Levirate Marriage and the Family[ ]riage, affirms the bond between the levir and his sister-in-law, the po-
tential for abuse or mischief in levirate relationships is enormous:
Rabban Gamaliel says: There is no bill of divorce after an earlier bill
of divorce, nor is there ma’amar (levirate betrothal, instituted by
the sages) after an earlier ma’amar, nor is there sexual intercourse
after an earlier act of sexual intercourse, nor is there halitza after
an earlier halitza. The sages say: There is a bill of divorce after an
earlier bill of divorce, there is ma’amar after an earlier ma’amar,
there is sexual intercourse after an earlier act of sexual intercourse,
and there is halitza after an earlier halitza.^50According to Rabban Gamaliel, an act intended to affirm or dissolve the
levirate bond renders any subsequent act, either by one levir with a sec-
ond yevama or by a not her lev i r w it h t he sa me yevama, legally irrelevant.
Once a yevama has undergone halitza or lev irate marriage, or received a
declaration of intent from one of her brothers-in-law to perform levirate
marriage, her status and that of her co-wives is determined. The sages,
however, disagree, arguing that a second act has legal consequences for
the woman or women involved. A levir who, for whatever reasons, ap-
proaches both of his sisters-in-law, or two brothers who both attempt
to resolve the levirate bond with their sole sister-in-law, suffer no legal
consequences beyond negating the possibility of an ongoing levirate
marriage. The Mishnah imagines the possibility that a levirate widow
might be approached by several of her brothers-in-law; if two of them
were to have sexual intercourse with her, the levirate marriage created
by t he fi rst act wou ld have to be aba ndoned. Fu r t her more, wh i le lev i rate
marriage or halitza with one yevama wou ld f ree her co-w ives to rema r r y,
this mishna acknowledges that one brother or two brothers might have
intercourse or perform halitza with two of their brother’s widows, alter-
ing the status and future eligibility of both women to remarry.^51
The powerlessness of the levirate widow under rabbinic law stands
in sharp contrast with the status of an Iranian wife whose husband
dies without a son. Under Iranian law, the p a ̄ d i x s ̆ a ̄ y wife, a wife taken
under a highly restrictive form of marriage, would inherit a portion of
her husband’s estate and could obtain a double portion if she served as
his designated successor and entered into a levirate union to provide the
deceased with a son.^52 The levirate union would be a c a ̆ g a r ı ̄ h marriage,