1Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This teaching of the mishna with regard to a minor is the statement of Rabbi Meir, who maintains that such a ḥalitza has significance in that it disqualifies a subsequent levirate marriage, but it is insufficient to permit the woman to marry a stranger. But the Rabbis say: The ḥalitza of a male minor isn’t significant of anything, as she is permitted to one of the brothers in levirate marriage as one who performed no ḥalitza at all.
2§ It was taught in the mishna: If a female minor performed ḥalitza , she must perform ḥalitza a second time once she becomes an adult, and if she does not, her first ḥalitza is invalid. Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This is the statement of Rabbi Meir, who said: “Man” is written in the Torah portion about ḥalitza : “And if the man does not wish” (Deuteronomy 25:7), implying an adult must perform ḥalitza , and we juxtapose and compare a woman with a man, indicating that the woman must also be an adult at the time of ḥalitza .
3But the Rabbis say: “Man” is written in this Torah portion, which indicates that an adult male must perform ḥalitza , but with respect to the woman who removes the shoe, since the term woman is not used to describe her, but rather the more general term yevama is written, as the continuation of the above-mentioned verse says: “To take his yevama ” (Deuteronomy 25:9), she may be either an adult or a female minor.
4The Gemara asks: Who are these Rabbis who disagree with Rabbi Meir? The Gemara answers: It is Rabbi Yosei, as it seems from this incident: As, Rabbi Ḥiyya and Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi were sitting outside the house of study, immersed in Torah learning. One of them began and said: One who prays must direct his gaze downward while praying, as it is stated by God with regard to the Holy Temple: “And My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually” (I Kings 9:3), meaning: The Divine Presence rests in the Eretz Yisrael, and one must direct his gaze to the sacred land when praying.
5And one of them said he must direct his eyes upward, because it is stated: “Let us lift our hearts with our hands toward God in Heaven” (Lamentations 3:41). In the meantime, Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, came beside them. He said to them: What are you dealing with? They said to him: With prayer, as we are debating the proper posture for prayer. He said to them: My father, Rabbi Yosei, said as follows: One who prays must direct his eyes downward and his heart upward, in order to fulfill both of these verses.
6In the meantime, while they were talking, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi came to the house of study and everyone quickly went to sit in their assigned places. Those who were light-footed hurried and sat in their places. Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, due to his being very heavy, was stepping and walking slowly, as everyone was already sitting in his place on the ground, requiring him to pass over their heads in order to get to his place.
7Abdon, the shortened form of the name of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s student and attendant, Abba Yudan, said to him: Who is that individual stepping over the heads of a sacred people, for it appeared to him as an act of disrespect to those sitting that Rabbi Yishmael stepped over their heads. He said to him: I am Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, who came to learn Torah from Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Abdon said to him: But are you fit to learn Torah from Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, for it seems that you are showing disrespect to others in order to accomplish it?
8He said to him: Was Moses fit to learn Torah from the mouth of the Almighty? Rather, it is not necessary that the student be as dignified as his teacher. He said to him: And are you Moses? Rabbi Yishmael said to him: And is your teacher God? Rav Yosef said about this part of the story: Here Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi received his retribution [ mittarpesei ] for remaining silent during this discussion and not reprimanding his student for humiliating Rabbi Yishmael. And what is his retribution? When Rabbi Yishmael spoke to Abdon, he said your teacher, and not my teacher, implying that he did not accept Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s authority upon himself.
9In the meantime, a yevama came before Rabbi, and she was a minor close to the age of maturity who had performed ḥalitza , but it was not clear whether she had already reached the age of maturity necessary to validate her ḥalitza . Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to Abdon: Go and check to see if she has already reached maturity. After Abdon left, Rabbi Yishmael said to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi : My father, Rabbi Yosei, said as follows: “Man” is written in the Torah portion of ḥalitza , but the woman may be either an adult woman or a female minor.
10Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to Abdon : Come back. You do not need to check, as the Elder, Rabbi Yosei, has already ruled that a minor can perform ḥalitza , and therefore no further examination is required. Abdon was stepping and coming over the heads of the others in order to return to his place. Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, said to him: One upon whom a holy people depends may step over the heads of a holy people. But one upon whom a holy people does not depend, as there is no longer a need for Abdon to examine the woman, how can he step over the heads of a holy people?
11Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said to Abdon: Stand in your place and do not go any further. It was taught: At that moment Abdon was afflicted with leprosy as a punishment for insulting Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, and two of his sons who were recently married drowned, and his two daughters-in-law, who were minors married to those sons, made declarations of refusal and annulled their marriages. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Blessed is the Merciful One, Who shames Abdon in this world, for this prevents him from being punished further in the World-to-Come, as all his iniquities have been forgiven through this suffering.
12Rabbi Ami said: From the words of the great man, Rabbi Yosei, let us learn: A female minor performs ḥalitza even as a young child, at age six or seven. Rava said: She may not perform ḥalitza until she reaches the age of vows as an eleven-year-old, when she has enough intellectual capacity to understand the meaning of a vow. However, the Gemara concludes: And the halakha is: She may not perform ḥalitza until she has two pubic hairs.
13It was taught in the mishna: If she performed ḥalitza before two or three people, and one of them is found to be disqualified to serve as a judge, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yoḥanan the Cobbler validate it. Rav Yosef bar Minyumi said that Rav Naḥman said: The halakha does not follow this pair who validate such a case. The Gemara asks: But didn’t Rav Naḥman already say this same ruling one time before? As Rav Yosef bar Minyumi said that Rav Naḥman said: Ḥalitza must be conducted before three people, indicating that there must be no fewer than three valid judges.
14The Gemara answers: Both are necessary, for if only the first one, stating that ḥalitza must be before three judges, were stated, I would say: This applies ab initio , but after the fact even two is acceptable. Therefore, he teaches us that the halakha does not follow this pair of Sages, and her ḥalitza before two people is invalid even after the fact. And vice versa: If he would have told us only that the halakha does not follow this pair, but rather the first tanna , I would say that it is valid if performed before three people only after the fact, but they must require five people ab initio , in accordance with Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion. Therefore it is necessary to say both of these statements.
15§ A story is told in the mishna about an incident in which a couple once performed ḥalitza between themselves in private while alone in prison, and the case later came before Rabbi Akiva and he validated it. The Gemara asks: How can we know what happened between him and her? There was no testimony to confirm it, and how can we be certain that the ḥalitza was done properly to validate it? Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: And the ḥalitza was validated because there were witnesses who saw them from outside the prison, who testified that the ḥalitza was performed properly.
16A dilemma was raised before the students in the house of study with regard to the incident recorded in the mishna in which a private ḥalitza performed in a prison was validated: Did the incident in which they performed ḥalitza between him and her privately actually take place outside in a different locale, and the reference to prison is that the case came before Rabbi Akiva when he was confined in prison? Or, perhaps the incident when they performed ḥalitza between him and her took place in prison, and then this case came before Rabbi Akiva? Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: The ḥalitza incident took place in prison, and also the case came to Rabbi Akiva when he was in prison.