יבמות 122:1 — Soncino English Talmud

for three festivals, R. Adda b. Ahabah said to her, 'Apply to R. Joseph, whose knife is sharp'. When she came to him he decided [her case by deduction] from the following Baraitha: If an idolater who was selling fruit in the market declared, 'These fruits are of 'orlah, of a newly broken field, or of a plantation in its fourth year', his statement is disregarded, for his intention was merely to raise the value of his fruit. Abba Judah of Zaidan related: It once happened that an Israelite and an idolater went on a journey together and when the idolater returned he said, 'Alas for the Jew who was with me on the journey, for he died on the way and I buried him', and [the Israelite's] wife [on this evidence] was allowed to marry again. And, again it happened that a group of men were going to Antiochia and an idolater came and stated, 'Alas for that group of men, for they died and I buried them', and [on this evidence] their wives were permitted to marry again. Moreover, it happened that sixty men were going to the camp of Bether, and an idolater came and stated, 'Alas for sixty men who were on the way to Bether, for they died and I buried them', and [on the basis of this statement] their wives were permitted to marry again. MISHNAH. EVIDENCE MAY BE TENDERED [EVEN IF THE CORPSE WAS SEEN BY THE WITNESSES] IN CANDLE LIGHT OR IN MOONLIGHT; AND A WOMAN MAY BE GIVEN PERMISSION TO MARRY AGAIN ON THE EVIDENCE OF A MERE VOICE. IT ONCE HAPPENED THAT A MAN WAS STANDING ON THE TOP OF A HILL AND CRIED, SO-AND-SO SON OF SO-AND-SO OF SUCH-AND-SUCH A PLACE IS DEAD', BUT WHEN THEY WENT [TO THE TOP OF THE HILL] THEY FOUND NO ONE THERE. HIS WIFE, HOWEVER, WAS PERMITTED TO REMARRY. AGAIN, IT HAPPENED AT ZALMON THAT A MAN DECLARED, 'I AM SO-AND-SO SON OF SO-AND-SO; A SERPENT HAS BITTEN ME, AND I AM DYING'; AND THOUGH WHEN THEY WENT [TO EXAMINE THE CORPSE] THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM, THEY NEVERTHELESS PERMITTED HIS WIFE TO REMARRY. GEMARA. Rabbah b. Samuel stated: A Tanna taught that Beth Shammai ruled that a woman may not be permitted to marry again on the evidence of a mere voice and Beth Hillel ruled that she may be permitted to marry again on the evidence of a mere voice. What does he teach us? This, surely, is the ruling in our Mishnah! — It is this that he teaches us: Should an anonymous statement be found that a woman [in such circumstances] is not permitted to marry again, that [statement would represent the view of] Beth Shammai. BUT WHEN THEY WENT … THEY FOUND NO ONE. Is it not possible that it was a demon [that cried]? — Rab Judah replied in the name of Rab: [This is a case] where they saw in him the likeness of a man! But they also are in the likeness of men! — They saw his shadow. But these also have a shadow! They saw a shadow of his shadow. Is it not possible that these also cast a shadow of a shadow? — R. Hanina replied: The demon Jonathan told me that they have a shadow but not a shadow of a shadow. Is it not possible that it was a rival [that cried]? — A Tanna at the school of R. Ishmael taught that at a time of danger [a letter of divorce] may be written and delivered [to the woman] even if [the husband who gave the instructions] is unknown [to the witnesses]. MISHNAH. R. AKIBA STATED: WHEN I WENT DOWN TO NEHARDEA TO INTERCALATE THE YEAR, I MET NEHEMIAH OF BETH DELI WHO SAID TO ME, 'I HEARD THAT IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL NO ONE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF R. JUDAH B. BABA, PERMITS A [MARRIED] WOMAN TO MARRY AGAIN ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE WITNESS'. 