Yevamot 64

מלמד שאין השכינה שורה על פחות משני אלפים ושני רבבות מישראל הרי שהיו ישראל שני אלפים ושני רבבות חסר אחד וזה לא עסק בפריה ורביה לא נמצא זה גורם לשכינה שתסתלק מישראל

This teaches that the Divine Presence does not rest upon less than two thousands and two ten-thousands of the Jewish people, as the terms thousands and ten-thousands are both in the plural. Consequently, if there were two thousands and two ten-thousands of the Jewish people, less one, and this man did not engage in the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply, is he not found to have caused the Divine Presence to be depart from the Jewish people?

אבא חנן אמר משום רבי אליעזר חייב מיתה שנאמר ובנים לא היו להם הא היו להם בנים לא מתו אחרים אומרים גורם לשכינה שתסתלק מישראל שנאמר להיות לך לאלהים ולזרעך אחריך בזמן שזרעך אחריך שכינה שורה אין זרעך אחריך על מי שורה על העצים ועל האבנים:

Abba Ḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: A man who does not engage in procreation is liable to death, as it is stated with regard to the sons of Aaron: “And Nadav and Avihu died…and they had no children” (Numbers 3:4). This indicates that if they would have had children they would not have died. Others say: He causes the Divine Presence to depart from the Jewish people, as it is stated: “To be a God to you and to your seed after you” (Genesis 17:7). When your seed is after you, i.e., when you have children, the Divine Presence rests upon the Jewish people, but if your seed is not after you, upon whom can the Divine Presence rest? Upon wood and stones?

מתני׳ נשא אשה ושהה עמה עשר שנים ולא ילדה אינו רשאי לבטל גירשה מותרת לינשא לאחר ורשאי השני לשהות עמה עשר שנים ואם הפילה מונה משעה שהפילה:

MISHNA: If a man married a woman and stayed with her for ten years and she did not give birth, he is no longer permitted to neglect the mitzva to be fruitful and multiply. Consequently, he must either divorce her and marry someone else, or take another wife while still married to her. If he divorced her she is permitted to marry another man, as it is not necessarily on her account that she and her first husband did not have children, and the second husband is permitted to stay with her for ten years. And if she had a miscarriage, he counts the ten years from the time of the miscarriage.

גמ׳ תנו רבנן נשא אשה ושהה עמה עשר שנים ולא ילדה יוציא ויתן כתובה שמא לא זכה להבנות ממנה

GEMARA: The Sages taught: If a man married a woman and stayed with her for ten years and she did not give birth, he should divorce her and pay her marriage contract, because perhaps he did not merit to be built, i.e., to have children, from her. It is not certain that their failure to have children is due to her, as it is possible that they are not a suitable match for bearing children.

אף על פי שאין ראיה לדבר זכר לדבר מקץ עשר שנים לשבת אברם בארץ כנען ללמדך שאין ישיבת חוץ לארץ עולה לו מן המנין לפיכך חלה הוא או שחלתה היא או שניהם חבושים בבית האסורים אין עולין לו מן המנין

Although there is no explicit proof for the matter that one must take another wife if he has not had children after ten years of marriage, there is an allusion to the matter, as the verse states: “And Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar…after Abram had dwelled ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife” (Genesis 16:3). Incidentally, this verse also comes to teach you that the years spent dwelling outside of Eretz Yisrael do not count as part of his tally. Consequently, if he was sick during this period or she was sick, or if one of the two of them was imprisoned in jail, it does not count as part of his tally.

אמר ליה רבא לרב נחמן ולילף מיצחק דכתיב ויהי יצחק בן ארבעים שנה בקחתו את רבקה וגו׳ וכתיב ויצחק בן ששים שנה בלדת אותם אמר ליה יצחק עקור היה

Rava said to Rav Naḥman: Let us derive from Isaac that one may wait a longer period of time, as it is written: “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah…to be his wife” (Genesis 25:20), and it is written with regard to the birth of Jacob and Esau: “And Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:26). This indicates that one may wait twenty years. Rav Naḥman said to him: Isaac knew that he was infertile, and therefore there was no reason for him to marry another woman, as Rebekah was not the cause of their infertility.

