daf bit: Yevamot 40
Nov. 13th, 2014 09:02 amWe're still talking about the levirate marriage, where if a married man
dies without having fathered a child his brother is expected to marry his
wife. A mishna on today's daf teaches: if a man (who isn't disqualified
for some other reason) refuses that marriage, then he is not permitted to
marry the wife's relatives -- mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter,
or (while she's alive) sister. (He's done with that family, in other words
-- if he won't marry his brother's wife then he can't try for someone else
therein.) The other brothers in the family are under no such restriction;
they may freely marry her relatives (but not her). She is also forbidden
to marry the rejecting brother's relatives (father, brothers, sons, etc).
(40a-b)