Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]h. We are dealing with a case when the levir has gone to court
and been required to support the yevama. And this follows
the opinion of R. Pinhas in the name of Rava, who says: When
a woman makes vows, she does so with the knowledge of her
husband [who supports her]. {A levir may annul the vows of the
yevama only when he is supporting her like a husband.}^83This sugya, like the ones that discuss the property of a levirate widow,
attempts to determine the status of the yevama in relation to the levir.
The question, according to the Bavli, is whether ziqqa, the bond created
between the levir and the yevama by the death of her husband, has the
force of marriage. If the levir is technically his sister-in-law’s husband,
despite having yet to enter into a formal union, he should be able to an-
nul her vows; if they are not legally married, he would not be able to
annul the vows. Rabbi Ammi suggests that a declaration of the levir’s
intent to marry his yevama would have the force of betrothal.
A not her factor t hat compl icates t he d iscussion is t he fact t hat i n some
sit uat ions t here may be more t ha n one brot her ava i lable to per for m lev i-
rate ma r r iage. W h i le t he Bav l i does not d isc u ss t he possibi l it y here, t here
might also be multiple widows available for the levirate union. Even if
a bond is created between one levir and his sister-in-law when they are
the only people affected by the levirate bond, the existence of multiple
partners raises the question: How can a bond exist between a man and a
woman if she is simultaneously “bound” to his brothers?
The Bavli contains other sugyot that attempt to define the force of
ziqqa. W hat emerges f rom a l l of t hese d iscussions is t hat t he stat us of t he
levirate widow is unique. The Talmuds, like the Mishnah and Tosefta,
are unable to resolve the contradictions in the yevama’s status. Only
through levirate marriage or halitza can the yevama be restored to the
clear-cut status of wife or freed to be a halutza, a woman whose status is
similar to that of a divorcée.
Taming the Shrew: Power and the Levirate Widow
As we saw earlier, the bond created between a levir and his sister-in-law
by the death of her husband leaves the yevama with little or no control
over her immediate future. Levirate marriage can be formalized by sex-
ual intercourse alone, and that intercourse does not require the consent