אי הכי אברהם נמי עקור היה ההוא מיבעי ליה לכדרבי חייא בר אבא דאמר רבי חייא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן למה נמנו שנותיו של ישמעאל כדי לייחס בהן שנותיו של יעקב

The Gemara responds: If so, Abraham also should not have married another woman, as he was also infertile. Rather, the tanna requires that verse that states when Jacob and Esau were born for that which Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba taught. This is because Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why were Ishmael’s years counted in the Torah, as they do not appear to be relevant to its narrative? In order to determine through them the years of Jacob, i.e., Jacob’s age at the time that various events took place, as explained in tractate Megilla (17a). The verse concerning Jacob’s birth was not meant to allude to a halakha about remaining married before having children, but to make it possible to determine Jacob’s age by relating it to the age of Ishmael.

אמר רבי יצחק יצחק אבינו עקור היה שנאמר ויעתר יצחק לה׳ לנכח אשתו על אשתו לא נאמר אלא לנוכח מלמד ששניהם עקורים היו אי הכי ויעתר לו ויעתר להם מיבעי ליה לפי שאינו דומה תפלת צדיק בן צדיק לתפלת צדיק בן רשע

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Isaac our father was infertile, as it is stated: “And Isaac entreated the Lord concerning [lenokhaḥ] his wife because she was barren” (Genesis 25:21). It is not stated that he entreated the Lord for [al] his wife, but lenokhaḥ, which can mean opposite, against, or corresponding to; this teaches that they were both infertile. The Gemara asks: If so, why does the verse continue: “And the Lord let Himself be entreated of him”? The verse should say: And the Lord let Himself be entreated of them. The Gemara answers that their prayers were answered due to Isaac, because the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a righteous individual is not similar to the prayer of a righteous individual who is the son of a wicked individual, and Rebekah’s father was the wicked Bethuel.

אמר רבי יצחק מפני מה היו אבותינו עקורים מפני הקדוש ברוך הוא מתאוה לתפלתן של צדיקים אמר רבי יצחק למה נמשלה תפלתן של צדיקים כעתר מה עתר זה מהפך התבואה ממקום למקום כך תפלתן של צדיקים מהפכת מדותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ממדת רגזנות למדת רחמנות אמר רבי אמי אברהם ושרה טומטמין היו שנאמר הביטו אל צור

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: For what reason were our forefathers initially infertile? Because the Holy One, Blessed be He, desires the prayers of the righteous, and He therefore wanted them to pray for children. Similarly, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: Why are the prayers of the righteous compared to a pitchfork [eter], as in the verse: “And He let Himself be entreated [vaye’ater]”? This indicates that just as this pitchfork turns over produce from one place to another, so the prayer of the righteous turns over the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He, from the attribute of rage to the attribute of mercy. Rabbi Ami said: Abraham and Sarah were originally tumtumin, people whose sexual organs are concealed and not functional, as it is stated: “Look to the rock

חצבתם ואל מקבת בור נקרתם וכתיב הביטו אל אברהם אביכם ואל שרה תחוללכם

from where you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you were dug” (Isaiah 51:1), and it is written in the next verse: “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you” (Isaiah 51:2), which indicates that sexual organs were fashioned for them, signified by the words hewn and dug, over the course of time.

אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה שרה אמנו אילונית היתה שנאמר ותהי שרי עקרה אין לה ולד אפילו בית ולד אין לה

Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: Our mother Sarah was initially a sexually underdeveloped woman [aylonit], as it is stated: “And Sarah was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). The superfluous words: “She had no child,” indicate that she did not have even a place, i.e., a womb, for a child.

אמר רב יהודה בריה דרב שמואל בר שילת משמיה דרב לא שנו אלא בדורות הראשונים ששנותיהן מרובות אבל בדורות האחרונים ששנותיהן מועטות שתי שנים ומחצה כנגד שלשה עיבורים רבה אמר רב נחמן שלש שנים כנגד שלש פקידות דאמר מר בראש השנה נפקדו שרה רחל וחנה

Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: They taught that he waits ten years only with regard to the people who lived in former generations, whose years were numerous, i.e., they lived longer. However, with regard to the people who live in later generations, whose years are few, he waits only two and half years before divorcing her, corresponding to the time period of three pregnancies. Rabba said in the name of Rav Naḥman: He waits three years, corresponding to the three remembrances of barren women by God, as the Master said: On Rosh HaShana Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered, i.e., God gave them children. Since God determines on Rosh HaShana whether barren women will conceive that year, one may remain married until three such opportunities have passed.

