1,906. The Text of a Chalitzah Document

Yibum v’Chalitzah 4:29

The chalitzah document is just a legal record so that a woman will have proof that she performed chalitzah. Judges do not oversee a chalitzah unless they know the identities of the parties involved; therefore, one who observes a chalitzah can write the document even if he doesn’t know that the woman is the daughter of X, that her late husband was Y, or that the one who performed chalitzah was Y’s brother. He may rely that the judges who oversaw the chalitzah verified these things beforehand.

Yibum v’Chalitzah 4:30

Following is the current text of a chalitzah document:

“On day A of the week and on day B of the month, in this year from the time of creation according to the reckoning that is followed in location C, we judges – some of whom have signed below – sat in session as a court of three. Woman X, the widow of Y, the daughter of Z, approached us, as did man Q, the son of R. This woman said, “Q, the son of R, is the paternal brother of my husband, Y, who died, leaving life to the Sages and the Jewish people. He left no son or daughter to inherit him and to perpetuate his name in Israel. His brother Q is fit to perform yibum with me. Please tell him, ‘If you want to perform yibum, do so.’ If not, have him put his right foot in front of me and I will remove the shoe from his foot and spit in front of him.” We confirmed Q’s identity and that he is the paternal brother of Y. We told him, “If you want to perform yibum, do so. If not, put your right foot before us so that she can remove the shoe from your foot and spit in front of you.’ He replied, ‘I don’t want to perform yibum.’ We immediately had this woman recite after us the text, ‘My yavam refuses to raise a name for his brother in Israel. My yavam doesn’t want….’ We then had the man recite after us the text, ‘I don’t want to take her.’ He then put forward his right foot, from which she removed the shoe and spit in front of him, expectorating from her mouth to the ground so that we could see it. We then had her recite after us the text, ‘So shall be done to the man who doesn’t build his brother’s house. His name will be called in Israel ‘the house of the one whose shoe was removed.’ We judges and all those present with us replied after her, ‘the one whose shoe was removed’ three times. After this action was performed in our presence, we gave X permission to marry whomever she wants to. No one has the right to object from this day forward. X requested legal documentation of this chalitzah, so we have written it, signed it and given it to her as proof according to the religion of Moses and Israel.(Signed) S the son of T, witness; U the son of V, witness.”