[ 3 ]Indexdiscomfort with levirate, 210n58;
and social status of widow, 8–14,
134–35, 221n2; strategies of
continuity, 184, 185, 186; wife as
married to deceased husband, 144.
See also Greco-Roman culture;
Sasanian BabyloniaDaughter: emancipated daughter
vs. yevama, 142–43, 161; father-
daughter relationship and incest
taboos, 58, 219n114; as heir, 25, 36,
43, 169, 182, 185–86, 217n84
David, King of Israel, 212n36
Davies, Eryl, 33–34
Deceased brother/husband: brothers
born after death of, 104, 220n27;
children as heirs to, 12, 19–20, 26,
38, 43, 109–12, 116, 170–71, 173,
174–75, 186, 188, 220n36; levir as
heir to, 16, 110, 111, 122, 173–75;
levirate as obligation of honor to,
8, 26, 99; rabbinic displacement
of, 98, 111, 118–19, 166, 168, 176,
189, 194, 199, 205; remarriage as
disrespectful to, 9, 10, 144; and
social status of yevama, 164–65,
166; yevama’s relationship to, 133,
14 6
Declaration of intent for levirate
(ma’amar), 41, 135–36, 147, 224n60
Descent systems, 48, 49, 51, 53, 69–73,
- See also Patrilineal descent
Deuteronomy: and brother definition,
102; and children as heirs to
deceased, 109; vs. Genesis and
Ruth, 29–30, 33–36; vs. incest
taboos in Leviticus, 30–31, 59–60;
levirate in, xvii–xix, 24–25, 97, 133;
and levirate union vs. marriage,
119; as Mishnah-Tosefta Yevamot
source, 39, 43–44; oldest son
focus for levirate obligation, 175;
paternity assignment, 171; vs.
rabbinic perspective, 41, 42, 168;
on testimony law, 77, 78
Divorce: conditional, 165; and family
redefinition, 47; and halitza, 41,
128, 139; in Sasanian Babylonia,
188; as strategy of continuity, 184;
for uncertain paternity situation,
177, 181; and vows not to engage in
levirate, 159
Divorcée vs. yevama, 142 – 43
Doniger, Wendy, 17–18
Dower, 15
Dowry, 9, 15, 162
Dukawa of Africa, 12–14, 209n11
Dwelling together, brothers as, xviii,
27, 43, 101, 196, 201
Economic issues: for levir, 11, 135; for
widow, 9, 10, 12, 15, 26, 131–32.
See also Bride-wealth/bride-price;
Inheritance; Marriage settlement
Eleazar, Rabbi, 149
Eleazar ben Simeon, Rabbi, 192
Eliezer (ben Hyrkanus), Rabbi, 118,
131, 136, 148, 149, 203
Elimelech (Ruth narrative), 32
Emancipated daughter, 142–43, 161
Endogamy, 6, 8, 34, 67–68, 83–88, 185
Epiclerate, x xiv, 185
Eshet ish, 54
Eunuchs, 129, 169, 170, 226n10
Exogamy, 6, 67
Extended family: in ancient Israel,
34–35, 48–49, 200; biblical focus
on, 44, 127, 128, 161, 204, 212n31; vs.
individual rights, 98–99; levirate
consequences for, 58, 67–68, 84–85,
161–64, 166, 219n112; levirate role
of, 98, 120–21, 127, 161–64, 212n31;
in Mishnah, 195–97; mishpaha
as, 50; modern definition, 47;
and mourning laws, 74–75; and
multiple sources for levir, 28; vs.
rabbinic focus on nuclear family/
individual, xvi–xvii, 95, 128;
stepfamily relationships, 56, 58,
89, 186–87; as support system for
Torah scholarship, 203. See also
Marital family
Family: in ancient Israel, 34–35, 48–51;
compound structure, 34–35,
48–49, 65–66; defining, x xiv–x xv,
46–52, 58–69, 82–93, 103, 195–205;
and descent systems, 48, 49, 51, 53,
69–73, 94; generational model of,
77–79, 88, 93; ideal vs. real, xix, xxi,
202, 229n1; individual’s multiple