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, …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 In debating whether our mishna was formulated correctly, our Sages posit some extreme cases of fathers, brothers and sisters that lead to rare combinations of permitted sisters, prohibited sister-in-law and other liminal examples of …

Chapter 1, Mishna 1 What is the connection between co-wives prohibited in a yibum situation and unwitting idolatry? Why did Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (Rebbi) snap at the sage who asked why our mishna was not written a different way? The …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 Three different rationales for when and why we exclude a widow from yibum, and likewise her co-wife. What if yibum does not apply? Does a co-wife then become permitted even if her co-wife is …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 The Gemara challenges one proof after another for the principle that a positive commandment overrides a negative commandment, even in the case of negative commandment bearing a kares penalty (death at the hands of …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 The Gemara challenges one proof after another for the principle that a positive commandment overrides a negative commandment. The Ramban – Rabbi Nachmanides – ties this to the idea that loving God should (just …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 How do we know that the mitzvah of yibum overrides the prohibition on marrying your brother’s wife/widow, but doesn’t override the prohibition on marrying your wife’s sister? When does a positive mitzvah override a …

Topics covered: Chapter 1, Mishna 1 How did the Sages derive that wives prohibited in levirate marriage do not require the chalitzah ceremony? And that they exempt their co-wives? Why did Abba Shaul state that we discourage yibum and encourage …