Introduction This mishnah discusses a dispute in the laws of levirate marriage between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel. We will learn these laws more fully when we learn tractate Yevamoth.
Beth Shammai permits the rival wives [of a deceased brother to be married] to the [surviving] brothers; But Beth Hillel forbids them. This mishnah describes a complicated situation which we will first explain. Reuven and Shimon are brothers. Leah and Rachel are sisters. Reuven marries Leah and Devorah (who is not related to anyone). Shimon marries Rachel. If Reuven should die without children one of his wives needs to either marry Shimon (levirate marriage) or have the ceremony of release (halitzah) performed. Shimon cannot marry Leah, since he is already married to her sister, Rachel, and it is forbidden for one man to marry sisters. According to Beth Shammai, although Leah cannot marry Shimon, Devorah, Leah’s rival wife from her marriage to Reuven, can. According to Beth Hillel, since Leah was forbidden, Devorah is also forbidden. If Shimon were to marry Devorah this would be considered the forbidden relationship of marrying a brother’s wife, which is only permitted when necessitated by levirate marriage. [Note: it is forbidden to marry a brother’s wife even after the brother is dead].
If they have performed halitzah, Beth Shammai pronounce them unfit to [marry into] the priesthood, But Beth Hillel pronounced them fit. If Shimon should perform halitzah for Devorah, according to Beth Shammai she is now truly a halutzah, a woman had been released from levirate marriage. Since halutzoth are forbidden to subsequently marry priests, Devorah cannot marry a priest. According to Beth Hillel, this halitzah was not necessary, since there was no necessity for levirate marriage in this case. Therefore Devorah is not considered a halutzah, and she may subsequently marry a priest.
If they have married their brother-in-law, Beth Shammai pronounce them fit [to marry into the priesthood], But Beth Hillel pronounced them unfit. If Shimon should marry Devorah and then die, according to Beth Shammai she could now marry a priest. Shimon’s marriage to Devorah was legal and therefore she has not been rendered unfit to marry a priest by having engaged in a forbidden relationship. Her status is that of a twice-widowed women. [Note: widows may marry priests.] According to Beth Hillel, since Shimon’s marriage to Devorah was illegal, she is unfit to subsequently marry into the priesthood. [Note: any woman who has had an illicit sexual relationship cannot subsequently marry a priest. This includes incestual and adulterous relationships.]
And although these pronounce unfit and these pronounce fit, Beth Shammai did not refrain from marrying women from [the daughters of] Beth Hillel, nor did Beth Hillel refrain from marrying women from [the daughters of] Beth Shammai. The last two sections of this mishnah are amongst the most powerful statements of pluralism in the Rabbinic tradition. Up until now we have learned of serious and consequential disputes between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel. The marital laws of the two houses are substantially different: what one house accepts the other rejects. As a consequence of these different laws, Beth Shammai will consider some children born according to the rules of Beth Hillel to be mamzerim who are forbidden for regular Israelites to marry. The same is true for Beth Hillel with regards to the women of Beth Shammai. Nevertheless, scholars of neither house refrained from marrying the women of the other house. So important to them was the unity of Israel, that when it came to marriage they put aside their differences and intermarried.
And in the case of all matters of purity and impurity in respect to which these pronounce pure and these pronounce impure, they did not refrain from preparing foods requiring a condition of purity each by means of [the vessels of] the other. The same is true with regards to the laws of purity. Although we have learned many disputes with regards to these laws, Beth Shammai would prepare its food with vessels used by those from Beth Hillel, and vice versa.
Questions for Further Thought:
• In what situations would a member of Beth Hillel theoretically not be able to marry a daughter of Beth Shammai and vice versa?