Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]A certain sectarian said to Rabban Gamaliel, [Israel is] a people
whose master has cast it from himself (halatz lei minei), as it is
written, “With their sheep and their cattle they go to seek Adonai,
and they do not find; [God] has cast them off” (Hosea 5:6). He
replied: Fool! Does it say, “Cast them off” (halatz lahem). It says
“cast off by them” (halatz meihem). If the brothers perform halitza
upon the levirate widow, does it have any significance?The sectarian taunts Rabban Gamaliel, claiming Hosea : to be proof
that God has rejected Israel. God, says the sectarian, can be compared
to a levir who, through the ritual of halitza, “casts off” his sister-in-law.
Gamaliel retorts that it is Israel who has rejected God, and such rejection
can be compared to a levir casting off his yevama through halitza. This
comparison makes the rejection meaningless; just as the ritual of hal-
itza is i nva l id when per for med by t he ma n, so too t he covena nt bet ween
God and Israel cannot be destroyed by Israel.
What makes this aggada remarkable is its reversal of gender roles.
When the relationship between God and Israel is described as a mar-
riage, God is always the husband. God “marries” Israel and can di-
vorce her if He so chooses. Here, however, God is the wife (or levirate
widow), because it is the levirate widow who has the power to “cast
off” the levir through halitza, not the other way around. This aggada
acknowledges the power of the yevama; the levir may wish to end their
relationship through halitza, but he cannot enact the ritual; only she
can do that.^86
The Bavli does insist that the levir play some role in the halitza ritual.
Most important, he must be questioned to determine his preference for
levirate marriage or halitza. But rather than expand the role of the levir
at the expense of the yevama, the Bavli focuses on expanding the role
of the court, that is, the role of sages, in the process. By making them-
selves the judges, counselors, and arbiters of halitza, the sages balance
or diminish the power of the yevama to orchestrate the procedure. This
desire to control halitza may explain why there are so many references
in the Bavli, particularly in the twelfth chapter, to individual rabbis su-
pervising halitza ceremonies.^87
The Bavli portrays rabbis as advocates of both men and women in
the process of resolving levirate bonds. Discussing the exchange that