Yevamos - Daf 98
- Twin brothers conceived befpre mother converted are related maternally but not paternally
A Baraisa on Daf 97b taught that brothers whose mother converted after they were conceived, but before they were born, are mid’Oraysa considered related to the mother, and maternally related to each other, but are not related to their father nor are considered paternal brothers. Rava said regarding what the Rabbanon said that אין אב למצרי – that a Mitzri, referring to a non-Jew, has no father after he converts, לא תימא משום שטופי בזמה – do not say it is because they are steeped in immorality and it is not known who the biological father is, which would imply that if it was known with certainty, there would be paternity. For we learned in the Baraisa that where there were twin brothers, דטפה אחת היה ונחלקה לשתים – where there was one drop of semen that divided into two, and therefore no question that they share the same father, and yet in the seifa where they were conceived not in kedushah but we born in kedushah, they are not permitted to do yibum or chalitzah for one another. We learn from here that אפקורי אפקריה רחמנא לזרעה – that the Torah voids their paternity, as it is written concerning the Mitzriim, "בשר חמורים בשרם וזרמת סוסים זרמתם" – their flesh is the flesh of donkeys, and their seed is the seed of horses.
- Hashem only spoke to Yonah twice, not three times
It was taught in a Baraisa that Rebbe Akiva said: "ויהי דבר ה' אל יונה שנית לאמר" – And the word of Hashem came to Yonah a second time saying. This teaches, שנית דברה עמו שכינה שלישית לא דברה עמו שכינה – the Shechinah spoke with him a second time only but it did not speak with him a third time. The Radak explains that Yonah was punished with no more nevuah for fleeing from his mission. The Gemara questions this for the passuk states regarding Yarovam ben Yoash, who restored to Israel cities that had been taken away by the kings of Aram, “He restored the boundary of Israel, from the approach of Hamas until the sea of Aravah, כדבר ה'...אשר דבר ביד עבדו יונה בן אמתי הנביא" – like the word of Hashem, G-d of Yisroel, which He had spoken by the hand of His servant, Yonah ben Amitai the navi. We see from here that Hashem did speak with Yonah a third time. Ravina answered, על עסקי נינוה קאמר – Rebbe Akiva was saying that Hashem did not speak to Yonah a third time regarding Nineveh. He did speak to him again regarding other matters. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said that He did not speak to Yonah again, and the passuk is saying, “like the word of Hashem that had spoken to Yonah about Nineveh. כשם שנהפך לנינוה מרעה לטובה כך בימי ירבעם בן יואש נהפך להם לישראל מרעה לטובה – Just as Hashem’s decree for Nineveh was overturned from bad to good, so too in the days of Yoravam, Hashem’s decree was changed from bad to good.
- חמש נשים שתערבו ולדיתיהן
The next Mishnah teaches: חמש נשים שנתערבו ולדותיהן – If there were five women whose male children became mixed up, and overtime they grew into adults, were married and died childless, how do their brothers, whose parentage was known, deal with the widows? Four of them do chalitzah with one of the widows, and the remaining one does yibum, then he and three other brothers do chalitzah with another widow. נמצאו ארבע חליצות וייבום לכל אחת ואחת – This results in four chalitzos and one yibum for each widow. The Gemara teaches that one brother should not take all five in yibum. Rather it is better that each one takes a widow in yibum, דלמא מתרמיא ליה דידיה, for perhaps he will end up marrying his own brother’s widow and fulfill the mitzvah of yibum.
