Responsa על יבמות 241:21
Teshuvot Maharam
Q. A Jewish young man and three Gentiles were together in a boat on a rough sea, full of rocks, reefs and floating ice. Another Jew and many Gentiles heard them crying: "Help! oh Lord, we are drowning." Their boat was subsequently found overturned and empty; but the young man's body was not found. One Jew is willing to testify that the young man is dead since he searched for his body together with experienced fishermen who assured him that no one could come out alive under the circumstances. May we permit the young man's wife to remarry?
A. The Rabbis did not permit remarrying by the wife of a man, lost in a body of water of which not all the boundaries are visible, and no distinction was made as to the nature of the water, or the shore. We would be very happy were we able to find a legal basis for allowing the woman to remarry; but many before us have tried to find such a basis and were not successful. We must, therefore, accept the decision of the Rabbis.
SOURCES: Pr. 971.
A. The Rabbis did not permit remarrying by the wife of a man, lost in a body of water of which not all the boundaries are visible, and no distinction was made as to the nature of the water, or the shore. We would be very happy were we able to find a legal basis for allowing the woman to remarry; but many before us have tried to find such a basis and were not successful. We must, therefore, accept the decision of the Rabbis.
SOURCES: Pr. 971.
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