We continue with Maseches Yevamos, chapter 'Cheresh', mishnah 9, which carries on the discussion of a boy of nine years and one day who has relations with his yevamah.
The text of the mishnah:
"Ben tesha shanim v'yom echad sheba al yevimto, u'mishehigdil nasa ishah acheres u'mes" - a minor of nine years and one day had relations with his yevamah, and after he grew up and became bar mitzvah he married another woman. This second woman was married to him with a full marriage. Afterward he died, and it turns out that he left two wives: a yevamah who was acquired to him through the relations of his minority, and a wife whom he married as an adult.
"Im lo yada es harishonah mishehigdil" - when he did not have relations with the yevamah again after he grew up, the bond between them remains based on the relations of his minority alone, which is not a complete bond but is considered a form of maamar. Therefore the mishnah rules:
"Harishonah choletzes v'lo misyabemes" - as was explained in the previous mishnah, she has a zikah from the first husband and a maamar from the second, and a woman upon whom two different bonds take effect is not eligible for yibum. Therefore she only undergoes chalitzah.
"V'hasheniyah choletzes u'misyabemes" - the woman he married as an adult was not impaired at all, and therefore she may either undergo chalitzah or be taken in yibum.
The opinion of Rabbi Shimon:
Rabbi Shimon disagrees. According to his approach, as we saw in the previous mishnayos, the relations of a boy of nine years are a matter of doubt: either they are fully effective, or they are entirely ineffective. Therefore he says: "Yeyabem l'eizo sheyirtzeh v'yachalotz lasheniyah" - he may take either of the two women in yibum and perform chalitzah with the other. How so?
He takes the first in yibum, based on the possibility that she is his full wife and the bond with her may be continued, and he performs chalitzah with the second, based on the possibility that the relations of his minority were entirely ineffective, so that the second woman requires yibum in her own right.
Or the reverse: he performs chalitzah with the first, in case her relations were effective, and takes the second in yibum.
A principle in defining a minor:
The mishnah sums up all of these halachos stated regarding a boy of nine and establishes: "Echad shehu ben tesha shanim v'yom echad, v'echad shehu ben esrim shanah shelo heivi shtei se'aros" - the same law applies to both. Even one who has reached the age of twenty and has not brought forth the signs of maturity, two hairs, is considered a minor despite his age, and his status is like that of a boy of nine.
This limitation applies until he reaches the age of thirty five, which is half of the normal lifespan of seventy years. From that point on, even in the absence of signs of maturity, he is considered an adult in any case.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned the law of a boy of nine who had relations with his yevamah and, after he grew up, married another woman and died: according to the first tanna the first woman undergoes chalitzah and is not taken in yibum, because both a zikah and a maamar rest upon her together, while the second woman either undergoes chalitzah or is taken in yibum. According to Rabbi Shimon, who holds that the relations of a minor are a matter of doubt, he takes whichever one he wishes in yibum and performs chalitzah with the other. We also learned that the law of a minor applies as well to a twenty year old who has not brought forth two hairs, until he reaches the age of thirty five.