Yevamot 106

תנו רבנן חליצה מוטעת כשרה אי זו היא חליצה מוטעת אמר ריש לקיש כל שאומרים לו חלוץ ובכך אתה כונסה

§ The Sages taught: A mistaken ḥalitza is valid. The Gemara asks: What constitutes a mistaken ḥalitza? Reish Lakish said: Any case in which they say to a yavam who is not well versed in halakha: Let her remove your shoe, and in doing so you will take her in marriage, i.e., the yavam understands that by allowing ḥalitza he will actually be marrying her. Although he actually intended to marry her, having allowed her to remove his shoe validates the ḥalitza. Subsequently it is prohibited for the woman to marry him, and she is permitted to others.

אמר ליה רבי יוחנן אני שונה בין שנתכוון הוא ולא נתכוונה היא בין שנתכוונה היא ולא נתכוון הוא חליצתה פסולה עד שיתכוונו שניהם כאחד ואת אמרת חליצתה כשירה

Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: I teach that whether in a case where he had intended to perform valid ḥalitza and she did not intend, or whether she had intended and he did not intend, the ḥalitza is invalid, unless they both intend together as one to perform a proper ḥalitza that would permit her to marry others. And yet you say that in that case when he doesn’t have any intention of permitting her to others, and actually intends to marry her through the act of ḥalitza, her ḥalitza is valid?

אלא כל שאומרים לו חלוץ לה על מנת שתתן לך מאתים זוז תניא נמי הכי חליצה מוטעת כשירה אי זו היא חליצה מוטעת כל שאומרים חלוץ לה על מנת שתתן לך מאתים זוז

Rather, a mistaken ḥalitza that is valid refers to any case in which they say to him: Let her perform ḥalitza on you, with the intention of releasing her bond, on the condition that she will give you two hundred dinars afterward, and even if she does not give him the money the ḥalitza is valid, as the stipulated condition is not binding. This idea of Rabbi Yoḥanan is also taught in a baraita, which states: A mistaken ḥalitza is valid. What constitutes a mistaken ḥalitza? Any case in which they say: Let her perform ḥalitza on you on condition that she will give you two hundred dinars.

ומעשה באשה אחת שנפלה לפני יבם שאין הגון לה ואמרו לו חלוץ לה על מנת שתתן לך מאתים זוז ובא מעשה לפני רבי חייא והכשירה

And an incident occurred involving a certain woman, who happened before her yavam for levirate marriage, yet he was not suitable for her, and they, the judges, said to him: Let her perform ḥalitza on the condition that she will give you two hundred dinars. Afterward, when she did not pay, the incident came before Rabbi Ḥiyya and he validated that ḥalitza.

ההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבי חייא בר אבא אמר לה בתי עמודי אמרה ליה אימא ישיבתה זו היא עמידתה אמר לה ידעת ליה אמרה ליה אין ממונא הוא דחזא לה וקבעי למיכליה מינה

One man came before Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba with his yevama in order to have the court convince her to perform a levirate marriage. Rabbi Ḥiyya said to her: My daughter, stand up, for we are beginning to discuss your case now, and the participants must stand. She said to him: Say that her sitting, referring to her desire to remain seated as an act of refusal of even contemplating the possibility of performing levirate marriage, is therefore tantamount to her standing, as levirate marriage is not an option for her. In other words, the option that will enable her to remain standing proud in the future is not to enter into levirate marriage with this man. Rabbi Ḥiyya said to her: Are you acquainted with this yavam and do you know him well enough to know why he wants to perform levirate marriage with you although you are not interested? She said to him: Yes, it is money that he saw in her, a euphemism for herself, and he wants to consume it by taking it from her, and therefore he wishes to enter levirate marriage.

אמר לה לא ניחא לך אמרה ליה לא אמר ליה חלוץ לה ובכך אתה כונסה לבתר דחלץ לה אמר ליה השתא מינך אפסלא לה חלוץ לה חליצה מעלייתא כי היכי דתישתרי לעלמא

Rabbi Ḥiyya said to her: Is he not amenable to you? She said to him: No, I am certain he is not good for me. Rabbi Ḥiyya accepted her wish, but knowing that the yavam was adamant in his desire to marry her, he said to the yavam: Let her remove your shoe, and in doing so you will take her in marriage, for he wanted to mislead him into allowing ḥalitza, which would disqualify a subsequent levirate marriage between them. After he allowed her to perform ḥalitza, Rabbi Ḥiyya said to the yavam: Now, she is disqualified for you forever, since you allowed her to perform ḥalitza. Although you thought it was an act of marriage, she is no longer permitted to marry you, so you have nothing to lose if you permit her to marry others. Therefore, allow her to perform valid proper ḥalitza, so she will be permitted to others. By performing a second ḥalitza, even Rabbi Yoḥanan, who disqualified this form of a mistaken ḥalitza, would have no problem permitting her to remarry based on the second ḥalitza.

