Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach; JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim)
by Dr. Meir Tamari

Righteousness & Kingship [6] YIBUM (D'varim 25:5-10)
"If brothers dwell together, and one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry a stranger but her husband's brother... that his name not be wiped out in Israel" (25 :5-6). These verses that refer to the mitzva of Yibum, follow after the laws of the Torah [D'varim 24:17-25:4] that tell of our duties to the widows, orphans, the strangers, criminals and animals; now the Torah describes the same duties that have to be performed even to a dead man (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch). "Adam Harishon said of Chava his wife, 'This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh… she was taken out of Adam… a man cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh' (B'reishit 2:21-24) Since man and wife are a unity, it is a great Chesed that Hashem provided through Yibum so that when that unity is broken by the death of the husband, it should be continued through the levirate marriage" (Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzva 598).

The purpose of Yibum may erroneously be seen as a vehicle for safeguarding the welfare and interest of the widow. However, it is clear from the halakha that this is not so. There is no Yibum if the man had children, sons or daughters, from another wife; there is Yibum even if the wife has other children. The brother referred to had to be born before his death and of the same father. There is the option of Chalitza should the brother decline; such an option would leave the widow un-provided for. Rather it is Chesed to the dead by ensuring the continuation of his possessions, children and the home that he wanted to create in accordance with the Divine blessing, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it" (B'reishit 1:28). "It is a Chesed to marry a young Jew but it is a greater Chesed to marry an older man when the sole purpose of the marriage is to raise a memorial to the dead husband" (Malbim); even as Boaz tells Ruth (Ruth, 3:10).

This Chesed of Yibum is the pinnacle and finale of the book of Ruth.

Boaz made it clear to the kinsman that with the redemption of the land that also came to perpetuate the dead man's name, came the obligation to marry Ruth and so continue the name of Machlon. Not that the firstborn child of the new marriage would necessarily carry the same name as our very text shows but that he would inherit his father's possessions. Now, unlike the question of redemption that fell to the nearest relative, neither the kinsman nor Boaz had the obligation to marry the dead man's wife as neither of them was his brother. Ramban in Bereishit explains that this extended chesed, was a pre-Torah tradition.

The kinsman cannot accept the marriage to Ruth the Moabitess, because of his ignorance about the halakhic decision that differentiated between the men and women of Moav, permitting marriage with the women. However, there was another reason for his refusal, one that goes to the heart of Yibum, namely the succession of the child to the dead man's inheritance, a Chesed that would mean a reduction in the property of the kinsman (4:6). The same negation of Chesed we find in Onan's refusal to marry Tamar, since the first fruit of that marriage would belong solely to his dead brother (Chizkuni, Ber. 38 :8).

The ceremony of the removal of the shoe that followed the refusal by the kinsman seems akin to the Chalitza that follows a decision not to grant Yibum. However, the two are not connected except perhaps as a literary aid. The first was merely an example of a kinyan sudar, confirmation of a transaction whereas the removal of the shoe specially made for Chalitza (Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer), has completely different significance. This removal of the shoe is meant to humiliate him (Moreh Nevuchim), or as a sign that he is like a mourner or as one who is in Herem; all signs of disapproval of his lack of Chesed, as is the spitting by the widow before him.
The Yibum in Megilat Ruth recalls the story of Tamar and Yehuda and the two stories both signify the roots of righteousness, majesty and kingship that are the hallmarks of Jewish Royalty. Both women make strenuous efforts to convince those obligated to Yibum, if not by law then at least by custom, and to thereby continue the family succession; efforts that placed them in severe physical and moral dangers. Both were rewarded with being the Mothers of Jewish Kingship and Royalty.

"For she [Tamar] saw that Shela was grown and she was not given to him to wife" (B'reishit 38:14). Yehuda feared that Shela would die from that marriage as had his two brothers before him, so he kept Shela from Yibum. Tamar tricked Yehuda into thinking she was a harlot and thus became pregnant. Judging her to death for adultery, since she was considered as married until Chalitza or Yibum, Yehuda openly admitted his parentage saying, "She has been more righteous than I" (B'reishit 38:26). This openness of the spirit and the ready admission of faults and shortcomings are characteristic of Yehuda and his descendants, in contrast to the hidden worship of the sons of Rachel; Yosef and the dreams and mystery of his ministry, Shaul who hid among the baggage, and Purim of Mordechai and Esther where the story of redemption is masked in feasts, clothing and the hidden presence of Hashem (Shem Mi Shmuel). Yet kingship belongs to Yehuda; Shaul did not found a dynasty because his modesty did not allow him to admit his errors, whereas David, who readily acknowledged his sins and so repented, established the Dynasty of Israel.

When Boaz hesitated, Ruth came at night to the threshing ground and lay at his feet thus exposing herself to charges of immorality. She said to Boaz, "Spread your skirt over me [chupa - Rashi]"; even though Yibum could be performed through intimacy, nevertheless, she insisted on the public sanctification through chupa and Kiddushin.

"Now these are the generations of Peretz [son of Yehuda and Tamar]: Hetzron, Ram, Aminadav, Nachshon [who was the first to jump into the Red Sea], Salma, Salmon, Boaz, Oved, Jesse and David" (Ruth 4:18-22)
This is the 79th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times”

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