For the source text click/tap here: Yevamot 112
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The new perek is concerned with divorce or yibbum involving a deaf man and/or woman. As we have mentioned previously, according to the rabbis deaf-mutes lack “da’at”, which I translate as “awareness” and hence they cannot truly contract marriage. The marriage which they do contract is considered “derabbanan”, that is of rabbinic origin.
A deaf man can divorce a woman of sound senses by making gestures that make it clear that he wants to divorce her. Just as he can marry a woman by making gestures which make his intent clear, so too he can divorce her. A man of sound senses can divorce a deaf woman, even though she may not understand that she is being divorced. This is because a woman can be divorced against her will.
We explore the world of deafness in antiquity as well as Alexander graham Bell’s ambivalent views on deafness, as well as exciting new discoveries about light beams helping gerbils hear.
We end with the NAZI approach to deafness as a genetic flaw and the stories of deaf survivors.