The Institution of Levirate[ ]Manu, levirate may have been widely practiced and accepted in northern
India; Jack Goody, too, notes the practice of levirate in Vedic times.^50 Re-
strictions on levirate and on marriages within the extended family may
reflect attempts to “weaken the potential power of patrilineages.”^51 We
see among the higher castes in India a view of marriage that would pre-
clude the use of levirate as a way of obtaining an heir for a childless man.
Marriage is seen as a lifelong union; remarriage by widows is considered
unacceptable. This v iew of marriage would, by necessit y, lead to a rejec-
tion of levirate as a “strategy of continuity.” An alternative strategy —
adoption of a son or son-in-law — would replace levirate. A strong dis-
taste for remarriage of widows could also preempt the use of levirate to
protect the interests of widows or fatherless children; some other system
would be developed. The Laws of Manu reflects the tension between an
older practice — levirate — and a newer sensibility. That tension is re-
flected as well in the continuing practice of levirate among some castes
despite its rejection by others.
In Jewish tradition, the remarriage of widows is never forbidden or
criticized. While some rabbis were uncomfortable with levirate, that
discomfort did not arise from a desire to restrict a woman to one sexual
relationship in her lifetime. However, investigation of levirate in India
does indicate that discomfort with levirate, regardless of the reason,
may lead to a de-emphasis of or abandonment of the procedure and a
search for alternative ways of achieving the goals of levirate. This re-
alization will be useful in evaluating rabbinic reactions to levirate and
any rabbinic discussions of other strategies for resolving childlessness
or providing protection for widows.
Lineage and Paternity
In ancient Israel and elsewhere in the ancient Near East, levirate mar-
riage was mandated only when a man died without children.^52 In the
majority of societies that practice levirate, levirate is mandated even
when a man is survived by children. In these societies, levirate provides
the deceased with additional children, even though that may not be its
main purpose.^53 The children born of the levirate union are legally the
children of the deceased. In such situations, levirate distinguishes be-
tween the genitor, the biological father of a child, and the pater, the fa-
ther recognized by law.