For the source text click/tap here: Yevamot 88
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(Steinzaltz OBM writes:) What if we get word that one spouse has died, but that testimony is later contradicted?
Under such circumstances we may find that the alleged widow will marry, even as she is still a married woman.
Similarly, the husband may find himself in a forbidden relationship with his wife’s sister, who he married while under the misimpression that his wife had passed away. Even though these marriages may have taken place with the permission of the Jewish courts, under most circumstances, a mistaken ruling by those batei din cannot permit this forbidden relationship.
One circumstance that can lead to this type of situation is when a single witness comes and testifies that the husband is dead and based on this testimony the courts permit the alleged widow to remarry.
Ordinarily halakha demands that two witnesses testify in order to clarify a situation.
Why is this case different?
We review the unique case requiring only one witness then compare with the Qumran rule for three witnesses as described by Prof Lawrence Schiffman the Qumran Halacha scholar and Prof Steven Fraade the midrash Halacha expert.