בת חמוה דרב פפא נפלה לפני יבם שאין הגון לה אתא לקמיה דאביי אמר ליה חלוץ לה ובכך אתה כונסה אמר ליה רב פפא לא סבר לה מר להא דאמר רבי יוחנן ואלא היכי אימא ליה

It is told: The daughter of Rav Pappa’s father-in-law, i.e., his sister-in-law, happened before her yavam for levirate marriage, yet he was not suitable for her, although he wished to perform levirate marriage. The case came before Abaye. Abaye said to the yavam: Let her remove your shoe, and in doing so you will take her in marriage. Rav Pappa said to him: Does the Master, i.e., do you, not accept what Rabbi Yoḥanan said, that this type of ḥalitza does not work at all? Abaye said to him: But what shall I say to him?

אמר ליה חלוץ לה על מנת שתתן לך מאתים זוז לבתר דחלץ לה אמר לה זיל הב ליה אמר ליה משטה אני בך עבדה ליה

He said to Abaye that he should say to him as Rabbi Yoḥanan himself suggested: Let her perform ḥalitza on the condition that she will give you two hundred dinars. Convince him to allow ḥalitza on the basis that he will profit financially from it. Abaye told the yavam to do so and he did. After he let her perform ḥalitza, Abaye said to Rav Pappa’s sister-in-law: Go give him the money, for you have agreed to give him two hundred dinars. Rav Pappa said to Abaye on her behalf that a case of: I was fooling you, was what she did to him. She never seriously intended to give him the money when accepting his stipulated condition, and even though the ḥalitza is valid one cannot force her to pay.

מי לא תניא הרי שהיה בורח מבית האסורין והיתה מעברא לפניו ואמר ליה טול דינר והעבירני אין לו אלא שכרו

Isn’t it taught in a baraita: One who was running away from prison and came upon a ferry. He said to the ferry man: Take a dinar, i.e., he offered to pay an amount much larger than the standard fee, and take me across the river. Despite the escapee’s commitment, it is ruled in the baraita that the ferryman receives nothing other than his usual rate, as the escapee is legally exempt from paying the higher amount he had agreed to pay.

אלמא אמר ליה משטה אני בך הכא נמי משטה אני בך

Apparently, one could have said in such a case: I was deceiving you and never really intended to live up to my side of the agreement, and therefore it is not an actual debt. Here too, she may say to him: I was fooling you, and she is therefore exempt from paying the two hundred dinars. Abaye heard this and agreed.

אמר ליה אבוך היכא אמר ליה במתא אימך היכא אמר ליה במתא יהיב בהו עיניה ושכיבן:

Abaye was amazed at Rav Pappa’s sharpness, as he was a young man at the time of this incident. Therefore, he said to Rav Pappa: Where is your father? He said to him: He is in the city. Where is your mother? He said: In the city. Abaye, who was orphaned in his youth, felt that a large part of Rav Pappa’s success came because his parents lived in close proximity to him and provided for all his needs, freeing him from any need to get involved in business affairs and enabling him to immerse himself in Torah without distractions. Abaye felt a twinge of jealousy and set his gaze upon them, Rav Pappa’s parents, in the pain that he did not have similarly supportive parents, and both Rav Pappa’s father and mother died.

תנו רבנן חליצה מוטעת כשרה גט מוטעה פסול חליצה מעושית פסולה גט מעושה כשר היכי דמי אי דאמר רוצה אני אפילו חליצה נמי ואי לא אמר רוצה אני גט נמי לא

§ The Sages taught: A mistaken ḥalitza is valid, while a mistaken bill of divorce is invalid. A coerced ḥalitza is invalid, while a coerced bill of divorce is valid. The Gemara clarifies: What are the circumstances of a coerced bill of divorce? If they force him until he says: I want to give the bill of divorce, then even this type of ḥalitza also should be valid, as although he was initially coerced, he acquiesced. And if he did not say by the end of the giving of the bill of divorce: I want to divorce her, then even this type of coerced bill of divorce should also not be acceptable.

