Yevamos - Daf 119
- Why a woman may not marry a stranger until she determines her tzarah is pregnant
The Mishnah states: האשה שהלך בעלה וצרתה למדינת הים – A woman whose husband and tzarah went overseas, and people came and said to her, “Your husband died,” – לא תנשא ולא תתייבם עד שתדע שמא מועברת היא צרתה – she may not marry a stranger nor be taken in yibum until she determines whether her tzarah is pregnant. The Gemara asks that while it is understandable that she may not be taken in yibum, for perhaps her tzarah is pregnant and she and her yavam would be transgressing the issur of אשת אח, but why may she not marry a stranger? If the concern is that her tzarah may not be pregnant so that she is chayav to be taken in yibum, I could say, הלך אחר רוב נשים ורוב נשים מתעברות ויולדות – Follow the majority of women, and the majority of women do conceive and give birth! Therefore, it is safe to assume the tzarah gave birth to a viable child overseas, and she is exempt from yibum and permitted to a stranger. The Gemara says that the Mishnah is going according to Rebbe Meir, דחייש למיעוטא – who is concerned for the minority, but according to the Rabbanon who go according to the majority, the widow would be permitted to a stranger.
- Rabbanon even follow a majority that is “not before us”
The Gemara suggests that the Mishnah could even be in accordance with the Rabbanon, for when do they go after the rov, it is only in a case of רובא דאיתיה קמן – a rov that is “before us,” כגון תשע חנויות וסנהדרי – like the cases of “nine stores” or a “Sanhedrin.” The case of nine stores is when meat is found in the street, and it is not known whether it comes from one of nine stores that sell kosher meat or from the one store that sells treif. The case of the Sanhedrin is when a Sanhedrin of twenty-three judges rule, and twelve judges vote for acquittal and eleven to convict. In both cases, the majorities are “before us,” and we can rule the meat is kosher and the person is acquitted. But in a case where the majority is “not before us,” such as in our case, where the majority is based on the premise that most women in the world conceive and give birth, the Rabbanon do not follow the majority. The Gemara rejects this, for the Rabbanon permit a minor to do yibum based on the following majority that is not “before us.” Since the majority of young boys are not sarisim, and the majority of young girls are not ayloniyos, they may perform yibum, without concern that one may be and if they were to do yibum, they would be doing an issur with an ervah. The Gemara concludes that our Mishnah is only in accordance with Rebbe Meir.
- Two brothers’ wives who testify to their husbands’ death
The next Mishnah states: שתי יבמות – If the wives of two brothers from overseas, זו אומרת מת בעלי וזו אומרת מת בעלי – and this one says, “My husband died,” and this one says, “My husband died,” זו אסורה מפני בעלה של זו וזו אסורה מפני בעלה של זו – this one is prohibited to marry a stranger on account of that one’s husband, and that one is prohibited to marry a stranger on account of this one’s husband. Rashi explains that each woman is prohibited, for perhaps each brother-in-law is alive and they are chayav in yibum. They cannot rely on each other’s testimony since we learned in the Mishnah that one of the women who is not believed to give testimony that another woman’s husband has died is her יבמתה – her brother-in-law’s wife. Rashi explained earlier that brother’s wives tend to dislike each other since they might become each other’s tzarah in the event of yibum and are suspect of trying to entrap one another into a forbidden relationship.
