1,877. If the Eldest Brother "Passes" on Yibum

Yibum v’Chalitzah 2:11

Let’s say that the deceased had many brothers and the eldest says that he wants to perform yibum. Even if the widow doesn’t want to marry him but she’s willing to marry a different brother, her request is not granted because the mitzvah is for the eldest brother to perform yibum.

Yibum v’Chalitzah 2:12

Let’s say that the eldest brother says that he doesn’t want to perform yibum or chalitzah but another brother is present. One of the other brothers asks the widow to perform yibum but she doesn’t want to marry him. She does want to marry yet another brother, who reciprocates her interest. In such a case, she is not considered to have “rebelled” against her yavam. This is because once the eldest brother passes, all the other brothers are equal. Since the widow wants to marry one of them and he reciprocates, she is not considered to have “rebelled” against another brother. Not only that, if one of the brothers was overseas and the widow wants to wait for him to return and perform yibum, she is not considered to have “rebelled” against the present brother. Since the brother she doesn’t want isn’t the eldest, we tell him that he has the option to perform chalitzah and pay her the value of her kesubah, otherwise she’ll just wait for the absent brother to return. This is because the present brother doesn’t have priority.