{"id":10848,"date":"2007-06-21T21:42:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-21T21:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/masechet_yevamot_5056\/"},"modified":"2015-10-26T10:06:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T15:06:02","slug":"masechet_yevamot_5056","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/masechet_yevamot_5056\/","title":{"rendered":"Masechet Yevamot 50a-56b"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz<\/em><\/p>\n

This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud.<\/em><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s Steinsaltz Daf Yomi is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Alan Harris, The Lewy Family Foundation, and Marilyn and Edward Kaplan<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yevamot 50a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

As we learned on yesterday’s daf<\/em><\/a>, Rabbi Shimon ben Azay<\/a> reported that he found a scroll in Jerusalem<\/a> that accused King Menashe<\/a> of having killed the prophet Yeshayahu<\/a>. Rava<\/a> comments that that Menashe did not simply murder him, but rather he put him on trial for heresies that appear among his prophecies. Although Yeshayahu could explain each one of them, he chose not to do so because he knew that Menashe would kill him in any case and he preferred that Menashe not be held responsible for murder.<\/p>\n

One of the supposed heresies was the following: The Torah<\/a> says that every person lives out his appointed days (see Shmot<\/a> 23:26<\/a>), yet Yeshayahu told King Chizkiyahu<\/a> that he would have 15 years added to his life (see II Melakhim<\/a> 20:6<\/a>). The Gemara<\/a> on our daf<\/em> explains that there is a disagreement between Rabbi Akiva<\/a> and the Chachamim<\/a><\/em> about how to define living out one’s days. Everyone has a designated amount of years, which are referred to as shnei dorot<\/em> \u2013 the years set aside for a person to live in his generation. According to Rabbi Akiva, if he is deserving, he will live out his time; if he does not merit it, however, years may be subtracted from his life. The Chachamim<\/em> believe that a person’s merit can either add or subtract from the time that is set for him.<\/p>\n

The Tosafot ha-Rosh<\/a> explains that the term shnei dorot<\/em> is used because God establishes the years of the entire generation, rather than each individual person (see Yeshayahu<\/a> 41:4<\/a>). The Geonim<\/a><\/em> offer a different explanation, arguing that shnei dorot<\/em> refers to the length of time that a person would ordinarily be expected to live, given his health and physical make-up. The Rambam<\/a> wrote a lengthy treatise in Arabic which offers a synopsis of the different positions on this matter from the perspectives of scholarship and medicine.<\/p>\n

\n

Yevamot 51a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The fifth perek <\/em>of Masechet<\/a> Yevamot<\/a><\/em> focuses on one main topic \u2013 the relationship between the various responses that the surviving brother (the yavam<\/em>) can perform with the widow (the yevamah<\/em>). There are four possible responses, two of them taught by the Torah<\/a> and two suggested by the Sages of the Mishnah<\/a>:<\/p>\n