אמר רבה ליתנהו להני כללי מכדי מתניתין מאן תקין רבי והא בימי דוד אימעוט שני דכתיב ימי שנותינו בהם שבעים שנה

However, Rabba himself said: These principles are not accepted as halakha. Why not? Now consider, who established the content of the mishna? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Yet, in the days of King David, many years before the time of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the years of an average lifespan were already diminished, as it is written: “The days of our years are seventy years, and if with strength eighty years” (Psalms 90:10). Consequently, if Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi included in the mishna the statement that one remains married for ten years, that must apply even nowadays.

והאי שמא לא זכה להבנות הימנה ודלמא איהי דלא זכיא איהי כיון דלא מפקדא אפריה ורביה לא מיענשה

The Gemara asks about the language of the baraita. And what about this expression: Perhaps he did not merit to be built from her; perhaps it was she who did not merit to build a family. The Gemara answers: She, since she is not commanded to be fruitful and multiply, is not punished. Their worthiness therefore depends on him, not her.

איני והא אמרו ליה רבנן לרבי אבא בר זבדא נסיב איתתא ואוליד בני ואמר להו אי זכאי הוו לי מקמייתא התם דחוי קא מדחי להו לרבנן דרבי אבא בר זבדא איעקר מפרקיה דרב הונא

The Gemara challenges the mishna’s statement that if one did not have children after ten years he should marry a different woman. Is that so? Didn’t the Sages say to Rabbi Abba bar Zavda: Marry a woman and have children, and he said to them: If I had merited, I would already have children from my first wife? This indicates that there is no obligation to remarry if one did not have children with his first wife. The Gemara answers: There, Rabbi Abba bar Zavda was merely putting the Rabbis off with an excuse, as the real reason why he would not marry was because Rabbi Abba bar Zavda became impotent from Rav Huna’s discourse. Rav Huna’s students would hold back from relieving themselves until his lengthy sermons were finished, which caused them to become sterile.

רב גידל איעקר מפרקיה דרב הונא רבי חלבו איעקר מפרקיה דרב הונא רב ששת איעקר מפרקיה דרב הונא רב אחא בר יעקב אחדתיה סוסכינתא תליוה בארזא דבי רב ונפק מיניה כהוצא ירקא אמר רב אחא בר יעקב שיתין סבי הוינא וכולהו איעקור מפרקיה דרב הונא לבר מאנא דקיימי בנפשאי החכמה תחיה בעליה:

The Gemara similarly relates that Rav Giddel became impotent from Rav Huna’s discourse, Rav Ḥelbo became impotent from Rav Huna’s discourse, and Rav Sheshet became impotent from Rav Huna’s discourse. The Gemara relates: Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov was afflicted by suskhinta, a disease caused by holding back from urinating. They suspended him from the cedar column that supported the study hall, and a substance that was as green as a palm leaf emerged from him, and he was healed. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: We were sixty elders present at the time, and they all became impotent from Rav Huna’s discourse, aside from me, as I fulfilled with regard to myself the verse: “Wisdom preserves the life of he who has it” (Ecclesiastes 7:12). I used the above cure to avoid becoming impotent.

גירשה מותרת וכו׳: שני אין שלישי לא

§ It was taught in the mishna that if a man divorced his wife after ten years without children, she is permitted to marry a second man, who may remain married to her for ten years. The Gemara comments: A second husband, yes, but a third one, no. Once she has been married to two men without children for ten years each, it is presumed that she is unable to have children.

