Yevamot 64: Three Stikes You're Out: on Establishing a Presumption

I do not blog on Shabbat, but I read the daily daf.  Check out Yevamot:63 for a fascinating read on what makes for a good wife.

But today's daf is Yevamot 64, which focuses on fertility.  How can the rabbis ensure that people - men, in particular - fulfill the mitzvah to be fruitful and multiply?  

A new Mishna: when a couple is not able to have children together for ten years, the husband can take on a rival wife or they are to divorce and remarry.  After ten more childless years, the woman in question is considered to be infertile and her second husband is able to take on a rival wife or divorce her as well. If she miscarries, the ten years are counted from the date of the miscarriage.   

Arguments ensue regarding ten years.  Why ten years and not three years, which would allow for three pregnancies (plus a few extra months)?  Our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all struggled with issues of fertility in one way or another, and we are taught that the ten year mark is significant for each of them.  The rabbis also comment on the merit of our foremothers and other women; they are not punished through infertility.   In fact, Rabbi Ami suggests that both Abraham and Sarah were tumtumim, people whose genitals are concealed.  He uses the metaphoric verse describing the "hewn rock" and "hole of the pit [that formed you]" beside the verse, "Look to Abraham your father and Sarah who bore you" (Isaiah 51:1, 2) to prove this point.

The Gemara notes that the mitzvah of having children is commanded of the husband only.  We do not assume that a woman is infertile when a couple cannot have children.  In fact, we are subject to some painfully descriptive stories regarding male infertility due to disease. Later commentaries teach that divorce is only one option, and in fact couples usually stay together when they cannot have children.  

The rabbis wonder if the suggestion of 'ten years together before making a change' might have been geared toward the longer life expectancy of ancient days.  However, Rabba quotes a number of other rabbis who refer to King David's era where people lived seventy to eighty years.  Thus the rabbis determine that ten years is the right amount of time to spend together as an infertile couple.  As an aside, it is more than a little mind-blowing to read about what happened in the olden days in a statement that is approximately 1700 years old. 

We move from the questions surrounding infertility to questions about the death of babies.  The rabbis determine how and when we can establish a presumption.  If a couple has a baby and that baby dies, they are allowed to begin that ten year count from the date of the baby's death.  But what should be done if a couple's first and then second babies die after their circumcisions?  Do they circumcise the third child?  And if the third dies following circumcision, do they circumcise the fourth?  What about when three sisters each watch their babies die following circumcision - should the fourth sister circumcise?  The rabbis stretch this argument to marriage - if a woman's first, second and third husbands die on their own (not accidents at sea, for example), should she be permitted to marry a fourth husband?  The rabbis determine that two similar cases can establish a presumption; however, people are not forced to follow this suggestion. 

We should note that circumcision is never foregone; it is delayed.  Once the baby has grown, he is circumcised to enter the covenant.  Further, the rabbis connect these teachings to those regarding an aylonit and someone with a disease like epilepsy.  If it is known that three women in one family line are infertile due to immature sexual organs or due to leprosy or epilepsy, etc., men are told not to marry into that family.  A note in the Steinsaltz text teaches us that this is one of the earliest references to genetically transmitted diseases through a carrier with no symptoms.  Amazing.

Our daf ends with a disturbing halachic connection.  We learn that if a man commits a sin against Torah law that is punishable by karet, he is flogged.  If he commits the sin again, he is flogged a second time.  If he repeats the same sin, he is to be locked in a narrow, vaulted chamber.  He is fed barley until he dies (because his stomach bursts).  If find it difficult to imagine such a punishment being carried out.  But I certainly imagine people repeating their 'sinful behaviour' after taking their punishments.  Perhaps I'm just hoping for the best... or perhaps this was simply an extremely effective threat.