'THAT IS SO', I TOLD HIM. TELL THEM', HE SAID TO ME, 'IN MY NAME: (YOU KNOW THAT THIS COUNTRY IS IN CONFUSION BY REASON OF RAIDERS); I HAVE THIS TRADITION FROM R. GAMALIEL THE ELDER: THAT A [MARRIED] WOMAN MAY BE ALLOWED TO MARRY AGAIN ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE WITNESS'. AND WHEN I CAME AND RECOUNTED THE CONVERSATION IN THE PRESENCE OF R. GAMALIEL HE REJOICED AT MY INFORMATION AND EXCLAIMED, 'WE HAVE FOUND A COLLEAGUE FOR R. JUDAH B. BABA!' AS A RESULT OF THIS TALK R. GAMALIEL RECOLLECTED THAT SOME MEN WERE ONCE KILLED AT TEL ARZA, AND THAT R. GAMALIEL [THE ELDER] HAD ALLOWED THEIR WIVES TO MARRY AGAIN ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE WITNESS. AND THE LAW WAS ESTABLISHED THAT [A WOMAN] SHALL BE ALLOWED TO MARRY AGAIN [ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE] WITNESS [WHO STATES THAT HE HAS HEARD THE REPORT] FROM ANOTHER WITNESS, FROM A SLAVE, FROM A WOMAN OR FROM A BONDWOMAN. R. ELIEZER AND R. JOSHUA RULED: A WOMAN MAY NOT BE ALLOWED TO MARRY AGAIN ON THE EVIDENCE OF ONE WITNESS. R. AKIBA RULED: [A WOMAN IS NOT ALLOWED TO MARRY AGAIN] ON THE EVIDENCE OF A WOMAN, ON THAT OF A SLAVE, ON THAT OF A BONDWOMAN OR ON THAT OF RELATIVES. GEMARA. Is R. Akiba then of the opinion that on the evidence of a woman, [a wife is] not [permitted to marry again]? Surely, It was taught: R. Simeon b. Eleazar stated in the name of R. Akiba, '[That] a woman is eligible to bring her own letter of divorce is inferred a minori ad majus: If those women concerning whom the Rabbis ruled that they are not believed when they state, "Her husband is dead" are nevertheless eligible to bring her a letter of divorce, how much more reasonable is it that this woman, who is believed when she states that her own husband is dead, should be eligible to bring her own letter of divorce.' [Thus it follows that only] those women of whom the Rabbis have spoken are not believed but any other woman is believed! — This is no difficulty. One ruling was made before the law, had been established; the other, after the law had been established. MISHNAH. THEY SAID TO HIM: 'IT ONCE HAPPENED THAT A NUMBER OF LEVITES WENT TO ZOAR, THE CITY OF PALMS, AND ONE OF THEM WHO FELL. ILL WAS TAKEN BY THEM INTO AN INN. WHEN THEY RETURNED THEY ASKED THE INNKEEPER WHERE IS OUR FRIEND?" AND SHE REPLIED, HE IS DEAD AND I BURIED HIM". [AND IT WAS ON THIS EVIDENCE THAT] HIS WIFE WAS PERMITTED TO MARRY AGAIN. SHOULD NOT THEN A PRIEST'S WIFE [BE BELIEVED AT LEAST AS MUCH] AS THE INNKEEPER!' HE ANSWERED THEM, WHEN SHE WILL BE [GIVING SUCH EVIDENCE] AS THE INNKEEPER SHE WILL BE BELIEVED. THE INNKEEPER [AS A MATTER OF FACT] HAD BROUGHT OUT TO THEM HIS STAFF, HIS BAG AND THE SCROLL OF THE LAW WHICH HE HAD WITH HIM. ^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ

^ᵃnote:[H], when the scholars and students who were assembled for the purpose of listening to the festival discourses, were also asked to decide difficult points of law that had arisen during the preceding months. During these gatherings the woman had an opportunity of making enquiries about her vanished husband. According to [H] cited by Rashi, the [H] were the anniversaries of the deaths of distinguished men, when scholars from the surrounding localities as well as the general public assembled round the respective graves for study and for discussions of matters of law.
^ᵇnote:Lit., 'go before'.
