Yevamot 118 - July 3, 4 Tamuz

Presentation in PDF format This week's learning is sponsored by Judy Tydor Schwartz in honor of her birthday. "With love and gratitude for my incredible daughters Beki and Rina who are learning Daf Yomi with Hadran, and in memory of my unforgettable mother, Shirley K. Tydor, who would have loved Hadran!" In what cases do we accept the testimony of a rival wife to contradict the other wife's testimony that her husband has died? In which cases do Rabbi Meir and Rabbis Yehuda and Shimon disagree regarding this issue? If a woman testified about herself and her mother-in-law that both their husbands have died or about herself and she had a rival wife, she is only believed about herself. Can her mother-in-law/rival wife continue to eat truma, if she was married to a kohen? Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva disagree. If one betrothed a woman and it is unclear which woman (one of a few possible options), does he need to marry/divorce all of them? Does he need to give a ketuba to all of them? Or if one stole from someone and it is one of a possible number of people? Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva disagree. According to whose opinion is the Mishna stated (as there is a disagreement as to exactly which cases they disagree about). The Mishna lists various cases where a couple left town and they either didn't have a child or the husband didn't have a brother and the wife came and said there was a son (or brother) and both the husband and the son/brother died, do we believe her and permit her to do yibum or marry someone else based on her testimony? What if the son/brother was born before they left and he went with them? If one gives a get to someone else to accept it on behalf of his wife, can she be exempt from yibum? Is a get "good for the woman"  and therefore effective or "bad for the woman" and therefore not effective? What if it was a case where it was known they had been fighting? The Gemara learns from Reish Lakish's statement that women would always prefer to be married, even if the marriage is not necessarily a good one.