(This Gemara
is following the opinion that the Torah
prefers Yibum
over Chalitza,
so by permitting Yibum,
we're effectively forcing him to marry this possibly immoral wife.)
ואיכא דאמרי אמר רב יוסף
Some say
that
Rav Yosef
answered:
הכתוב
קראו אחר שאין בן
זוגו של ראשון
3.
The verse calls
the second husband
"another", since he's not on the same
spiritual standing
as the first
husband,
שזה הוציא רשעה מביתו וזה הכניס רשעה לתוך ביתו
The
first one
removed an evildoer from his house, and this
latter
one brought an evildoer into his house.
The first husband married her assuming she was righteous. The second, one who marries her, despite her immorality, is obviously worse than the first.
ואת אמרת תתיבם נמי
יבומי
And
will the Torah
force someone
to do Yibum
to an evildoer?
Would the Torah
condemn one who marries an immoral wife, and at the same time require the brother-in-law to marry her?
The Gemara Asks:
אמר ליה אביי
Abaye asked:
אלא מעתה
נשאת לאחר ומת בלא
בנים לא תתיבם
דהכתוב קראו אחר
If so, had
a woman suspected of immorality
married another
man
and her
new
husband passed away without children, she should be forbidden to do Yibum
to her second husband's brother
(as the verse calls
the second husband
"another")?
For the same reason we don't permit the first brother in law to do Yibum,
the Torah
should prohibit the second husband's brother to do Yibum.
The Gemara Answers:
גביה דהאי מיהא בשם טוב הוה קיימא
Regarding this
latter husband
, she kept her good name
and presumably repented, so now she is no longer suspected of immorality.
רבא אמר
ק"ו
=קל וחומר
3.
Rava said
that we can derive that a suspected Sotah
does not do Yibum
from a logical inference:
אם
נאסרה במותר לה
באסור לה לא כל שכן
If she became forbidden to someone permitted to her
i.e her husband
, all the more so she's
forbidden
to one
originally
forbidden to her
i.e her Who one is biblically forbidden to marry outside of Yibum husband's brother
.
The Gemara Asks:
אמר ליה אביי
Abaye asked:
אלא מעתה
כ"ג
=כהן גדול
שקידש את האלמנה ומת ויש לו
אח כהן הדיוט לא תתיבם
According to the above reasoning, if
a Kohen Gadol
betrothed a A Kohen Gadol
is forbidden to marry a widow widow
and
then
passed away, the
Kohen Gadol's
brother
(who is
a regular Kohen
and is permitted to marry a widow)
should
be forbidden to
do Yibum
with his brother-in-law's widow?
אם
נאסרה במותר לה
באסור לה לא כל שכן
If she was forbidden to the one permitted
(the Kohen Gadol
)
, all the more so she's forbidden to one forbidden
(her brother-in-law )
?
The Gemara Answers:
נאסרה הא
אסירא וקיימא
She
becomes
forbidden? She was always forbidden
to her Kohen Gadol
husband!
מותר לה אסור לה הוא
To one who was
permitted
? He
(the Kohen Gadol
)
was
always
forbidden
to marry her (even before her suspected adultery she was forbidden).
The Gemara attempts another disproof:
אלא אשת כהן
שנאנסה ומת ויש לו
אח חלל לא תתיבם
Rather,
the analogous case would be if
a Kohen's
wife
had relations
against her will, and the husband passed away after that.
If the husband
had a brother who was a Chalal
(who is permitted to marry a formerly married woman who had relations against her will)
, shouldn't
the brother
do Yibum?
אם
נאסרה במותר לה
באסור לה לא כל שכן
If she's forbidden to
the
one
originally
permitted
(her Kohen
husband)
, all the more so she should be forbidden to
the
one
who was always
forbidden
(her brother-in-law )?
The Gemara Answers:
אונס בישראל
מישרא שרי
וגבי דהאי (מיהא) ליכא
איסורא
uses this verse to teach that the testimony of a single witness is believed to prevent the suspected wife from drinking the Sotah
waters. However, Rav Sheshes also derives the law that witnesses prevent the Sotah
test from working.
The Gemara
will prove this law from another verse on page
taught (in the name of Rebbi),
that merit protects
an immoral woman
against
the affects of the Sotah
water,
so
she will not give birth and will not improve. Rather she will waste away until her end is the same death
as other Sotahs.
Rebbi
said that if the Sotah
was generally righteous, but stumbled in immorality, she would live a bit longer. However, she would be visibly deformed after the procedure.
רב ששת סבר בין לרבי ובין לרבנן
הויא מתנוונה
Rav Sheshes reasons that both Rebbi
and The Sages agree that
a Sotah
with merits
wastes away.
So if she's not wasting away, it means that either:
1. She's innocent
2. The waters didn't check her.
So because the Mishna
rejects option #1, #2 must be correct.
ורב יוסף סבר לרבי
הויא מתנוונה לרבנן לא
הויא מתנוונה
But Rav Yosef reasons that while Rebbi
says that she wastes away, The Sages say that she doesn't
(and lives a normal life until she dies).
So according to the Sages, it could be that she's guilty and will be tested, but is still being protected by her merits.
The Gemara attempts to reject this disproof:
מתיב רב
שימי בר אשי
Rav Shimi bar Ashi asked:
The Mishna
there says that not all agree that merits protect at all ...
says that merit doesn't postpone the effects of the
Bitter
waters,
ואם אתה אומר זכות תולה במים המרים
מדחה אתה
את המים בפני כל הנשים
השותות ואתה מוציא שם רע על
הטהורות ששתו
For if you will say that merit postpones
the effects of the bitter waters,
one will cause a bad name to spread about all the innocent who drank,
והן אומרים
טמאות היו אלא
שתלה להן זכות
As
people
will say that
these women
were not
so innocent,
but
they had
a merit which postponed
their punishment.
And the same concern exists if (unknown) witnesses can invalidate the Sotah's
test:
ואם
איתא יש לה עדים במדינת הים נמי אתה מוציא שם רע על
הטהורות ששתו
And if
any
witnesses,
(even if they are
overseas
),
cancel the affect of the bitter waters, the same
rumors will arise against the innocent:
והן אומרים
טמאות היו אלא שיש להן עדים במדינת הים
People
will say that they
survived despite
being impure
only because
they had witnesses
present at the time of their sin
.
The Gemara Answers:
לר'
=לרבי
שמעון
קאמרת
You ask according to Rabbi Shimon?
לר'
=לרבי
שמעון
מדזכות לא
תליא עדים נמי לא
תלו
Just as Rabbi Shimon doesn't agree that merit holds off
punishment
, so too witnesses don't cancel
her punishment.
And Rav Sheshes (and the current Mishna)
don't agree with Rabbi Shimon, and aren't concerned that onlookers will not believe the suspected Sotah's
innocence.