Surrogate in Judaism

Question

Does any form of the sororate or sorogate exist in Jewish Law?
Did it exist post-Torah?

 

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The Torah states in Deuteronomy 25:5-10: “When brothers are on the earth at the same time, and one of them dies and he has no children; the wife of the dead brother must not marry outside to a strange man. Her brother-in-law shall come to her and perform [the duty of] levirate marriage with her. And he shall be, the first-born whom she bears; he shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, and so the name of the dead brother shall not be erased from the people of Israel… But if he refuses to marry his sister-in-law… she shall remove his shoe… His name shall be called in Israel: ‘The house of he whose shoe was removed’.”

    This Commandment is called Yibum and it is one of the Six Hundred and Thirteen Mitzvahs. However, in order for the widow and her brother-in-law to marry, their intentions must be pure and righteous. Because it is such a difficult thing to be able to measure, the Rabbis decreed that, in all cases, Yibum may no longer be performed, and a different ceremony called Chalitza should take its place.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team