הכי קאמר חליצה מוטעת לעולם כשר וגט מוטעה לעולם פסול חליצה מעושית וגט מעושה זימנין כשר וזימנין פסול הא דאמר רוצה אני הא דלא אמר רוצה אני

The Gemara answers that this is what the Sage said: A mistaken ḥalitza is always valid, while a mistaken bill of divorce is always invalid. A coerced ḥalitza and a coerced bill of divorce are sometimes valid and sometimes invalid. How so? With regard to the one who says after being coerced: I want to give the bill of divorce, it is effective, although he says this as a result of being under compulsion. With regard to the one who does not say: I want to give the bill of divorce, the divorce is invalid.

דתניא יקריב אותו מלמד שכופין אותו יכול בעל כרחו תלמוד לומר לרצונו הא כיצד כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני וכן אתה מוצא בגיטי נשים כופין אותו עד שיאמר רוצה אני

As it is taught in a baraita: It is said with regard to some offerings: “He shall offer it” (Leviticus 1:3). This teaches that they may coerce him to bring the offering he owes. I might have thought this means that he brings the offering totally against his will. Therefore, the continuation of that verse states: “In accordance with his will” (Leviticus 1:3). How can these two contradictory expositions be reconciled? They coerce him by imposing fines or penalties until he says: I want to. And similarly, you find the same principle with respect to bills of divorce for women, as it is prohibited for anyone other than the husband to write the bill of divorce, but they coerce him until he says: I want to divorce her, and then write the bill of divorce on his behalf.

אמר רבא אמר רב סחורה אמר רב הונא חולצין אף על פי שאין מכירין ממאנין אף על פי שאין מכירין

§ Rava said that Rav Seḥora said that Rav Huna said: Judges can allow a man and woman to conduct ḥalitza even if the judges do not recognize the participants. In other words, even if they do not have complete testimony before them that proves that these two people are a yavam and a yevama, if two people wish to perform ḥalitza, the judges are not required to check their identities. Likewise, with regard to women making declarations of refusal: If a young woman after reaching majority comes to make a declaration of refusal against her husband, she may do so, even if witnesses do not recognize her and they do not know for sure that she is the wife of the supposed husband.

לפיכך אין כותבין גט חליצה אלא אם כן מכירין ואין כותבין גט מיאון אלא אם כן מכירין דחיישינן לבית דין טועין

Therefore, in cases where the woman is not identified, although the court may perform ḥalitza and refusals, it may not write a document of ḥalitza, i.e., a document attesting that ḥalitza took place, unless they, the judges, recognize her. And witnesses to the act may not write a document of a declaration of refusal, i.e., a document attesting that a refusal took place, unless they, the judges, recognize the woman, as we are concerned about the possibility of a mistaken court. Perhaps a court will not know that such a document is not complete proof that the action was conducted properly, and will consider it as proof that it was the yevama in this document who removed the shoe, or the wife in this document who made a declaration of refusal. Since the first court can conduct ḥalitza and refusals without accepting witnesses attesting to the identities of the involved parties, a second court cannot rely on these attesting documents alone, but must verify the identities before declaring the women eligible for marriage.

ורבא דידיה אומר אין חולצין אלא אם כן מכירין ואין ממאנין אלא אם כן מכירין לפיכך כותבין גט חליצה אף על פי שאין מכירין וכותבין גט מיאון אף על פי שאין מכירין ולא חיישינן לבית דין טועין:

And Rava himself said the opposite of what he quoted in the name of others: A court may not conduct ḥalitza unless they, the judges, recognize the participants, and a court may not convene a declaration of refusal unless they, the judges, recognize the young woman. Therefore, witnesses may write a document of ḥalitza even if they do not recognize the woman themselves, as one who witnessed a court conduct ḥalitza can be sure that the court already checked the party’s identities thoroughly. And witnesses may write a document of refusal even if they do not recognize the young woman who has refused, relying on the fact that witnesses must have already attested to their identities. And we need not be concerned about the possibility of a mistaken court, as there is no reason to fear that the first court conducted the case without properly identifying the participants.

מתני׳ מצות חליצה בא הוא ויבמתו לבית דין והן משיאין לו עצה ההוגנת לו שנאמר וקראו לו זקני עירו ודברו אליו

MISHNA: The mitzva of ḥalitza is performed as follows: He and his yevama come to the court, and the scholars of the court give him advice appropriate for him, whether to enter levirate marriage or to perform ḥalitza, as it is stated: “And the Elders of his city shall call him and speak to him” (Deuteronomy 25:8).

