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Mapping the Family

T

he death of one of its members can throw a family into disarray.
In the case of a childless couple in a traditional patriarchal so-
ciety, the death of the husband leaves his wife alone among his
extended family with no kinship ties to that family and no claim on its
property. Furthermore, the man’s death leaves a gap in the family that
should have been filled by a son. Levirate offers a solution to these prob-
lems. The deceased’s wife can be transferred to his brother, and they can
have a child who will be assigned to the deceased.
This solution, however, requires the brother and the widow to rede-
fine their relationship, shifting from a relationship in which sexual rela-
tions bet ween the t wo are forbidden to one in which they are permitted,
and in fact encouraged. In some societies, the shift is not accompanied
by new roles; the levir remains the woman’s brother-in-law and she
remains the wife of the deceased. In Judaism, the new relationship is
marked by new roles for the man and the woman: he ceases to be her
brother-in-law and becomes her husband; she is no longer his sister-in-
law but his wife. The family that was fractured is now reconstituted,
with the hope that this new configuration will eventually include what
the previous one lacked: offspring who can ensure the continuity of the
family.
This reconfiguration of the smallest unit within an extended family
may affect more than the two individuals called on to enter into a levi-
rate union. If the levir is already married, his wife and his sister-in-law