[ ]Conclusionon t he couple was assig ned to t he sages, not t he pa rents; t he aut hor it y of
the family is replaced by the authority of the rabbis.
A shift from extended family to nuclear family can be explained in
part by social and economic factors. One factor that may have influ-
enced this shift was urbanization.^10 The extended family that charac-
terized early Israel was, according to scholars, a family whose survival
depended on farming in an unfriendly environment. Settlements were
small, comprising extended family groups, and the labor and coopera-
tion of the entire family were essential. Urbanization leads to changes in
residence patterns, possibly contributing to a diminution of the power
of t he sen ior ma le i n t he ex tended fa m i ly ; adu lt sons who l ive apa r t f rom
their father are less likely to be subject to his authority. Urbanization
and the rise of tenant farmers and small agricultural units also promote
smaller family groups and diminish the need for family members to
farm together.^11 Although a nuclear family may maintain strong ties to
the larger family unit, the primary family unit now consists of a married
couple and their unmarried children. Rabbinic law, while acknowledg-
ing broader ties in its discussions of inheritance, incest, and testimony,
focuses on the householder and his immediate family; this may in part
reflect the economic and social reality of the rabbinic period.
Shifts in concerns surrounding inheritance may have contributed
to shifts in levirate. Deuteronomy legislates levirate “[w]hen broth-
ers dwell together,” suggesting that levirate may have been a strategy
to preserve an estate shared by two brothers.^12 The strong connection
between levirate and the preservation of family estates is also supported
by rabbinic commentary on Numbers ::
It was taught: The daughters of Zelophehad were wise, skilled at
interpretation and righteous. They were wise in that they spoke
at the proper time, as R. Samuel b. R. Isaac said: Moses was
expounding the laws of levirate, as it is said, “When brothers dwell
together.” [The daughters of Zelophehad] said to him: If we can be
considered as a son, give us the inheritance due a son. If not, let our
mother perform levirate.” Immediately, “Moses brought their case
before God” (Num. 27:5).^13
The argument of the daughters of Zelophehad rests on the assump-
tion that levirate is intended to provide an heir for a man’s land; if their