Responsa for Yevamot 48:11
ה"ד אי דאיכא עדים כי אתא אחר ואפסקיה לקלא מאי הוי אלא לאו דליכא עדים וטעמא דאתא אחר ואפסקיה לקלא הא לאו הכי מפקינן
is because another man stepped in and checked the rumour, but had that not happened she would have been taken away from him?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' How then could Rab maintain that she is taken away Only where there are witnesses? ');"><sup>38</sup></span> — Rab can answer you: The same law, that where witnesses<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra note 3. ');"><sup>35</sup></span> are available she is taken away from him and that where no witnesses are available she is not taken away, applies also to the case where no other man stepped in and checked the rumour, but this it is that was meant: 'Even if another man stepped in and checked the rumour it is not proper for him<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The paramour. ');"><sup>39</sup></span> to marry her'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Only if he already married her may she in this case remain with him. ');"><sup>40</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
Rabbi Hezekiah b. Jacob, to whom the question was first submitted, ruled that L be forbidden to A.
A. One judge is not at liberty to permit what another has prohibited. Were I present at the time when Rabbi Hezekiah received the query, I would have argued the case with him. A woman is not forbidden to her husband unless either: a) the husband is jealous of a certain man, and warns her against private meetings with this man, and the wife disregards this warning in the presence of witnesses; or b) they actually be found in a position indicative of fornication. But, heavy breathing itself is no indication that illicit sexual intercourse took place. Therefore, I shall wait till Rabbi Hezekiah recuperates from his illness, whereupon I shall discuss this matter with him.
SOURCES: Pr. 98; Am II, 63; Rashba I 832–3; Tesh. Maim. to Ishut, 8; Hag. Mord. Kidd. 549. Cf. Asher, Responsa 32, 11; Weil, Responsa 8; ibid. 88; Israel Bruno, Responsa 5; ibid. 7; Isserlein, Pesakim 222.