Yevamos - Daf 104
- Machlokes whether a chalitzah performed at night is kosher
The next Mishnah states: חלצה בלילה חליצתה כשרה ורבי אלעזר פוסל – A chalitzah performed at night is valid but Rebbe Elazar rules it is invalid. The Gemara seeks to define upon what the machlokes is based, and concludes: מר סבר חליצה כתחלת דין דמיא ומר סבר חליצה כגמר דין דמיא – Rebbe Elazar holds that chalitzah is compared to the beginning of a trial, and is therefore invalid if done at night. Rashi brings the Gemara in Sanhedrin Daf 34b that the beginning of a monetary trial must begin during the day but may conclude at night. The Tanna Kamma holds that chalitzah is comparable to the conclusion of a trial and is, therefore, valid if performed at night. The mefarshim explain that the Tanna Kamma compares chalitzah to the conclusion of a trial because the yevamah’s kesubah claim is guaranteed from the time the chalitzah takes place. It is, therefore, like the completion of the trial when the claimants are guaranteed their right to collect. Rebbe Elazar sees the chalitzah as only the first step towards the yevamah collecting her kesubah.
- Machlokes regarding which acts are essential to the chalitzah
The next Mishnah states: חלצה ורקקה אבל לא קראה חליצתה כשרה – If she removed the shoe and spat but she did not recite the pesukim, the chalitzah is valid. קראה ורקקה אבל לא חלצה חליצתה פסולה – If she read the pesukim and spat, but did not remove the shoe, the chalitzah is invalid. חלצה וקראה אבל לא רקקה – If she removed the shoe and recited the pesukim, but did not spit, Rebbe Elazar says the chalitzah is invalid, but Rebbe Akiva says the chalitzah is valid. Rebbe Elazar said to Rebbe Akiva: The passuk in the parshah of chalitzah says: "ככה יעשה" – so shall be done, כל דבר שהוא מעשה מעכב – which implies that anything that is an action is essential. Therefore, if the yevamah does not spit, the chalitzah is invalid. Rebbe Akiva said to Rebbe Elazar: משם ראיה – From there you bring a proof? The passuk says: "ככה יעשה לאיש" – so shall be done to the man, כל דבר שהוא מעשה באיש – which implies that anything that is an action that involves the man is essential. This excludes the spitting, which is done by the yevamah.
- An אלם ואלמת may not do chalitzah even though kriah is not me’akev
The Mishnah stated: חרש שנחלץ והחרשת שחלצה והחולצת מן הקטן חליצתה פסולה – If chalitzah was done on a cheiresh, or a deaf-mute woman performed chalitzah, or a yevamah received chalitzah from a minor, the chalitzah is invalid. On this Rava said: השתא דאמרת קרייה מעכבא – Now that you have said that reciting the pesukim is essential, and therefore the chalitzah of a deaf-mute is invalid, therefore the chalitzah of an אלם ואלמת – a mute man or a mute woman, is invalid. And the first part of our Mishnah, which rules that the chalitzah is valid even when there was no kriah, follows the opinion of Rebbe Zeira, who said: כל הראוי לבילה אין בילה מעכבת וכל שאין ראוי לבילה בילה מעכבת – Regarding any minchah that is fit for blending, blending is not essential to it, and the minchah is valid without blending. And any minchah that is not fit for blending, blending is essential, and not blending the ingredients invalidates the minchah. Rashi explains that the Mishnah in Menachos teaches that a minchah containing up to sixty issarons of flour may be brought in a kli, because it can be blended evenly. A larger minchah would require two keilim. The Torah though never mandates actual blending, and a minchah is valid if left unblended, as long as it is capable of being blended. Similarly, if the yavam and yevamah are fit to speak, the actual kriah is not essential to the chalitzah. But if one of them are not fit to speak, the chalitzah is invalid.
