The ברכת אברהם brings the following question from one of the עילויים of Europe - העילוי ממייציט:
If אשת אחיו מאמו is not in the Mitzva of יבום and is an איסור כרת then how come when there are 2 FULL brothers that share a father and mother isn't there a problem of doing יבום to an אשת אחיו מאמו, although she is also an אשת אחיו מאביו it should be forbidden because she is also an אשת אחיו מאמו.
The ברכ"א answers: the name of the איסור is אשת אחיו whether its a brother from a shared father or a shared mother, the "name" is still a "brothers wife", in a case when there is a חיוב of יבום it unlocks the איסור, so in a full brother since there is a חיוב the מצוה applies. simple. genius.
2 comments:
I think that this answer is very meduyak in rashi. when rashi discusses the case of eishes achiv m'eimo who does not fall to yibum and even permits her tzara, rashi does not say that the issur of a maternal brothers wife is different that a paternal brothers wife. Rather, rashi explains that since the issur eishes ach min haeim existed prior to the marriage from which this women fell to yibum, the mitzvah of yibum does not remove the pre-existing issur of eishes ach.
Just to fill you in on who the questioner was. The Meitchiter iluy was a talmid of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (who is said to have commented about him that he had never seen a brain that was quite as impressive as his). He lived in New York in the 1920's and taught at Yeshivas Rabeinu Yitzchak Elchanan. When he tragically passed away at a very young age, the yeshiva knew that they needed a big name to replace him. Luckily there was a talmid chacham who had come from Europe for two years to collect money. The yeshiva told this talmid chacham that if he agreed to say shiur in place of the Meitchiter Iluy they would give him whatever money he had planned on collecting. Obviously, he took them up on the offer, and YU still brags that Rav Shimon Shkop said shiur for two years in Yeshivas Rabeinu Yitzchak Elchonon (although I don't think they called him "visiting professor of talmud" like they would today).
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