Introduction Our mishnah continues to list disputes between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel with regards to the laws of levirate marriage. In order to understand this mishnah it is important to understand one issue about how levirate marriage works. When a woman’s husband dies without children she must either marry her brother-in-law or be released from marriage by him. According to the laws of the Torah, this marriage does not require prior betrothal. Rather it is consummated in one step: sexual relations. However, the Rabbis instituted that the brother-in-law should first betroth her. This betrothal is called maamar.
[In the case of] three brothers, of whom two were married to two sisters and one was unmarried, if one of the husbands of the sisters died and the unmarried one betrothed her (, and afterwards his other brother died, Beth Shammai says: his wife remains with him, and the other [widow] is released on the grounds of [the law forbidding] the wife’s sister. But Beth Hillel says: he should put away his wife with a get and halitzah, and the wife of his brother [he should put away] with halitzah. This is the case of which they said: woe to him because of his wife, and woe to him because of his brother’s wife! If you thought the last case was complicated, it now gets even worse! In this mishnah there are three brothers, Reuven, Shimon and Levi. Reuven and Shimon were married to Leah and Rachel who are sisters and Levi is unmarried. When either Reuven and Shimon dies Levi performs maamar, betrothal in the case of levirate marriage, with one of the sisters. At this point the other brother dies. The other sister should according to the laws of levirate marriage, also marry Levi. This is a problem because the other brother has already betrothed, although not married this woman’s sister. It is also somewhat of a problem for Levi to consummate the marriage with the first widowed sister since her sister is also bound to Levi by her need for levirate marriage or halitzah. Nevertheless, Beth Shammai rules that Levi may marry the first sister. The second widowed sister does not need either halitzah or levirate marriage, since she is forbidden to Levi who is married to her sister. In other words, according to Beth Shammai although Levi only performed “maamar” with the first sister, the bond created is strong enough to exempt the second sister from halitzah or levirate marriage to Levi. Beth Hillel disagrees. According to them maamar is not as strong as full marriage. Therefore Levi must perform two ceremonies in order to release the first widow: 1) he must divorce her to untie the bond created by the maamar; 2) he must perform halitzah to untie the bond created by her being his dead brother’s wife. The second widow also requires halitzah. The mishnah ends with what must have been a popular saying, although not necessarily said strictly in this circumstance. This is truly a sorry case for both Levi, who loses both women, and for his wife (the first widow) and for his (dead) brother’s wife as well.
Questions for Further Thought:
In what other circumstance might the saying at the end of the mishnah been stated?