Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]“to perpetuate the name of the deceased upon his estate” suggest that
the child born to a widow and her deceased husband’s kinsman was the
heir of the deceased.^36 Such a system puts a man who performs levirate
at no greater advantage than his brothers with regard to the property
of their dead brother. It might put the willing levir at some disadvan-
tage, insofar as he would assume responsibility for administering his
brother’s estate for the children of the levirate union.^37 Levirate would
disadvantage all surviving brothers, since it prevents them from inherit-
ing their brother’s estate by providing him a posthumous child.
Rabbinic sources, however, insist that the brother who marries the
yevama inherits his deceased brother’s estate. The rule is stated un-
equivocally in Mishnah Yevamot :: “One who marries his yevama ac-
quires the property of his brother.” R. Judah disagrees in part, claim-
ing that if the father of the deceased is still alive, he would inherit the
property; however, the brother who performs levirate marriage would
eventually inherit both his own share and the deceased’s share of the
father’s estate.
T he Bavl i just i fies d isi n her it i ng t he ch i ld of t he lev i rate u n ion i n favor
of the levir through a convoluted exegesis of Deuteronomy :.
a. Our rabbis taught: “The first son” — from this [we learn] that it is the
duty of the oldest [brother] to perform levirate marriage.... “shall
be accounted to the dead brother” — in the matter of inheritance.
{Basing itself on the literal reading of ahiv as “his brother,” the
midrash indicates that the levir who marries his sister-in-law
should “take his brother’s place,” that is, inherit his brother’s
estate.}
b. You claim it refers to inheritance, but perhaps it refers to the
name. [If the deceased was named] Joseph, they name [the
first born of the levirate union] Joseph. [If the deceased was
named] Johanan, they name [the first born of the levirate union]
Johanan.
c. Here [in Deuteronomy] it says, “shall be accounted to the dead
brother,” and there [Gen. 48:6] it says, “They shall be recorded
under the name of their brothers in their inheritance.” Just as
“name” there refers to inheritance, so too here “name” refers
to inheritance.... {The Bavli refutes the previous suggestion,