^ᶜnote:Metaph., he is capable of acute logical reasoning and deduction. Cf. Rashi, Hul 77a.
^ᵈnote:Lit., 'solved'.
^ᵉnote:Cur. edd., 'Mishnah'.
^ᶠnote:[H] (v. Glos.), which are forbidden for consumption, though they may be superior in quality to those which come from old trees.
^ᵍnote:[H] (cf. Jast. s.v. [H] and Me'iri a.l.); such fruits being forbidden on the Sabbatical year though they may be of a high quality (v. previous note). 'Azeka may have been, according to Rashi (a.l. s.v. [H]) a town in Judaea (cf. Josh. X, 10), that was famous for its choice fruit, the point in doubt being whether the fruit had originally belonged to an Israelite and whether it had been tithed. If this interpretation is to be followed the sale of the fruit mentioned presumably took place outside Palestine, where locally grown produce is free from tithe. For other interpretations cf. Tosaf. a.l. s.v. [H] and Levy, s.v. [H]
^ʰnote:[H] which is holy for gibing praise unto the Lord (Lev. XIX, 24), forbidden to be consumed though they may be of a superior quality. Cf. supra note 5.
^ⁱnote:Lit., 'he did not say anything'.
^ʲnote:[H], lit., 'to improve'.
^ᵏnote:Tosef. Dem. IV. Lit., 'purchase'. It is assumed that he merely lied, in order to praise his fruit, so that it might fetch a higher price. Similarly in the case under consideration, the idolater's statement that he killed the Israelite is regarded as an idle boast intended as a mere threat.
^ˡnote:The Biblical [H] Sidon, on the Western coast of Phoenicia, [or, Bethsaida in Galilee].
^ᵐnote:[H] [G] lit., 'chain'.
^ⁿnote:[G] Antioch, on the Orontes in Syria; or Antiochene, the region round Antioch.
^ᵒnote:[H], a battleground, cf. castra.
^ᵖnote:The town where in 135 C.E. Bar Kokeba fought his last battle against the Romans.
^ᵠnote:That a man is dead.
^ʳnote:[H] li. 'daughter of the voice', 'echo', even if the person who uttered it was not seen, as in the case given infra.
^ˢnote:Cf. supra n. 4.
^ᵗnote:[Identified with Selamin (Selame) in Galilee (v. Josephus Wars II, 20, 6), the modern Hirbet Selame, N.E of the El Battauf valley 20 km from Sepphoris, v. Klein S, MGWJ, 1927, p. 266].
^ᵘnote:Tosef. Naz. I.
^ᵛnote:Rabbah b. Samuel.
^ʷnote:By his statement that according to Beth Hillel, whose ruling is accepted as the established law, a mere voice is sufficient evidence.
^ˣnote:That such evidence is accepted.
^ʸnote:Which, being anonymous, is regarded as the established law.
^ᶻnote:[Demons were believed to deceive men, causing divorces and other evils; v. Angus The Religious Quests of the Graeco-Roman World, p. 38; cf. Git. 66a].
^ᵃᵃnote:Who heard the voice.
^ᵃᵇnote:Demons.
^ᵃᶜnote:[Name of (a) a demon; (b) a man (Rashi). MS.M. and Git. 66a have, 'Jonathan my son'].
^ᵃᵈnote:Whom the man had married in another town, and who came for the specific purpose of misleading the woman to marry another man so that she might thereby become forbidden to her present husband. A rival is usually suspected of malice against her associate.
^ᵃᵉnote:When a man, for instance, was cast into a pit and his fate is in the balance.
^ᵃᶠnote:In order to release her thereby from perpetual doubt as to the ultimate fate of her husband and from the perpetual prohibition of marrying again.
^ᵃᵍnote:Calling them out, in the case presumed, from the bottom of the pit.
^ᵃʰnote:Who have to execute the mission, v. Git. 66a. Similarly in the case dealt with in our Mishnah. Were not the voice to be relied upon the woman might have to remain all her life bereft of her own husband and unable ever to marry another man.
