Levirate

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Levirat (from Latin levir " brother-in-law "), levirate marriage or marriage -in-law describes a Jewish custom in ethnosociology ( Hebrew ייבום, Jibbum ) that the brother of a childless deceased married his widow . It appears in the Torah as a protective provision for the preservation of male descendants of an Israelite family who are entitled to inheritance .

The levirate is mentioned for the first time in the Bible in Genesis 38 LUT and as a law in Deuteronomy ( Deuteronomy ) 25.5–10 LUT . In the Mishnah and Talmud , the jibbum is described in detail in the treatise Jewamot (מַסֶּכֶת יְבָמוֹת" Sisters-in-law ", see Seder Naschim ). The prerequisite was that the brother died without male offspring. This put the family property at risk. In order to protect this property, which according to the Torah had been distributed by God YHWH through Joshua , and to secure the position of the widow, the next brother, if he was of legal age, married his sister-in-law. Should he not be able to marry the sister-in-law, the duty was passed on to the next brother. If the brother in question was not yet marriageable, the widow had to wait until he was of legal age. The aim was to produce a male descendant who received the “name and legal status” of the deceased husband and was legally considered his son. The marriage in law was not permitted if there were sons from the first marriage. The execution of the Levirate was a religious duty, but was only carried out with the consent of both parties.

Ḥaliẓah or Chalitza shoe (20th century)

If either party does not consent, the ceremony of Chalitza (Ḥaliẓah) is carried out. The widow removes a Chalitza shoe from Levir (brother-in-law) and spits on the ground in front of him. A certain saying is said. This was traditionally performed in front of the elders, but later turned into a public ceremony. Since the time of Rashi around 1100 AD, the Chalitza was preferred to the Levirate.

“If brothers live together and one dies without sons, then his widow should not become the wife of a man from another clan, but her brother-in-law should go to her and take her as his wife and marry her. And the first son she bears shall be considered the son of his dead brother, so that his name may not be erased from Israel. If the man does not like to take his sister-in-law, she, his sister-in-law, should go to the gate in front of the elders and say: My brother-in-law refuses to give his brother his name in Israel and does not want to marry me. Then the elders of the city should call him and talk to him. But if he insists and says: I do not like to take it - his sister-in-law should come to him in front of the elders and pull his shoe off his foot and spit in his face and should answer and say: So one should do to every man who doesn't want to build his brother's house! And in Israel his name is said to be the 'barefoot house'. "

- 5th Book of Moses (Deuteronomy) 25: 5-10

Claude Lévi-Strauss also reports on the levirate among the Tupi-Kawahib , an indigenous people in Brazil (see his book Sad Tropics ).

See also

  • Onan (biblical figure: had to marry his sister-in-law Tamar in order to father offspring for his deceased brother)
  • Sadducee question (If a woman was married in turn to all seven brothers in a family ...)
  • Sororat (sister-in-law if the wife dies childless)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julius H. Greenstone: ALIẒAH ("taking off, untying"). In: JewishEncyclopedia.com . USA, 1906, accessed March 13, 2020 .