Torah Community Connections

Week 54 - Friday - 8 December 2000

YEVAMOT: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 4

Rabbi Yehoshua said, I heard that 'a eunuch submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife, and a eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife,' and I cannot explain. Rabbi Akiva said, I will explain. A man-eunuch submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife, because he had a time of fitness. A sun-eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife, because he did not have a time of fitness. Rabbi Eliezer says, Not so, but rather a sun-eunuch submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife, because he has a cure. A man-eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife, because he does not have a cure. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Beteira testified about ben Megusat, a man-eunuch who was in Jerusalem -- and his wife was married by yibum thus confirming the opinion of Rabbi Akiva.

Kehati

This mishnah returns to the laws of halitzah and yibum. As a continuation of the preceding mishnayot, it discusses the law of halitzah and yibum relating to the eunuch, i.e., a person whose testicles have been impaired and is not capable of begetting.

Rabbi Yehoshua said, I heard a law that there are cases in which the eunuch submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife, and there are cases in which ,the eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife, and I cannot explain -- which eunuch is subject to halitzah, and which is not.

Rabbi Akiva said, I will explain -- this matter: a man-eunuch -- who was castrated by man, submits to halitzah -- from his brother's wife, but he does not perform yibum, because he is prohibited from entering into the assembly of Israel, according to the law regarding the petzu'a daka and the kerut shofkhah, ,and they submit to halitzah from -- or perform yibum to, his wife, because before he was castrated he had a time of fitness -- he was capable of begetting and of fulfilling the obligation of yibum and halitzah; therefore, even though he has been castrated, he submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife.

A sun-eunuch -- he was a eunuch from his mother's womb. He is so called because the sun did not see him even one hour in a state of normalcy (Jer. Talmud), does not submit to halitzah -- from his brother's wife, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife, because he did not have a time of fitness -- and it is written in the Torah section on yibum, "that his name be not blotted out of Israel" (Deut. 25:6) -- which excludes whose name is blotted out, and since there is no yibum, there is no halitzah.

Rabbi Eliezer says, The law is not so, but rather a sun-eunuch submits to halitzah, and they submit to halitzah from his wife, because he has a cure -- it is possible to cure him, so that he will be capable of begetting.

A man-eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife, because he does not have a cure -- since he is an eunuch with no possibility of being cured, even though he once had a moment of fitness, he does not submit to halitzah, and they do not submit to halitzah from his wife.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Beteira testified about ben Megusat, a maneunuch who was in Jerusalem -- and his wife was married by yibum -- Rabbi Yehoshua ben Beteira comes to testify regarding this, thus confirming the opinion of Rabbi Akiva -- that they submit to halitzah from, or marry by yibum the wife of a man-eunuch. This is the halakhah.

YEVAMOT: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 5

A eunuch does not submit to halitzah, and he does not perform yibum. And similarly, an ailonit does not perform halitzah, and she is not married by yibum. If a eunuch submitted to halitzah from his yevamah -- he does not disqualify her. If he had intercourse with her -- he disqualifies her, because it is licentious intercourse. And similarly, if brothers submitted to halitzah from an ailonit -- they have not disqualified her; if they had intercourse with her -- they disqualify her, because intercourse with her is licentious intercourse.

Kehati

A eunuch -- i.e., a sun-eunuch (Gemara -- see preceding mishnah), does not submit to halitzah, and he does not perform yibum -- according to the opinion of Rabbi Akiva in the preceding mishnah.

And similarly, an ailonit -- a woman who is congenitally incapable of giving birth, does not peform halitzah, and she is not married by yibum -- as it is written, "And it shall be, that the firstborn that she will bear" (Deut. 25:6) -- excluding the ailonit who does not bear. Although this verse is interpreted, according to tradition, as referring to the yavam, i.e., that the firstborn whom the mother of the brothers bore is required to perform yibum, nevertheless, since it is written, "that she will bear," and not "that she bore," this verse also refers to the yevamah, that if she is an ailonit she is not eligible to be married by yibum; and since she is not eligible to be married by yibum, she is also exempt from halitzah.

If a eunuch submitted to halitzah from his yevamah -- he does not disqualify her -- from marrying a priest, for his halitzah is invalid.

If he -- the eunuch, had intercourse with her -- his yevamah, he disqualifies her -- from marrying a priest, because it is licentious intercourse -- for she is prohibited to him as a brother's wife when no command is to be fulfilled.

And similarly, if the brothers submitted to halitzah from an ailonit -- they have not disqualified her -- from marrying a priest; but if they -- the brothers, had intercourse with her -- they disqualify her -- from marrying a priest, because intercourse with her is licentious intercourse -- for the reason explained above, that since she is exempt from yibum, their intercourse with her as a brother's wife was unlawful.

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