^ᵃⁱnote:To add another month. The Hebrew leap year contains thirteen, instead of the usual twelve months.
^ᵃʲnote:[Dili, a village in Galilee, Horowitz, I, Palestine, p. 131].
^ᵃᵏnote:Wanting in cur. edd. Cf., however 115a and infra.
^ᵃˡnote:Palestine.
^ᵃᵐnote:So that it is unsafe for one to undertake a journey to Palestine and to report the traditional ruling that follows, [or, in view of the unsettled conditions, it is difficult to obtain in every case two reliable witnesses].
^ᵃⁿnote:V. BaH.
^ᵃᵒnote:Who testifies that her husband is dead.
^ᵃᵖnote:Of Yabneh, a grandson of R. Gamaliel the Elder.
^ᵃᵠnote:One who is of the same opinion as he.
^ᵃʳnote:Lit., 'from the midst of the thing'.
^ᵃˢnote:[H], (lit., 'cedar hill'). It is probably identical with the Biblical [H], mentioned in Ezra II, 59 and Neh. VII, 61 for which the Septuagint reads, [G].
^ᵃᵗnote:Who testified that their husbands were dead. [Some texts add: 'And the law was established that (a woman) shall be allowed to marry on the evidence if one witness'].
^ᵃᵘnote:Lit., 'from the mouth of'.
^ᵃᵛnote:Cf. supra n. 11.
^ᵃʷnote:Lit., 'by the mouth of'.
^ᵃˣnote:Lit., 'by the mouth of'.
^ᵃʸnote:As is evident from the final clause of our Mishnah.
^ᵃᶻnote:Cf. p. 866, n. 11.
^ᵇᵃnote:Lit., 'believed'.
^ᵇᵇnote:From a foreign country, though she, like any other messenger who brings a letter of divorce from foreign parts, would have to make the declaration that the document was written and signed in her presence.
^ᵇᶜnote:Being suspected of hatred towards the woman in whose favour they pretend to give their evidence.
^ᵇᵈnote:The husband of the woman whom they are suspected of hating.
^ᵇᵉnote:Cf. supra note 5.
^ᵇᶠnote:Lit., 'their letters of divorce', i.e., any such letters wherewith they might have been entrusted. V. Git. 23b.
^ᵇᵍnote:Supra 117a.
^ᵇʰnote:V. supra note 6.
^ᵇⁱnote:Lit., 'in the world'.
^ᵇʲnote:How, then, could it be implied that R. Akiba does not allow the evidence of any woman who testifies to the death of another woman's husband?
^ᵇᵏnote:Of R. Akiba.
^ᵇˡnote:Lit., 'here'.
^ᵇᵐnote:That a woman's evidence on a man's death shall be relied upon in permitting that man's wife to marry again.
^ᵇⁿnote:The Rabbis.
^ᵇᵒnote:R. Akiba. V. previous Mishnah.
^ᵇᵖnote:On the East or S.E. of the Dead Sea. Zoar is mentioned several times in the Bible. Cf., e.g., Gel. XIV, 2, 8 and XIX, 22.
^ᵇᵠnote:[H] (fem.) 'woman innkeeper'.
^ᵇʳnote:[H] V. n. 3.
^ᵇˢnote:I.e., since a woman's evidence is ineligible, even that of a priest's wife would be ineligible. Is it then conceivable that the latter should be regarded as less trustworthy than an innkeeper! [H] might perhaps be rendered 'princess', 'lady' as [H] is interpreted by the Targumim (cf. e.g., Gen. XLI, 45, ps. CX, 4) as [H] 'great man', 'prince'. 'Should not the lady enjoy the status of the innkeeper!' Another interpretation applies [H] to all Jewish women since any of them might become a [H] by marrying a priest. Cf. Golds.
^ᵇᵗnote:The dead man's.
^ᵇᵘnote:[Some texts add, 'his shoes'].
^ᵇᵛnote:It was on this proof, and not on the evidence of the innkeeper, that they acted.