והיא אומרת מאן יבמי להקים לאחיו שם בישראל לא אבה יבמי והוא אומר לא חפצתי לקחתה ובלשון הקדש היו אומרים ונגשה יבמתו אליו לעיני הזקנים וחלצה נעלו מעל רגלו וירקה בפניו רוק הנראה לדיינים וענתה ואמרה ככה יעשה לאיש אשר לא יבנה את בית אחיו עד כאן היו מקרין

If they decide to perform ḥalitza, she says: “My brother-in-law refused to establish a name for his brother in Israel, he did not wish to consummate the levirate marriage” (Deuteronomy 25:7), and afterward he says: “I do not wish to take her” (Deuteronomy 25:8). And they would say these statements in the sacred Hebrew language and not in any other language. Afterward, the shoe is removed and she spits before him, as is written: “His yevama shall approach him, before the Elders, and remove his shoe from on his foot and spit before him” (Deuteronomy 25:9), which indicates that this spittle must be visible to the judges. “And she shall respond and say: So shall it be done to the man who does not build his brother’s house” (Deuteronomy 25:9). Up until this point the judges would prompt the parties to recite the text that they are required to say.

וכשהקרא רבי הורקנוס תחת האלה בכפר עיטם וגמר את כל הפרשה הוחזקו להיות גומרין כל הפרשה ונקרא שמו בישראל בית חלוץ הנעל מצוה בדיינין ולא מצוה בתלמידים רבי יהודה אומר מצוה על כל העומדים שם לומר חלוץ הנעל:

And when Rabbi Hyrkanus once prompted the participants in ḥalitza under the ela tree in the village of Eitam, he prompted them to finish reciting the whole Torah passage, after which they established the custom of completing the whole Torah passage. Therefore, they continue and say the following verse: “And his name shall be called in Israel: The house of he who had his shoe removed” (Deuteronomy 25:10). This mitzva of saying: The house of he who had his shoe removed, applies to the judges, but not to the students, i.e., the students of the judges and other onlookers who are present. Rabbi Yehuda says: It is a mitzva upon all those present to say: He who had his shoe removed.

גמ׳ אמר רב יהודה מצות חליצה קוראה וקורא וחולצת ורוקקה וקוראה מאי קמשמע לן מתניתין היא הא קמשמע לן מצוה הכי ואי אפיך לית לן בה

GEMARA: Rav Yehuda said: This is the correct order for the mitzva of ḥalitza: She recites the sentence beginning with “My brother-in-law refused” (Deuteronomy 25:7), and afterward he recites “I do not wish to take her” (Deuteronomy 25:8). Then she removes the shoe, and spits, and recites: “So shall it be done to the man who does not build his brother’s house” (Deuteronomy 25:9). The Gemara asks: What is Rav Yehuda teaching us? This is already explicit in the mishna. The Gemara answers: This teaches us that the mitzva is like this, i.e., this is the proper order, but if one switched the order, we have no problem with it, as even though he did not fulfill the mitzva properly, the ḥalitza is still valid, since the order is not indispensable.

תניא נמי הכי בין שהקדים חליצה לרקיקה ובין שהקדים רקיקה לחליצה מה שעשה עשוי

The Gemara comments: This is also taught in a baraita: Whether the removal of the shoe preceded the spitting, or whether the spitting preceded the removal of the shoe, what he did is done, i.e., the ḥalitza is valid.

אמר אביי האי מאן דמקרי גט חליצה לא ליקרי לדידה לא לחודיה ואבה יבמי לחודיה דמשמע אבה יבמי אלא לא אבה יבמי

§ Abaye said concerning the details of these halakhot: The one who prompts the yavam and the yevama to read the text for the bill of ḥalitza should not prompt her by reciting “He did not” (Deuteronomy 25:7) by itself, and “wish to consummate the levirate marriage” (Deuteronomy 25:7) by itself, because such a way of reading sounds to one who hears only the second phrase like he is saying: My yavam does wish to consummate the marriage. Rather, he should prompt her all at once consecutively: “He did not wish to consummate the levirate marriage” (Deuteronomy 25:7), which will ensure that the intended meaning is clear.

ולא ליקרי לדידיה לא לחודיה חפצתי לחודיה דמשמע חפצתי לקחתה אלא לא חפצתי לקחתה רבא אמר אפסוקי מילתא היא ואפסוקי מילתא לית לן בה

And he should not read to the yavam: “I do not” by itself, followed by: “Wish to take her” by itself, as it sounds to one who heard only the second phrase like: I do wish to take her. Rather, he should read together at once: “I do not wish to take her.” Rava said: It is a mere interruption in the matter. And we have no problem with regard to an interruption in the matter as it is basically just a pause for taking a breath.

