1,956. Remember These Principles

Yibum v’Chalitzah 8:11

Continuing from the previous halacha, about not knowing whose brother is whose, so four surviving brothers perform chalitzah and one marries the widow. If the woman was his brother’s wife, he has performed yibum; if not, then she’s the widow of the brother of one of the other four survivors, all of whom have already performed chalitzah with her. Similarly, the second woman should have four of the survivors perform chalitzah, including the one who married the first widow, and the fifth survivor should marry her. We continue in this manner until the five survivors have married the five widows after each of them has performed chalitzah four times.

Yibum v’Chalitzah 8:12

When addressing scenarios of doubt such as these, we must keep the following principles in mind: if there’s a doubt as to whether a woman must perform chalitzah with a particular man, she may not marry anyone else until he has first performed chalitzah; if there’s a doubt as to whether a woman is prohibited to engage intimacy with a man because of a Biblical or a rabbinic prohibition, she may not perform yibum with him; if a woman has performed a “better” chalitzah or “valid” relations, then another wife of the same husband is permitted to re-marry another man.