Caff Yomi

What became of a man's name if he died without heirs; who took care of his childless widow? Yibbum-producing a posthumous son-offered a solution to these ancient challenges by husbanding levirate families as the unit of security & Jewish continuity in times of crisis. #Yevamot35

Two couples marry under a canopy. The men inexplicably bring home & have intercourse with the other's wife one who's a minor. Per the Rabbis the halacha for seducing ie raping the girl quite chillingly is simply to return her to her man. Come on guys that's intolerable.#Yevamot33

A house fell on a childless married couple. Though it was uncertain from the dust & rubble who died first creating, and therefore unclear whether the man's surviving co-wife was permitted/exempted from yibbum, the Rabbis were committed to leaving no stone unturned.#Yevamot31

What is marriage? Here's what my beloved bride & I promised in the Ketubah we wrote 28 years ago: to cherish & respect each other, to share our joys & comfort our sorrows, and build a welcoming Jewish home together filled with love learning goodness & generosity.#Yevamot29

I'm trying to wrap my head around what it'd be like to live in a time when I was obligated to marry and support my wife's widowed childless sister. But knowing my sister-in-law I've no doubt she'd gladly spit in my face than fall to yibbum so I guess I'm off the hook.#Yevamot27

Rumor has it that a man suspected his wife of committing adultery and wished to divorce her. The Rabbis required the marital dissolution since the scuttlebutt was trustworthy, not vengeful, and persisted more 1.5 days. At least that's what I heard.#Yevamot25

Did you hear about the guy who married one of two sisters but woke up one morning and couldn't remember which one he'd wed? Luckily the Rabbis offer helpful advice-divorce them both-just in case that ever happens to you.#Yevamot23

The Rabbis created an extensive and often confusing list of secondary family members-halves, steps & in-laws-with whom conjugal relations were forbidden. concluding perhaps that by the time the kin figured out if schtupping was allowed the moment would have passed.#Yevamot21

What's the status of a yevama who falls in yibbum to brother#2 who promptly dies but has a younger bro#3 who wasn't even born yet when bro#1 passed. Let alone had his first kiss. Is the boychik supposed to consummate the marriage? Is she supposed to wait? Tsuris anyone?#Yevamot19

Let's review: a man must marry his dead brother's childless widow-yibbum-unless she's forbidden to him-ervah-or refuses to marry-chalitzah-in which case she must remove his shoe & spit in his face in a Rabbinic Court in order to sever the levirate bond. Oh brother!#Yevamot17

So much for the Sages sharing olives with Jews from another house, as today's headlines make clear, Israel's rabbinate refuses even modest reforms to the rules on kosher food and conversion to Judaism, continuing to pit observant and secular Jews against one another.#Yevamot15

Hillel and Shammai differ whether halitza is required before the tsarah-rival wives-of one house can marry into the other's. Despite the divergent customs they avoided cutting into separate factions-lo titgodedu-recognizing instead that Jews are cut from the same cloth.#Yevamot13

Rebbi taught a valuable lesson that goes beyond yibbum and halitza: one shouldn't pour the water from his well when others are in need of it. We all have the capacity to love, listen, empathize & uplift others in need. They are gifts to be shared not squandered.#Yevamot11

The Rabbis explore 15 illicit consanguineous if at times convoluted relationships in which men are forbidden in yibbum to have intercourse with their dead brother's wives. The Rabbis are thinking with their brains to prevent the men from thinking with their d*cks.#Yevamot9

What is one to do when an affirmative obligation to perform an act conflicts with a negative command to abstain as in the mitzvah of burying a corpse vs. keeping Shabbat (by not doing work)? To be yotzei mitzvah (aseh) or not to be (lo taaseh) that is the question.#Yevamot7

The Sages reason a man must marry his brother's childless widow-yibbum-unless she's his wife's sister who's forbidden to him because the positive mitzvah of wearing wool fringes on linen tzitzit overrides the prohibition against shatnez. I think I've lost the the thread.#Yevamot5

We are our brother's keeper at least posthumously say the Rabbis who oblige a brother to marry the childless widow of his deceased sibling. And invite us into a conversation about family itself our relationships and rivalries & the legacy we hope to leave to the future.#Yevamot3

#Chagiga27 we end where we began in pilgrimage to the Temple only it is we amei ha'aretz all who are the destination yearning to immerse fully in our lives & harness the sparks burning within to experience joy and connection & make a difference in the world. To see and be seen.

In maintaining purity of sacrificial foods the Rabbis recognize the variety-if at times antagonism-between halachically strict haverim and lenient amei-ha'aretz. To preserve community the Sages adopt an accepting approach. Can we diffuse our denominational differences?#Hagiga25

Per the Rabbis bandages, jewelry, and hair tied in braids create barriers-chatzitza-between the ritual water and one's body that invalidate the mikveh. As for me, I'd be happy to attain a little spiritual immersion without tying myself up in knots.#Hagiga21