Yerushalmi Yevamot 16:2 ירושלמי יבמות ט״ז:ב׳

MISHNAH: If each one of two sisters-in-law¹⁸The wives of two brothers. says “my husband died”, each one is forbidden because of the other’s husband¹⁹Each of them can testify that her husband is dead but her testimony is not accepted for her sister-in-law (Mishnah 15:4). Neither of them can marry outside the family until the death of her levir is confirmed by another source.. If one has witnesses but the other has no witnesses, the one who has witnesses is forbidden but the one who has no witnesses is permitted²⁰If the husband of the sister-in-law was the only levir, his death confirmed by witnesses releases his brother’s widow from levirate.. If one has children but the other has no children, the one who has children is permitted²¹She is forbidden for levirate. but the one who has no children is forbidden. If they married in levirate²²There were other brothers in addition to the two husbands. Since each woman is believed when she declares to be a widow, she must be believed that she has the right to be married in levirate. but the levirs died²³They died childless and there are no other brothers. For the rabbis, the situation is now that of the first case, that the death of the first two brothers is only asserted by the women, each of whom is excluded as source of information regarding her sister-in-law., they are forbidden to remarry. Rebbi Eleazar said, since they were permitted to the levirs, they became permitted to any man.

HALAKHAH: ²⁵A similar text in Tosephta 14:3. There is no quote from the Mishnah here. Two sisters-in-law, of whom one has children and witnesses but the other has neither. The first one is permitted by children, the other one by her witnesses²⁶The widow with children can remarry outside the family. The widow without witnesses is believed if she states that she is a widow. Since her levir’s death is certified by witnesses, she is free to marry outside the family..

What is the reason of Rebbi Eleazar²⁹In ms. A and the Tosephta which parallels the Mishnah (14:3), the name everywhere is R. Eliezer. The abbreviation ר״א used by several medieval authors in quotes of the Mishnah usually refers to R. Eliezer.? Is it because she is not suspected to cause trouble [to herself in order later to cause trouble to her co-wife or because she is not suspected to cause any trouble] to her co-wife? Let us hear from the following: ³⁰Mishnah 15:7.“If a woman went overseas with her husband and returns and says ‘my husband died’, she can remarry and collect her ketubah, but her co-wife remains forbidden.” We explain it, saying that she is suspected to cause trouble to herself in order to cause trouble to her co-wife, and Rebbi Eleazar does not disagree³¹Halakhah 15:7.. It is impossible that the reason be that she is not suspected to cause any trouble to her co-wife. We could suspect that perhaps her husband sent her a bill of divorce from overseas³²If she remarriesas a divorcee, she has not sinned even though in reality she is a divorcee. But if her co-wife remarries on her testimony, the co-wife’s children will be bastards born in adultery.. Think of it, what if her [next] husband was a Cohen³³As a divorcee, it is sinful for her to marry a Cohen and her children will be desecrated from priesthood, but the marriage is valid. The Babli, 120a, dismisses the thought that a woman would willingly desecrate her children.? Rebbi Abba bar Rebbi Zemina said, she is suspected to produce several desecrated children in order to make bastards of her co-wife’s children.