Commentary for Yevamot 220:6

וכי תימא ה"נ בפקח ואחר כך נתחרש מי מצי מפיק והתנן נתחרשה יוציא נשתטית לא יוציא נתחרש הוא או נשתטה לא יוציא עולמית

while his brother's wife is for ever forbidden [to marry again]!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Infra 112b. She is forbidden to her brother-in-law since she is (in Rabbinic law) his wife's (or divorcee's) sister, and she is forbidden to other men since, as a deaf-mute who is unable to recite the prescribed formulae, her brother-in-law is precluded from submitting to halizah from her, and, in consequence, she remains attached to him by the levirate bond. Now, as the levir's deafness is, in this case, an affliction from which he suffered prior to his marriage, the deafness spoken of in the two previously cited cases (since all these appear in the same contexts) must similarly refer to afflictions commenced prior to the marriage. This then presents an objection against Raba (cf. supra p. 769, n. 8)! ');">¹⁵</span> And should you reply that here also [it is a case of a man] who was of sound senses and who became afterwards deaf, is [such a man, it may be retorted], in a position to divorce [his wife]? Surely, we learned: If she<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' One's wife. ');">¹⁶</span> became deaf, he may divorce her; if she became insane, he may not divorce her.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In accordance with a Rabbinical provision safeguarding the position of the woman who, were she to be divorced and thus remain unprotected by a husband, would be subject, owing to her mental condition, to serious moral and physical danger. ');">¹⁷</span>

Explore commentary for Yevamot 220:6. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.