Yibbum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yibbum (pronounced "yee-boom"), or Levirate Marriage, in Judaism, is one of the most complex types of marriages mandated by Torah law (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). According to the law, the brother of a man who died without children has an obligation to marry the widow. However, if the one of the parties refuses to go through with the marriage, both are required to go through a ceremony known as halizah, involving a symbolic act of renunciation of their right to perform this marriage. Jewish law (halakha) has seen a gradual decline of yibbum in favor of halizah, to the point where in most contemporary Jewish communities the former is strongly discouraged.

The concept of yibbum is not unique to Judaism. Known as levirate marriage (when the marriage is to the deceased's brother) or widow inheritance (when it is to any surviving male relative), it has been practiced by other societies with a strong clan structure. It is or was known in societies including the Punjabis, Jats, Huns (Chinese "Xiongnu", "Hsiong-nu", etc.), Mongols, and Tibetans.

Contents

[edit] In the Hebrew Bible

When brothers live together, and one of them dies childless, the dead man's wife shall not be allowed to marry an outsider. Her husband's brother must cohabit with her, making her his wife, and thus performing a brother-in-law's duty to her. The first-born son whom she bears will then perpetuate the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be obliterated from Israel.
-- Deuteronomy 25:5-6

Marriage with a brother's widow was forbidden among the Jews (Leviticus 18:16; 10:21), except for the case of yibbum. The surviving brother had the choice of halizah. Such a choice was viewed with disfavor. The brother who agreed to marry his sister-in-law would be the sole benefactor of his brother's estate instead of splitting it with the family. If the levirate union resulted in male issue, the child would be named after the deceased brother. Levirate marriage was regarded as obligatory or even permissible only when the widow had no children of either sex.[1] The Septuagint translates "ben" (son) in the passage of Deuteronomy by "child," and the Sadducees in the New Testament take it in this sense.[2]

The most famous case of a levirate‑type marriage in the Hebrew Bible is the unusual union of the Hebrew patriarch Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar as recorded in the Book of Genesis chapter 38:8. While not strictly a case of yibbum (since Judah was Tamar's father-in-law), the motivation behind the marriage is seen in the same light.

A famous instance involving a case analogous to both halitzah and yibbum is recounted in the Book of Ruth when after the death of her husband, Ruth is rejected by an anonymous Ploni Almoni, and is noticed, welcomed and eventually turns to her husband's remaining kinsman Boaz (The Book of Ruth describes a custom involving a larger set of kin subject to levirate marriage, as both Ploni Almoni and Boaz would be considered insufficiently consanguinous to be subject to yibbum or chalitza under Talmudic or contemporary Jewish law).

[edit] Laws of Yibbum and Halizah

Halakha (Jewish law) has a rich tradition around yibbum. These laws were first recorded in the Mishna and Talmud in Yevamot, and were later codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah. The subject is considered one of the most intricate in Jewish law, partly because of the complication that arise from multiple brothers and multiple wives.

According to halakha, when a married man dies without having any children, male or female, from any relationship (including premarital and extra marital), his widow and his brother must perform either yibbum or halizah. According to Biblical law, there is no need for a marriage ceremony between the widow and the deceased's brother as they are already bound by divine decree,[3], nevertheless the Sages decreed that the couple perform a marriage-like ceremony of maamar,[4] recite the marriage blessings (sheva brachot) and write a prenuptial agreement (ketubah).[5] It is forbidden for the widow to remarry another until halizah has been performed.[6] Therefore, if the brother is missing, or if he is still a child, the woman is required to wait until he is either located or has reached adolescence, so that he can perform the halizah ceremony. This can lead to a situation similar to an agunah.

For the laws of yibbum only brothers that share a common father are considered brothers.[7] While any brother can perform yibbum or halizah, the greater obligation is on the oldest brother first. If the deceased left multiple wives yibbum can only be performed with one of them. Likewise the halizah of one permits all of them to remarry.[8] Because there is a general prohibition on a man marrying his brother's wife, anytime that a yibbum is not required (for example the deceased had a child) it is forbidden. Likewise, anytime that there is a doubt whether yibbum is required, it is also forbidden and halizah is required. [9]

The Samaritans followed a slightly different course, which may indicate an earlier custom among the Hebrews; the former practiced the levirate only when the woman was betrothed and the marriage had not been consummated.[10] The Karaites appear to have followed the same practice, and Benjamin Nahawendi, as well as Elijah Bashyazi, favored it.[11]

[edit] History of Yibbum

The rabbis in the time of the mishnah added formal marriage requirements such as a ketubah (marriage contract), but over the centuries yibbum waned in favor.

By Talmudic times the practice of levirate marriage was deemed objectionable, [12] and was followed as a matter of duty only. To marry a brother's widow for her beauty was regarded by Abba Saul as equivalent to incest.[13] Bar Kappara recommends halizah [14]. A difference of opinion appears among the later authorities, Alfasi, Maimonides, and the Spanish school generally upholding the custom, while Rabbeinu Tam and the Northern school prefer halizah[15] The marriage was not necessary if the brother left a child by another marriage, even if such a child were on the point of death.[16] A change of religion on the part of the surviving brother does not affect the obligation of the levirate, or its alternative, the halizah,[17] yet the whole question has been profoundly affected by the change from polygamy to monogamy due to the takkanah of Gershom ben Judah.

Orthodox Jews still observe it in all its details, and Conservative Judaism formally retains it. Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism have abolished it.

[edit] Critical approach

It has been suggested by Kalisch[18] that the prohibition in Leviticus is of later date than the obligation under certain conditions in Deuteronomy, but it is equally possible that the Leviticus prohibition was a general one, and the permission in Deuteronomy only an exception when there was no male issue. J. F. Maclennan[19] suggested that the existence of levirate marriage was due to polyandry among the primitive Hebrews, and has been followed by Buhl[20] and Barton;[21] but this is rather opposed to the Hebraic conditions, for it would be against the interests of the surviving brother to allow the estate to go out of his possession again. Besides, there is no evidence of polyandry among the Hebrews.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 1:3; Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 156:2
  2. ^ Mark 12:19; comp. Josephus, "Ant." iv. 8, § 23
  3. ^ Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 1:1
  4. ^ Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 2:1
  5. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 166:2; Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 2:2
  6. ^ Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 1:2
  7. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 157:1; Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 1:8
  8. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 161:1;Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 1:9
  9. ^ Mishneh Torah Laws of Yibbum and Halizah 6:4
  10. ^ Talmud Kiddushin 65b
  11. ^ Adderet Eliyahu, "Nashim," p. 93a
  12. ^ Talmud Bekhorot 13a
  13. ^ Talmud Yevamot 39b
  14. ^ Yevamot. 109a
  15. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 165
  16. ^ Shulchan Aruch, Eben ha-'Ezer, 157
  17. ^ Isaac ben Sheshet, Responsa, i. 2)
  18. ^ Kalisch, Leviticus, ii. 362-363
  19. ^ J. F. Maclennan, Studies in Ancient History, i.109-114
  20. ^ Buhl, Sociale Verhaltnisse, p. 34
  21. ^ Barton, Semitic Origins, pp. 66-67

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Yibbum
Halakhic sources*
Texts in Jewish law relating to this article:
Bible: Genesis 38 Deuteronomy 25:5-10 Ruth 3-4
Babylonian Talmud: Gittin 34b-37b
Mishneh Torah: Yibbum V'Chalitza 1:3
Shulchan Aruch: Even HaEzer 156-157
* Not meant as a definitive ruling. Some observances may be rabbinical, or customs, or Torah based.
Languages