Yevamos 16:6-7

Yevamos 16:6

One may testify to a person’s passing even if he only saw the body by lamp light or moonlight; the widow is permitted to re-marry even on the basis of a distant voice reporting the death. It once occurred that someone stood on a hill and called out that a certain person from a certain city died. They looked for the person who said this and did not find anyone. Nevertheless, they permitted his wife to remarry on the basis of this testimony. Furthermore, it happened in Tzalmon that a certain person said, “I am so-and-so; I was bitten by a snake and am dying.” He was unidentifiable but they permitted his wife to re-marry based upon his words.

Yevamos 16:7

Rabbi Akiva said that he once traveled to Nehardea to declare a leap year. He met a man named Nechemiah from a place called Beis D’li who reported hearing that Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava was the only authority that permitted a woman in Israel to re-marry based on the testimony of one witness. Rabbi Akiva confirmed that this was accurate. Nechemiah said, “Please tell them the following from me because I am unable to travel there myself due to the enemy occupation: I have a received tradition from Rabban Gamliel the Elder that a woman may re-marry based on the testimony of one witness.” Rabbi Akiva went and reported the incident to Rabban Gamliel (not the Elder), who rejoiced that they finally had someone who could corroborate Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava’s position. In the course of the discussion, Rabban Gamliel remembered that men were killed in Tel Arza and Rabban Gamliel the Elder permitted their wives to re-marry based on the testimony of a single witness. It was thereafter established that a woman could re-marry based on the testimony of one witness, on hearsay, and on the words of a slave, a woman and a maidservant. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua do not permit a woman to re-marry based on the testimony of one witness; Rabbi Akiva does not permit a woman to re-marry based on the testimony of a slave, a woman, a maidservant or relatives. They related to him an incident in which some Leviim went to Tzoar, where date trees grow, and one of them became ill on the way so they left him at an inn. On the way back, they asked the innkeeper where their friend was; she replied that he died and she buried him. The Sages permitted his wife to re-marry based on this woman’s words. They asked Rabbi Akiva (to whom they were relating this incident) if the daughter of a kohein (i.e., a woman of some standing) should be any less reliable than this innkeeper. Rabbi Akiva replied that the innkeeper in the story was proven trustworthy because she returned the deceased’s property to his friends.