[ ]Paternity and Continuityc. Here [in Deuteronomy] it says, “shall be accounted to the dead
brother,” and there [Gen. 48:6] it says, “They shall be recorded
under the name of their brothers in their inheritance.” Just as
“name” there refers to inheritance, so too here “name” refers to
inheritance....
d. Rava said: Even though throughout the Torah [we teach that]
no verse ever loses its contextual meaning, here the result of
applying the exegetical principle of gezera shava is that the
contextual meaning is entirely lost!
e. If there was no gezera shava, would I say that “name” actually
means [that the child bears the deceased’s] name? Who is the
Torah addressing? If it is the levir, it should read, “shall be
accounted to your brother.” If it is the court, it should read, “shall
be accounted to his father’s brother.” Perhaps the Torah is saying
to the court: Say to the levir, “[The child born to you] shall be
accounted to his [that is, the levir’s] brother.” Rather, the result
of applying the exegetical principle of gezera shava is that the
contextual meaning is entirely lost.^18
A straightforward reading of Deuteronomy : assigns a special
status to the oldest son of the levirate union, the child that the levirate
widow bears to her brother-in-law; he “shall be accounted to the dead
brot her.” One wou ld ex pect t hat t h is ch i ld wou ld ser ve as t he deceased’s
heir and would be viewed as the son of the deceased rather than of the
levir. The Bavli, however, chooses to read “the firstborn son” as a refer-
ence not to the child of the levirate union but to the oldest brother of
the deceased. This allows the Bavli to bestow the estate of the deceased
on the brother who performs levirate. This sugya severs any connection
between the child of levirate and the deceased. The child is not named
after the deceased, nor does he inherit the deceased’s property. It is the
levir who has “taken his brother’s place.”
The rabbis’ decision to assign the child of a levirate union to the bio-
logical father rather than the deceased has significant consequences.
Establishment of paternity confers rights and responsibilities on fathers
and children. A man is obligated to educate his son and perform certain
rituals on his behalf.^19 The marriage contract includes the husband’s re-
sponsibility to provide for his daughters.^20 A man’s sons are recognized