Yevamot

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our Yevamot resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

Yevamot 88: One Equals Two

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"A woman whose husband went overseas, and one[1] came and told her, 'Your husband has died' and she marries [another]..." (Yevamot 87b). Whereas Jewish law requires two witnesses in all matters of criminal and family law…
Article
Jan 6, 2015

Yevamot 87: The Ways of Peace

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"G-d did not find a vessel more pleasing for the Jewish people than peace" (Uktzin 3:11). Such is the concluding teaching of the Mishnah. No Jew needs convincing as to the supreme value we place on peace. Such includes not only peace…
Article
Jan 4, 2015

Yevamot 89: The Top Three

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Three signs are there for this nation: they are rachmanim, merciful; bayshanim, have a sense of shame[1]; and gomlei chasadim, perform acts of kindness[2]" (Yevamot 89a). The distinguishing mark of the Jewish…
Article
Dec 29, 2014

Yevamot 69: The Sweet Taste of Shmitta

Rabbi Jay Kelman

One of the key distinctions between the land of Israel and the Diaspora is the ability to observe the many mitzvot between man and the land. The seventh chapter of Yevamot focuses on the intricacies of the laws of terumah, which may be eaten…
Article
Dec 16, 2014

Yevamot 65: Childless Isn't Barren

Rabbi Jay Kelman

One of the famous concepts of Jewish law is the exemption of women from time-bound positive mitzvoth. The reason for such is specified neither in the Torah nor in rabbinic literature, leading medieval and modern commentaries to speculate as to the…
Article
Dec 11, 2014

Yevamot 63: I Want Pea Soup

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"The signature of G-d is truth" (Sanhedrin 64a). "Accept the truth from wherever it comes" (Rambam, Introduction to Avot). There are few values more important than that of truth. While Jewish law allows and encourages one to tell…
Article
Dec 9, 2014

Yevamot 63: Why Have Children?

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"And G-d blessed them; and G-d said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every beast that walks on the land'…
Article
Dec 8, 2014

Why Can't We Marry? Yevamot 59

Rabbi Jay Kelman

To Western man the notion that one must marry somebody in specific or even that restrictions be placed on the choice of a marriage partner is an unacceptable encroachment on personal freedom and autonomy. Yet until relatively recently this notion…
Article
Dec 4, 2014

Yevamot 52: Living With Your In-Laws

Rabbi Jay Kelman

“Rav ordered that lashes be given to any person who betrothed by cohabitation, who betrothed in the open street, or who betrothed without previous negotiation; who annulled a letter of divorce, or who made a declaration against a letter of…
Article
Nov 30, 2014

Yevamot 52: Preparing for Marriage

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Masechet Kiddushin opens by delineating the three methods by which one is mekadesh, betroths, a woman. Masechet Yevamot, on the other hand, opens by delineating the fifteen cases where yibum is not required and hence not allowed. The…
Article
Nov 27, 2014