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When a man remarries his divorced wife after she married another, does her tzara (co-wife) need chalitza or is she permitted to yibum? The shiur analyzes Yevamos 11b, examining the machlokes between Rashi (רש"י) and Tosafot on whether tumah k'sivah karayas exempts the machzir gerushto herself from chalitza, and whether the tzara is considered "kamosa" (like her). A fundamental tension emerges: how can an ervah who requires chalitza still exempt her tzara from yibum?
This shiur provides an intensive analysis of Yevamos 11b, focusing on the complex sugya of machzir gerushto (one who remarries his divorced wife after she married another man). The central question is whether the tzara (co-wife) of such a woman requires chalitza or is permitted to yibum, and what the status of the machzir gerushto herself is regarding chalitza and yibum. The Gemara (גמרא) introduces the case with a shaila: when a man remarries his ex-wife who had married someone else in between (creating the prohibition of machzir gerushto), what is the din regarding both the woman herself and her tzara? The shiur begins by working through two different approaches to understanding the Gemara's question. According to one reading, the question concerns whether we say "ein mikreyosin depshuto" (we do not expound the verses literally) versus reading them literally. According to the Chachamim who hold ein mikreyosin depshuto, the question would be whether the tzara is permitted to yibum or requires chalitza. According to Rav Yosi ben Kiper, who reads the verses literally, there would be a different formulation of the question.
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Yevamos 11b
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