Friday, March 16, 2007

A Random Mishna in Yevamot (4:7 + diagram)

I was happily learning Mishna Yevamot until I got up to this one, when suddenly even with all of the help of Kehati I was underly confused. I made a diagram of it, and now digitized it. So now all of you can learn this random Mishnah. I don't want to even think how complicated the Gemara must be on this one. Anyway, all of what I am talking about is centered on just the last line.

ד,ז החולץ ליבמתו--הוא אסור בקרובותיה, והיא אסורה בקרוביו. הוא אסור באימה, ובאם אימה, ובאם אביה, בבתה, ובבת בתה, ובבת בנה, ובאחותה בזמן שהיא קיימת; והאחים מותרים. והיא אסורה באביו, ובאבי אביו, בבנו, ובבן בנו, באחיו, ובבן אחיו. מותר אדם בקרובת צרת חלוצתו, ואסור בצרת קרובת חלוצתו.

I tried translating that last line for the last while, doing lots of searches and thinking, but I give up. If anybody wants to suggest an good translation, please leave a comment.

This is just how complicated Yibbum and Halizah used to be when men had multiple wives.
An explanation of the diagram:
Diamonds are males. Circles are females.
Shapes with the same color are related, brothers or sisters.
Hollow shapes are dead, full ones are alive.




full diagram of the last two lines of Mishna Yevamot 4:7
Click on the picture below to be able to actually read it:
Description of the full diagram of the last two lines of Mishna Yevamot 4:7

1 comment:

moshe777 said...

Thanks for excellent diagram. It visualizes the relationships very well. However the solution it gives I see is incorrect.

If we'll use only Humash to solve it, there will be no difficulty at all and takes not more then 1 min:

After The Blue Diamond did Haliza with Yellow A, he has to do Yubim with Gray A. That will make other Gray Circle prohibited as a sister. Another Yellow and Purple Circles are both allowed to him as not related to him and to Gray A, who he has to do Yubim with, and because the orange diemond is not related to any male or femalein the diagram.

So the solution is:

Yellow A Circle - Haliza
Gray plain Circle - Prohibited
Gray A Circle - Yubim
Purple Plane Circle - Allowed
Yellow Plane Circle - Allowed