Study Yevamot folio 38B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
זיקת נשואה עושה ספק נשואה.
and a levirate bond formed with a married woman affords her a status equivalent to that of a woman for whom there is an uncertainty whether she is married, i.e., when her husband dies, the same level of relationship that existed with the first husband is created with the yavam. However, since the new relationship exists only by virtue of a levirate bond, it exists to a lower degree, and so the rights afforded to the yavam are more limited than those the first husband would have enjoyed; the rights granted to the yavam are equivalent to the rights of husband in a case where there is uncertainty whether that level of relationship exists at all.
זיקת ארוסה עושה ספק ארוסה — דאי סלקא דעתך ודאי ארוסה, מודים בית הלל שמוכרת ונותנת וקיים?
The Talmud proceeds to demonstrate this: It must be that a levirate bond formed with a betrothed woman affords her a status equivalent to that of a woman for whom there is an uncertainty whether she is betrothed, because if it enters your mind to suggest that her status is equivalent to that of a definitely betrothed woman, would Beit Hillel concede that she may sell or give away her property ab initio, and that if she does the transfer is valid?
והתנן: נפלו לה נכסים משנתארסה, בית שמאי אומרים: תמכור, ובית הלל אומרים: לא תמכור. אלו ואלו מודים שאם מכרה ונתנה — קיים. אלא שמע מינה: זיקת ארוסה עושה ספק ארוסה.
But didn’t we learn in a Mishnah (Ketubot 78a): If property was bequeathed to a woman after she was betrothed, Beit Shammai say: She may sell that property, and Beit Hillel say: She may not sell that property. However, both agree that if she sold it or gave it away, the transfer is valid. The Mishnah clearly states that according to Beit Hillel, a woman who is definitely betrothed may not sell the property ab initio. Rather, conclude from here, from the fact that here Beit Hillel permit the yevama to sell her property ab initio, that a levirate bond formed with a betrothed woman affords her a status equivalent to that of a woman for whom there is an uncertainty whether she is betrothed.