רב אשי אשכחיה לרב כהנא דקמצטער ומקרי לה לא אבה יבמי אמר ליה לא סבר ליה מר להא דרבא

It is told: Rav Ashi found Rav Kahana painstakingly trying to prompt a certain yevama, so that she would recite: “He did not wish to consummate the levirate marriage” all at once, but the yevama did not understand and was distorting the meaning by not reciting the words together. Rav Ashi said to him: Does the Master not hold that which Rava said, that the proper pausing during the recitation is not indispensable?

אמר ליה מודה רבא בלא אבה יבמי אמר אביי האי מאן דכתב גיטא דחליצתא ליכתוב הכי אקרינוה לדידה מן מאן יבמי עד אבה יבמי ואקרינוהו לדידיה מן לא עד לקחתה ואקרינוה לדידה מן ככה ועד חלוץ הנעל

He said to him: Although Rava disagreed with Abaye about interruptions in the recitation of: “I do not wish to take her,” Rava concedes concerning the recitation of: “He did not wish to consummate the levirate marriage,” as this recitation is essential and must be recited properly. Rav Kahana added that Abaye also said: One who writes a bill of ḥalitza must write as follows: We prompted her to recite from “My brother-in-law refused” until “he did not wish to consummate the levirate marriage” (Deuteronomy 25:7); and we prompted him to recite from “I do not” until “take her” (Deuteronomy 25:8). And we prompted her to recite from “So shall” (Deuteronomy 25:9) until “he who had his shoe removed” (Deuteronomy 25:10).

מר זוטרא משרטט וכתיב לכולא פרשה מתקיף לה מר בר אידי והא לא ניתן ליכתב והלכתא כוותיה דמר זוטרא

Mar Zutra would score lines of a parchment and write the whole ḥalitza passage on it as a bill of ḥalitza, so it would be displayed before the ḥalitza participants. Mar bar Idi strongly objected to this: But it is unable to be written like this on its own, as the Torah may be written only in a complete state, and it is prohibited to write parts of the Torah when there is no mitzva to write them separately. The Gemara comments: Even so, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Mar Zutra, because there is an aspect of a mitzva here, as it is being written as part of a bill of ḥalitza, not for its own purpose.

אמר אביי רקקה וקלטתו הרוח לא עשתה ולא כלום מאי טעמא וירקה בפניו בעינן הלכך הוא ארוך והיא גוצה קלטתהו הרוח איכא בפניו היא ארוכה והוא גוץ בעינן עד דמטי להדי אפיה והדר אזיל

§ Abaye said: If the yevama spat, but the wind seized her saliva and it never landed in front of the face of the yavam, she did nothing, and her actions have no halakhic significance. What is the reason for this? We require that “she spit before him,” as is mentioned in the verse. Therefore, if he is tall and she is short and the wind seized it, the requirement of “before him” is satisfied, because the moment the saliva left her mouth it was in front of the face of the yavam. But if she is tall and he is short, we require that the saliva reach the space across from his face, and afterward it may go with the wind; i.e., if she was taller than him and the saliva was taken by the wind before it reached the height of his face, she did not fulfill her obligation.

אמר רבא אכלה תומא ורקתה אכלה גרגישתא ורקתה לא עשתה ולא כלום מאי טעמא וירקה מעצמה בעינן וליכא ואמר רבא צריכי דייני למיחזי רוקא כי נפיק מפומא דיבמה דכתיב לעיני הזקנים וירקה:

Rava said: If she ate garlic and spat, or if she ate gargishta clay, i.e., a type of clay once chewed for medicinal purposes, and spat, she did nothing and her actions have no halakhic significance, for this is not called spitting. What is the reason for this? We require that “she shall spit” on her own, and this is not satisfied here, for in this case she spits only on account of another thing that causes a pooling of saliva in her mouth. And Rava said: The judges must see the spittle when it leaves the mouth of the yevama, and the mere fact that she spat on the ground is insufficient, as it is written: “Before the Elders…and spit,” indicating that the spitting must take place before the eyes of the judges.

ונקרא שמו בישראל בית חלוץ הנעל מצוה בדיינין ולא בתלמידים: תניא אמר רבי יהודה פעם אחת היינו יושבים לפני רבי טרפון ובאתה יבמה לחלוץ ואמר לנו ענו כולכם חלוץ הנעל חלוץ הנעל חלוץ הנעל:

§ It was taught in the mishna: With regard to the verse “And his name shall be called in Israel: The house of he who had his shoe removed,” there is a mitzva upon the judges to recite this but it is not a requirement for the students or onlookers. It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: Once we were sitting before Rabbi Tarfon and a yevama came to perform ḥalitza. He said to us: You must all answer: “He who had his shoe removed,” “He who had his shoe removed,” “He who had his shoe removed,” stating that portion of the verse three times.

הדרן עלך מצות חליצה