מתניתין מני רבי היא דתניא מלה הראשון ומת שני ומת שלישי לא תמול דברי רבי רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר שלישי תמול רביעי לא תמול

The Gemara comments: Who is the tanna of the mishna? It is Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who holds that a legal presumption [ḥazaka] is established after two occurrences. As it is taught in a baraita: If a woman circumcised her first son and he died as a result of the circumcision, and she circumcised her second son and he also died, she should not circumcise her third son, as the deaths of the first two produce a presumption that this woman’s sons die as a result of circumcision. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: She should circumcise her third son, as there is not considered to be a legal presumption that her sons die from circumcision, but she should not circumcise her fourth son if her first three sons died from circumcision.

והתניא איפכא הי מינייהו אחריניתא

The Gemara asks: Isn’t the reverse taught in a baraita, that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi holds that the woman’s third son must be circumcised and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds that he is not circumcised? Which of them was composed later and is therefore presumed to be more reliable?

תא שמע דאמר רבי חייא בר אבא אמר רבי יוחנן מעשה בארבע אחיות בצפורי שמלה ראשונה ומת שניה ומת שלישית ומת רביעית באת לפני רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אמר לה אל תמולי

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear, as Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: An incident occurred involving four sisters in Tzippori, that the first sister circumcised her son and he died, and the second sister circumcised her son and he died, and the third one circumcised her son and he too died. The fourth sister came before Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who said to her: Do not circumcise him. This indicates that according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel a presumption is established only after three occurrences.

ודלמא אי אתיא שלישית נמי הוה אמר לה אם כן מאי אסהדותיה דרבי חייא בר אבא ודלמא הא קא משמע לן דאחיות מחזקות

The Gemara refutes this proof: Perhaps if the third sister had come before him he would also have said to her the same ruling. The Gemara asks: If so, what is the purpose of Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba’s testimony? Why would he have related this incident if it does not teach us anything? The Gemara answers: Perhaps he comes to teach us that sisters establish a presumption in a case like this even though the children who died were not from the same mother.

אמר רבא השתא דאמרת אחיות מחזקות לא ישא אדם אשה לא ממשפחת נכפין ולא ממשפחת מצורעים והוא דאתחזק תלתא זימני

Rava said: Now that you have said that sisters establish a presumption, a man should not marry a woman from a family of epileptics or from a family of lepers, as these diseases might be hereditary. The Gemara adds: And this applies only if it was established three times, i.e., three members of the family are afflicted with the disease.

מאי הוה עלה כי אתא רב יצחק בר יוסף אמר עובדא הוה קמיה דרבי יוחנן בכנישתא דמעון ביום הכפורים שחל להיות בשבת ומלה ראשונה ומת שניה ומת שלישית באה לפניו אמר לה לכי ומולי

The Gemara asks: Which halakhic conclusion was about this matter? Is a presumption established after two occurrences or only after three? When Rav Yitzḥak bar Yosef came from Eretz Yisrael, he said: An incident occurred before Rabbi Yoḥanan in the synagogue of the town of Maon on a Yom Kippur that occurred on Shabbat. The first sister had circumcised her son and he died; the second sister circumcised her son and he also died. The third sister came before him, and he said to her: Go and circumcise your son, as a presumption is not established after only two occurrences.

אמר ליה אביי חזי דקשרית איסורא וסכנתא

Abaye said to Rav Yitzḥak: See to it that your report is accurate, as you are permitting an action that would otherwise constitute a prohibition and a danger. If the third baby should not be circumcised, doing so would be a prohibited labor and would endanger the life of the child.

סמך עלה אביי ואזל נסבה לחומה ברתא דאיסי בריה דרב יצחק בריה דרב יהודה דנסבה רחבא דפומבדיתא ושכיב רב יצחק בריה דרבה בר בר חנה ושכיב ונסבה הוא ושכיב

The Gemara comments: Abaye relied on this report and went and married Ḥuma, the daughter of Isi, son of Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rav Yehuda. Ḥuma had previously married Raḥava of Pumbedita, and he died, and then she married Rav Yitzḥak, son of Rabba bar bar Ḥana, and he died; and he, Abaye, married her nevertheless, without concern that she had been established to be a woman whose husbands die; and he died as well while married to her.

