Sifrei Devarim 289

¹(Devarim 25:6) "And it shall be, the first-born that she bears shall be invested in the name of his dead brother": I might think that if his (the dead brother's) name were Yossi, he (the child) should be called Yossi, or (if his name were) Yochanan, the child should be called Yochanan; it is, therefore, written "in the name of his (the yavam 's) dead brother" and not "in the name of the dead brother of his (the child's) father." [(The "first-born," then, in this instance, is an epithet for the yavam .)] If so, why is it written "the first-born" (instead of "the yavam ")? To indicate that it is a mitzvah for the oldest brother to perform the yibum . ²"that she bears": to exclude (from yibum ) a woman who cannot bear. ³(The yavam ) "shall be invested in the name of his dead brother": for inheritance (i.e., he receives his dead brother's share as well as his own.) It is written here "in the name of his brother," and, elsewhere (Bereshith 48:6) "in the name of their brothers (Ephraim and Menasheh) shall they be called in (taking) their inheritance." Just as there, the reference is to taking inheritance, so, here. ⁴"his dead brother": Because it is stated elsewhere that the wife of one undergoes yibum and not the wife of two, whence do I derive that if the first brother died, the second performs yibum ; if the second died, the third performs yibum ? From (the repetition of) "dead" (verse 5) - "dead" (here). ⁵"and his name will not be wiped out in Israel": to exclude (from yibum ) the wife of one who is impotent, whose name is already "wiped out." ⁶( Ibid . 7) "And if the man shall not desire to take his yevamah ": and not "if the L-rd shall not desire her.": (From this) I would exclude (from chalitzah [ yibum release]) those arayoth which are liable to judicial death penalties, but I would not exclude those which are liable (only) to kareth ; it is, therefore, written " He does not desire to have me in yibum ," and not "the L-rd does not desire her." ⁷"to take his yevamah ": What is the intent of this? (Why not just "to take her "?) Because it is written (6) "and it shall be the bechor that she shall bear ," I might think to exclude (from chalitzah ) a woman who can no longer bear, and an old woman, and (the tzarah of) a woman incapable of conception, and a minor who is not yet able to bear; it is, therefore, written (here, twice) "his yevamah ," "his yevamah " to include (the above as requiring chalitzah ). ⁸"then his yevamah shall go up to the gate (of beth-din ) and to the elders": It is a mitzvah for the beth-din to preside in the heights of the city and to be composed of elders." ⁹"My yavam does not desire to invest for his brother a name in Israel": R. Yehudah says: It is written here "name," and elsewhere (in connection with the daughters of Tzelafchad, Bamidbar 27:4) "name." Just as "name" there refers to seed, so, "name" here — to exclude (from chalitzah ) a castrate, who, even if he wanted to perpetuate a "name" for his brother, could not. ¹⁰"in Israel ": and not among converts — whence it was ruled: Two brothers, converts, whose conception was not in holiness and whose birth was in holiness, are exempt from chalitzah and from yibum , it being written "in Israel ," and not among converts. ¹¹"My yavam does not desire," and not " the L-rd does not desire" (by reason of arayoth ).