[ 41 ]IndexL’galot erva, 59
Lineage: descent systems, 48, 49, 51,
53, 69–73, 94; overview, 19–21;
preservation as reason for levirate,
xviii, x x. See also Inheritance;
Patrilineal descent
Linton, Ralph, 52
Living vs. the dead, the, rabbinic
support for: and court’s advice for
levir, 118–19; and family repair
idea, 205; and levir as deceased
brother’s heir, 111; and levir/
yevama focus, 166, 199; and
motivations regarding levirate, 98;
and paternity of levirate child, 168,
176, 189, 194
Luo of Africa, 10–11
Ma’amar, 41, 135–36, 147, 224n60
Mamz er, 102–3, 130, 169, 191
Marital family: defining, 74; and
incest/levirate complications,
30–31, 88; as ineligible for
testimony, 77, 78; and kinship
nomenclature, 54–58; one
marriage vs. multiple marriages,
91–92; overview, xvi; strength of
vs. blood relationships, 79. See
also Husband’s family; In-law
relationships
Marriage: biblical perspective, 68,
202; cross-cultural analysis, x xii,
43, 67, 185, 207n2; death of spouse
as end of, 128, 144; and family
definition, 8, 66–69; and father’s
responsibility to children, 175–76;
ghost, 4, 16, 20, 185, 208–9n9; and
levirate union, x x, x xv, 3–8, 21, 22,
39, 40, 44, 116, 119–20, 122, 126,
166, 193, 199; one vs. multiple,
91–92; rabbinic perspective,
x xv, 52, 66–69, 116, 119–20, 187,
195, 207n1, 228n47, 230n18; as
religious obligation, xvi; sexual
relationship’s importance in,
138; and social status of yevama
after levirate union, 139, 165–66;
woman-marriage, 20; woman’s
consent right, 13, 135, 136. See
also Bride-wealth/bride-price;
Husband and wife; Remarriage
Marriage settlement: and confusion
over yevama’s family connections,
144; and cost of divorce, 184; dower,
15; dowry, 9, 15, 162; first husband’s
estate as source of, 40; husband’s
family’s claim on, 132–33, 143, 148;
levirate child’s right to, 9, 82, 174;
widow’s collection of, 42, 128
Maternal brothers as ineligible for
levirate, 103
Maternal vs. paternal kin, linguistic
distinctions, 56
Matrilineal descent, 69–71
Matrilocal societies, 71
Mesharshia of Tusnia, Rav, 92
Meyers, Carol, 48, 49, 65–66
Minors: and betrothal, 226n102; and
levirate unions, 121, 137, 163. See
also Children
Mishnah: on brothers’ levirate
obligation, 106–9; and brothers
married to sisters issue, 57, 68; and
co-wives situation, 63, 83; criteria
for yevama’s refusal of levirate,
164; on declaration for levirate
union, 135–36; Deuteronomy as
source of interpretation, 39, 43–44;
on dowry, 162; and eligibility of
brothers for levirate, 104; extended
family structure, 195–97; on
fraternal relationship, 101–9; on
halitza, 117–19, 127, 133, 136–37;
and incest/levirate complexities,
60–62, 84, 85–88; and inheritance
law, 80–81, 83; on levirate union as
marriage, x xv, 119–20; mishpaha
in, 50; and monogamy’s effect on
levirate, 68–69; nuclear family
focus of, 44; origins of, x xi;
overview, 39–43; on paternity of
levirate child, 43, 172–73, 177, 181,
191–92; on patrilineal descent,
71; and patrilocality, 196; on
polyg yny, 66; on power dynamic
between levir and yevama, 133–34,
148–50, 151; priestly organization,
49; on procreation, 169, 190;
property rights of yevama, 132,
141–48; sister-in-law tension
assumption, 55, 163–64; on social
status of yevama, 125–26, 127; on