Topics covered: Chapter 2, Mishna 2 Rabbi Shimon disagrees with the Rabbis regarding a widow who comes before the surviving brother (who’s already married), and he marries her, betroths her or does nothing AND then a third brother is born. …

Topics covered: Chapter 2, Mishna 1, 2 Is the levirate bond “substantial?” Meaning, if a yavam (the surviving brother) and a yevama (the widow) are obligated in yibum-or-chalitzah and one of them dies before they perform either rite, is the …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2 Yibum applies when a man dies married but childless and has a surviving brother. How do we define “brother?” Does a maternal half brother count? We learn the answer by looking at the the …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2 Having established that Beis Shammai followed their own rulings, but the law is like Beis Hillel in the case of a daughter’s co-wife, we learn that Yonasan, the sharp-tongued brother of Dosa ben Harkinas, …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2 If Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel acted according to their conflicting opinions, factions would have formed among the Jewish people, and yet they didn’t. One answer is that Beis Shammai didn’t act according to …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 2 Beis Hillel and Beius Shammai disagreed on the obligation or exemption of co-wives to perform yibum/chalitzah. If Beis Shammai followed their own minority opinion, this would lead to marriages considered illegitimate by one segment …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1, 2 Some challenging laws with respect to minors, marriage, and contraceptives. Some widows have a family relationship with a surviving brother that precludes them from yibum with any of the brothers. Her co-wife, however, …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 How does the prohibited marriage of one who remarried his divorcee after she married/divorced another man affect the status of her co-wife? Why should one be careful to perform chaltzah with the co-wife who …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 Does yibum/chalitzah apply if the brother and woman violated a prohibition by marrying in the first place? This could happen because the surviving brother performed chalitzah with the widow, and then married her anyway, …