Thursday, June 07, 2007

Dikduk and Chazal - Yevamos 35 - Daf Yomi

Why does the Mishna say that the yavam performs chalitzah with the yevamah; doesn’t the passuk say that the yevamah is the one that performs chalitzah by removing the yavam’s shoe?

The Nimukei Yosef writes (104b) that throughout Meseches Yevamos, the Gemora states that he is performing the chalitzah except for a case of a mute yavam.

The Noda B’Yehudah (I, E”H, 94) writes that as a child he would think that Chazal were not diligent in writing with correct grammar (because they wrote that he performed the chalitzah, when in truth, she is the one that performs the action), but afterwards he realized that their language is extremely precise.

The Gemora later (102b) states that the term chalitzah can mean the putting on of a shoe as well. This is what the Gemora means when it says that he performs the chalitzah. The yavam puts his shoe on in order to enable the yevamah to remove his shoe.

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