For the source text click/tap here: Yevamot 31
To download, click/tap here: PDF
When a bet din – a Jewish court – needs to establish facts in order to make a decision, the preferred method is to listen to the testimony of eyewitnesses and rule according to the statement that they make. The principle taught by the Torah is that testimony of two witnesses is accepted as definitive (see Devarim 19:15), and in the words of the Talmud, trei ke-me’ah – if two witnesses testify, it is as though one hundred did.
What if two pair of witnesses come into court and each tells a different, conflicting story?
In such a case the Gemara rules that we must use other methods in order to reach a conclusion on how to decide the case.
The Gemara’s suggestion is to rely on chazaka – we accept the status quo ante, i.e. that the situation has not changed – until we find compelling evidence that suggests otherwise.
We continue to explore the difference between Levirate and Agnate marriages with the work of Dr Samuel Belkin.