Kiddushin, Daf Mem Heh, Part 2
Introduction
Today s section discusses what the law is when the girl who was married without her father s consent is widowed and becomes liable for yibbum.
איתמר מת ונפלה לפני אחיו ליבום אמר רב הונא אמר רב ממאנת למאמרו ואינה ממאנת לזיקתו
כיצד עשה בה מאמר צריכה גט וצריכה חליצה וצריכה מיאון
It was stated: If he [who betrothed her without her father s knowledge] dies, and she falls before his brother for yibum: R. Huna said in the name of Rav: She must perform mi’un on account of his ma amar, but requires no mi’un on account of his levirate ties.
How so? If he [the yavam] performed ma amar with her, she requires a get, halitzah, and mi’un.
The young girl who was betrothed without her father s knowledge now becomes a yevamah, a woman awaiting levirate marriage. The question asked is what do we do in this complicated situation.
Rav says essentially that the levirate connection, in Hebrew, zikah, is not relevant here. What is relevant here is the fact that the yavam, her husband s brother, performed ma amar with her, and ma amar is like betrothal.
If he performed ma mar with her, then to get out of this connection to the yavam, she will need three things a get, halitzah (release from levirate marriage) and mi un, refusal.
צריכה גט שמא נתרצה האב בקידושי שני
She needs a get, lest her father consented to the kiddushin of the second one [the yavam].
If the father did not consent to the marriage to the first man, but did consent to the marriage to the second, then the act of betrothal with the second is valid, and she will need a get to be released from this marriage. This marriage was not yibbum, it was just regular marriage.
צריכה חליצה שמא נתרצה האב בקידושי ראשון
She needs halitzah lest her father consented to the first [brother’s] kiddushin.
If the father consented to the first marriage, then this is a regular case of yibbum and she needs halitzah to be released.
צריכה מיאון שמא לא נתרצה האב לא בקידושי ראשון ולא בקידושי שני ויאמרו אין קידושין תופסין באחותה
She needs mi’un, lest her father did not consent to the kiddushin of either the first or the second, and people would say: Kiddushin with her sister has no validity.
If the father did not consent to either of the marriages, then she is not married to the second man at all. If this man performs kiddushin with her sister, the kiddushin will be valid. However, people might not know this, thinking that she was married to the second husband, in which he cannot subsequently marry her sister. To let people know that there was no validity to either marriage, she should perform mi un, which would annul the marriage had it existed.
לא עשה בה מאמר אינה צריכה אלא חליצה בלבד
מאי אמרת תיבעי נמי מיאון שמא יאמרו אין קידושין תופסין באחותה הכל יודעים אחות חלוצה דרבנן דאמר ריש לקיש כאן שנה רבי אחות גרושה מדאורייתא אחות חלוצה מדברי סופרים
But if he does not perform ma amar with her, she merely requires halizah.
What might you say: let her also require mi’un, lest it be said that kiddushin with her sister is not valid. Everyone knows that [marriage with] the sister of a halutzah is [forbidden] by rabbinic law only, for Resh Lakish said: Here Rabbi taught: The sister of a divorced woman is [forbidden] by biblical law, whereas the sister of a haluzah, by rabbinic law.
If the brother did not perform ma amar, she certainly does not need a get. If the father consented to the first marriage then halitzah would be enough.
We might have thought that she needs mi un for the same reasons as above maybe people will think that if the brother marries her sister, the marriage is not valid. But everyone knows that marriage with the sister of one s halutzah is prohibited only by the rabbis and therefore is valid according to biblical law. If he marries her, she will need a divorce in order to be married to someone else.
Resh Lakish notes that the Torah prohibits one from marrying the sister of one s divorcee. The rabbis add that the same is true of the sister of one s halutzah she is prohibited but only derabanan.