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levirate marriage and the family in ancient judaism
in this study weisberg uses levirate marriage an institution that involves the union of a man and the widow of his childless brother as described in biblical law and explicated in rabbinic judaism as a lens to examine the status of women and attitudes toward marriage sexuality and reproduction in early jewish society . while marriage generally marks the beginning of a new family unit levirate comes into play when a familys life is cut short . as such it offers an opportunity to study the family at a moment of breakdown and restructuring . br with her discussion rooted in rabbinic sources and commentary weisberg explores kinship structure and descent the relationship between a family unit created through levirate marriage and the extended family and the roles of individuals within the family . she also considers the position of women asking whether it is through marriage or the bearing of children that a woman becomes part of her husbands family and to what degree a married woman remains part of her natal family . she argues that rabbinic responses to levirate suggest that a family is an evolving entity one that can preserve itself through realignment and redefinition .