Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]will devolve on grandchildren, nephews, nieces, or even more distant
kin who are not part of his mishpaha. At the same time, such inheri-
tance is secondary; the heir who is not part of the patrilineage inherits
only because he or she is the heir of a member of Ego’s patrilineage. The
Bavli claims that “the family (mishpaha) of the father is called “family”
but the family of the mother is not called ‘family’ ” to explain why moth-
ers cannot inherit property from their sons and brothers cannot inherit
from each other if they share only a mother;^103 the right to inherit is de-
rived from a shared male ancestor.
The exception to this principle is the right of a husband or children to
inherit from their wife or mother, which the Bavli ties to various bibli-
cal verses.^104 A wife has a unique position in her husband’s family; it is
through his wife, who is likely not to be a member of his patrilineage,
that a man has children to whom he transmits his name and property.
The wife does not become part of her husband’s lineage, but she is es-
sential to the preservation of that lineage. Her marriage creates a new
relationship that on some level supplants her ties to her family of ori-
gin; her husband and her children are recognized as her heirs instead of
members of her own patrilineage, even when her property derives from
her family of origin.
The laws of inheritance recognize degrees of closeness within a
patrilineal family. In explaining why Ego’s father takes precedence over
his other sons (Ego’s brothers), but not his grandsons (Ego’s own sons),
the Bavli states that “the closest [relative] takes precedence.”^105 The ties
between a man and his children are closer than those between that
man and his father, at least with regard to inheritance. The preferred
order of inheritance is downward or vertical, with a man’s property
being transferred to his sons and daughters or to their issue.^106 Inheri-
tance by a man’s brothers is acceptable only when he leaves no issue;
Ego’s brother does not displace Ego’s daughter, because the preference
for vertical inheritance supersedes any preference for a male heir or an
heir who will guarantee that property is kept within the patrilineage.^107
The Bavli notes the link between levirate and inheritance; any child (or
grandchild) obviates the need for levirate, and only when levirate is nec-
essary are Ego’s brothers positioned to inherit from him.
Levirate law is closely related to other aspects of family law. As we
have already seen, the incest laws set forth in Leviticus and expanded