Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]The marriage of a widow might be celebrated with less ceremony than
that of a virgin, but her consent to betrothal was required, as was a mar-
riage settlement. A widow had complete control over her property and
could make any vow she chose.
In contrast, the widow of a childless man had no options. While the
death of a husband normally “freed” his wife,^5 the death of a childless
man left his wife bound to her brother-in-law. In the event that her hus-
band was survived by a brother, she was obliged to marry that brother.^6
The decision to marry rested with the brother; if he chose to, he could
marry her, or if he chose to, he could refuse and submit to halitza.^7 The
yevama had no legal right to decline; in fact, the marriage could be per-
formed with no ceremony, against her will, through intercourse. Al-
though the Mishnah sets forth guidelines that are presumably intended
to avoid significant stalling by the husband’s brothers, there is no men-
tion of legal recourse for a yevama whose brot hers-in-law fa il to per form
halitza or levirate marriage.^8
The distinction between the status of the widow of a childless man
and that of other widows is indicated linguistically as well as legally.
Rabbinic texts refer to the widow of a man with children (whether the
children are hers or those of another woman) as an almana. The almana
widow has all of the rights just described; she is entitled to her marriage
settlement or support from her husband’s heirs. The term used to de-
scr ibe a woma n whose husba nd d ies w it hout of fspr i ng is yevama, a word
that describes her relationship not to her deceased husband, but to his
brother, her brother-in-law (yavam). Such a woman is also referred to as
shomeret yavam, a woman awaiting her brother-in-law, that is, a woman
waiting for her brother-in-law to decide to marry her or release her; the
term underscores the woman’s dependence on her husband’s brother.^9
This chapter considers the position of the levirate widow, or yevama.
In ex a m i n i ng t he sit uat ion faced by a lev i rate w idow, we t u r n fi rst to ta n-
naitic texts, the Mishnah and Tosefta, and then to the Palestinian and
Babylonian Talmuds. These texts focus on questions of status, deter-
mining when a woman falls into the category of levirate widow and how
her anomalous situation can be resolved through levirate marriage or
halitza. They also consider the period between the death of the yevama’s
husband and the decision of her brother-in-law, determining who is ob-
ligated to support her and what power she has to manage her property