אמר רבא ומי איכא דעביד עובדא בנפשיה כי האי והא איהו דאמר אבין דסמכא יצחק סומקא לאו בר סמכא אבין ישנו בחזרה יצחק סומקא אינו בחזרה ועוד אימר דפליגי לענין מילה בנישואין מי פליגי

Rava said: Is there anyone who performs an action like this and endangers himself by marrying such a woman? Wasn’t it he, Abaye, who said that Avin is reliable but Yitzḥak the Red, i.e., Rav Yitzḥak bar Yosef, is not reliable? He proceeds to explain the difference between them: Avin returns to Eretz Yisrael and hears whether the Sages there rescind their previous rulings, whereas Yitzḥak the Red does not return to Eretz Yisrael and never finds out if the Sages there rescind their rulings. And furthermore, say that they disagree with regard to whether a presumption is established by two or by three deaths due to circumcision, but do they necessarily argue with regard to marriage?

אין והתניא ניסת לראשון ומת לשני ומת לשלישי לא תנשא דברי רבי רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר לשלישי תנשא לרביעי לא תנשא

The Gemara responds: Yes, and it is taught in a baraita: If a woman was married to her first husband and he died, to a second one and he also died, she may not get married to a third husband. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: She may get married to a third husband, but if he also dies, she may not get married to a fourth husband.

בשלמא גבי מילה איכא משפחה דרפי דמא ואיכא משפחה דקמיט דמא אלא נישואין מאי טעמא אמר ליה רב מרדכי לרב אשי הכי אמר אבימי מהגרוניא משמיה דרב הונא מעין גורם ורב אשי אמר מזל גורם

The Gemara asks: Granted with regard to circumcision a presumption of death due to circumcision can be established because there are families whose blood is thin and does not clot well, and there are families whose blood clots. However, in the case of marriage, what is the reason for concern that a subsequent husband will die? Rav Mordekhai said to Rav Ashi: Avimi of Hagron-ya said in the name of Rav Huna as follows: Her spring is the cause. In other words, the woman has some sort of condition that causes those who have intercourse with her to die. And Rav Ashi said that her constellation is the cause of her husbands’ deaths.

מאי בינייהו איכא בינייהו דאירסה ומית אי נמי דנפל מדיקלא ומית

The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between them? The Gemara answers: There is a difference between them in a case where a man betrothed her and died before the wedding; alternatively, in a case where he fell off a palm tree and died. If the concern is due to intercourse, then in these cases the husband’s death cannot be attributed to his wife. Conversely, if the concern is due to her bad fortune, the husband’s death can be attributed to his wife even in these cases.

אמר ליה רב יוסף בריה דרבא לרבא בעי מיניה מרב יוסף הלכה כרבי ואמר לי אין הלכה כרבן שמעון בן גמליאל ואמר לי אין אחוכי אחיך בי

Rav Yosef, son of Rava, said to Rava: I inquired of Rav Yosef whether the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and he said to me: Yes. I subsequently asked him if the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, and he said to me: Yes. Was he mocking me by issuing contradictory rulings?

אמר ליה לא סתמי היא ופשיט לך נישואין ומלקיות כרבי וסתות ושור המועד כרבן שמעון בן גמליאל

Rava said to him: No, there are unattributed mishnayot in accordance with each opinion, and he resolved for you that the halakha is in accordance with each opinion in particular cases. With regard to marriage and lashings the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi that two occurrences are sufficient for a presumption. Concerning set patterns of menstrual bleeding and a forewarned ox, the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel that a presumption is established after three occurrences.

נישואין הא דאמרן מלקיות דתנן מי שלקה ושנה בית דין כונסין אותו לכיפה ומאכילין אותו שעורים עד שתהא כריסו נבקעת וסתות דתנן אין האשה

The Gemara identifies the aforementioned halakhot. Marriage is referring to that which we said with regard to a woman whose husbands have died. The case of lashings is as we learned in a mishna (Nidda 63b): One who was flogged for transgressing a Torah law, and repeated the same transgression and was flogged again, if he then repeats the sin a third time, the court places him in a narrow, vaulted chamber and they feed him barley until his stomach bursts. Once he has sinned and been flogged twice he has established a presumption of wickedness, and when he sins again he is caused to die so that he will not continue to sin. The case of set patterns of menstrual bleeding is as we learned in a mishna (Nidda 63b): A woman does not