Shabbat 136: The Line Between Life and Death Regarding Circumcision and Chalitza

One may circumcise a son whether or not that infant will live.  Cutting flesh of a corpse or one with the legal status of a corpse is not a prohibited labour.  He can be circumcised whether he was born after seven months or eight months in utero, even though eight months might suggest that he is more vulnerable.  

Abaye notes that the question of a child's status when younger than thirty days is similar to the question of an animal's status.  In Leviticus (11:39) we about that touching the carcass of an animal that will die.  The conversation is interpreted as referring to animals up to eight months when domesticated animals usually give birth after nine months.  Slaughter of such animals may or may not purify them so that they can be eaten.  Is the animal considered to be alive or dead?  The rabbis consider borderline cases like where an animal may take one breath and then die.

The rabbis discuss the implication of a baby born still to a woman who may be a yevama.  This is compared with a child falling off of a roof or being eaten by a lion - those children were certainly alive.  If a baby dies within thirty days, is a woman obligated in levirate marriage?  If she is married to an Israelite, she performs chalitza due to uncertainty of the child's status.  If she is the wife of a priest, she does not perform chalitza because that would prohibit her to her husband, another priest.  We are told that some rabbis consider the baby to be alive from the moment of its birth - according to that opinion, she is exempt from performing chalitza after the fact.  

Rav Sherevya says in the name of Rava that both women would perform chalitza because the bonds of levirate marriage are stringent.   Ravina replies that in the evening Rava does say this, but in the morning it was taken back.  We then are reminded that Rabbi Yehuda permits circumcision of an androgynos on Shabbat.  Rav Sheizvi says that Rav Chisda says that Rabbi Yehuda does not see an androgynos as a male; in fact it was only regarding circumcision that he referred to an adrogynos as male.  We are also reminded that tumtumim and androgynos are not valuated as are all other groups of people (Leviticus 27:3-4).