Points to Ponder

Rabbi Azriel Katz - Meforshim Overview