[ ]Mapping the Familyhibition to a situation involving members of the first and third genera-
tions, Ego’s son and Ego’s uncle? Perhaps the connection of Ego’s son to
h is ow n g reat-u ncle is tenuous enoug h to a l low for test i mony. Add it iona l
comments discuss the possibilit y that a son-in-law might be considered
one generation further removed than a son, suggesting that marrying
into a family does not produce the same level of closeness that being
born into the family produces. The Bavli concludes, however, that “a
husband is like his wife,” that a man marrying into a family has the same
lega l status (or generationa l status) as t he woma n he ma rries; a ma n, his
brother, and his sister’s husband are all first-generation kin, while their
sons and their daughters’ husbands all have second-generation status
with regard to each other. Rav Nahman extends the prohibition against
testimony by in-laws to include a wife’s uncles and cousins.^97 The Bavli
offers a principle that “a husband is like his wife” or “a wife is like her
husband,” meaning that from a legal perspective a man is “related” to
his wife’s family members in the same way she is and vice versa; this
principle explains the extension of the Mishnah’s rule to a variety of
in-laws.
The Bavli concludes that a man may not testify in a case involving
his betrothed, whether his testimony benefits or harms her case, be-
cause while she is not yet legally his kin, “the reason [for prohibiting the
testimony of a relative] is a sense of closeness and [a betrothed man] is
inclined to think of [his betrothed] as someone close to him.” The rea-
son for the prohibition, beyond the biblical justification, rests on the
assumption that a person is close to his family and is therefore an un-
suitable witness or judge, insofar as he might favor or lie on behalf of a
fa mi ly member. We ca n t herefore conclude t hat for Bavli Sa n hedrin, t he
idea of “family” or “relations” includes individuals related to a person
through both his father and his mother, individuals married to blood
relatives on both sides of the family, and his spouse’s family, includ-
ing those married to her blood relatives. “Closeness” is not a function
of shared ancestors alone; it can be extended to those who come into a
family through marriage. The laws of testimony offer a broad definition
of family, constructing a kinship web that extends over four generations,
from the generation of Ego’s parents to that of his grandchildren, and
encompasses his in-laws as well as his direct kin.
The laws of inheritance offer a different understanding of family, one