1,874. Disagreements About Whether Yibum was Actually Performed

Yibum v’Chalitzah 2:5

Let’s say that a man takes his yevama to perform yibum and she claims within 30 days that they have not yet done so; the man claims that they have done so and he divorces her. Since he already divorced her, we make him also perform chalitzah with her. If he doesn’t divorce her, he is compelled either to perform yibum or to perform chalitzah and then to divorce her with a get. If he divorced his yevama after 30 days and she claims that they didn’t have relations, we ask him to perform chalitzah; if he admits that they never had relations, then he is compelled to perform chalitzah. If she says that they engaged in relations and he says they didn’t, she doesn’t need chalitzah because his word is not accepted to prohibit her to all other men after he has brought her home to be his wife.

Yibum v’Chalitzah 2:6

If the deceased left many brothers, it falls to the eldest brother to perform either yibum or chalitzah as per Deuteronomy 25:6, “The firstborn son that she bears….” Our oral tradition understands this verse to refer to the oldest surviving brother, i.e., the eldest brother should perpetuate the legacy of the deceased. In this interpretation “that she bears” refers to the mother of the brothers rather than to the deceased’s widow.