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 49: An Exceptional People

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Shimon ben Azzai said: I found a scroll of genealogy, and it was written, 'So-and-so is a mamzer, [having been born] from [a forbidden union with] a married woman; and it was written, 'the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob…
Article
Nov 24, 2014

Yevamot 47: Judaism 101

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"A convert who comes to convert bizman hazeh, nowadays...we inform him of the importance of leket, shichichah, peah and  ma'aser ani[1]" (Yevamot 47a). The Gemara lists only six specific mitzvoth we must teach a…
Article
Nov 23, 2014

Yevamot 44: The Practice of Law

Rabbi Jay Kelman

  Halacha, Jewish law, has a multiplicity of voices, each reflecting the word of the living G-d. Of course, in practice, we must choose between often "competing" or even contradictory views. Many rules have been developed to…
Article
Nov 20, 2014

Yevamot 40: The Economics of Chalitzah

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Ishto k'gufo, ba'al k'ishto", one's wife is like one's own self; a husband is as one with his wife. Jewish thought viewed a husband and wife as one unit. Flowing from this assumption is the notion that all monies…
Article
Nov 18, 2014

Yevamot 39: What Comes First?

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"And if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders, and say: 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform…
Article
Nov 17, 2014

Yevamot 35: Whose Baby Is It?

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Even those far removed from Jewish learning know that it is the mother who determines the Jewish status of a baby. Why this is so is not clearly spelled out. The simplest and most obvious reason would seem to be the fact that while we always know…
Article
Nov 12, 2014

No Time to Waste: Yevamot 29

Rabbi Jay Kelman

"Whoever starts in a mitzvah, we tell him to finish"; "a mitzvah that comes to your hand, do not let it wait". These and other similar sentiments express the view of our Sages that one must take advantage of an opportunity for a…
Article
Nov 11, 2014

Yevamot 25: Conflict of Interest

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Innocent until proven guilty is a fundamental norm of Western jurisprudence. This concept goes back until at least Talmudic times, when our Sages assert that all Jews have a chezkat kashrut, a presumption of honesty. Yet as human beings,…
Article
Nov 6, 2014

Yevamot 25: Pleading the Fifth

Rabbi Jay Kelman

By dint of the fifth amendment to the Constitution, US citizens are protected from being forced to give self-incriminating testimony; pleading the fifth is a common refrain in many a courtroom. Jewish law goes one step further; it …
Article
Nov 5, 2014

Yevamot 24: A Great P'shat

Rabbi Jay Kelman

All great pieces of literature can be understood on multiple levels, over multiple time periods, and by a variety of cultures. There is no greater piece of literature than the Bible: "Turn it and turn it, as all is in it" (Avot 5:22). We…
Article
Nov 2, 2014