[ ]From Wife to Widow and Back Againone levir? He said to him: The yevama is not bound to the levir in
the way a betrothed woman is bound to her betrothed.
Earlier in the tenth chapter of Mishnah Nedarim, we learn that the
vows of a betrothed woman who has not reached majority can be an-
nulled only if her father and her betrothed act together; if they disagree,
her vows stand.^81 Moreover, should her father die while she is betrothed,
her vows cannot be annulled by her betrothed alone.^82 If a woman
reaches her majority while still in her father’s house, neither her father
nor her betrothed can annul her vows.
The dispute among the sages cited in Mishnah Nedarim : is char-
acterized by the latter part of the mishna and by the Bavli as a dispute
about the relationship created between the yevama and the levir in the
wake of the death of the woman’s husband:
a. It is reasonable to say that R. Akiba does not view ziqqa as
having legal force equivalent to marriage, and R. Joshua does
view ziqqa as having legal force equivalent to marriage.
b. But as for R. Eliezer, what is his reason [for empowering a levir to
annul the vows of the yevama]? If ziqqa has legal force, still there
is no determination [in a case where there is more than one levir,
as to which levir will be her husband].
c. R. Ammi says: [R. Eliezer’s view makes sense] in a case in which
one of the brothers has made a declaration of intent.
d. And R. Eliezer shares the view of the School of Shammai, which
says that declaration has the force of betrothal.
e. And R. Joshua would say to you that this is only the case when
there is one levir, but with two it is not the case. Since a second
brother could, through sexual intercourse or a bill of divorce,
render the yevama forbidden [to the brother who made the
declaration], why should the first brother be able to annul her
vows?
f. And R. Akiba believes that ziqqa has no legal force.
g. And for R. Eleazar, who says that the School of Shammai claims
that declaration only has the legal force to release the co-wife [of
the yevama to whom the declaration was made], how can we
explain [R. Eliezer’s claim that the levir can annul the vows of
the yevama]?