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this woman who gave birth after seven years. Otherwise 2
what limit should we set after which we suspect foul play?!
Moreover, even if a woman becomes pregnant for the first
time after ten years we will not suspect adultery.

2. Menstrual bleeding after the husband’s death – even
though it is uncommon for a pregnant woman to see
blood, we should not, chas ve’shalom cast aspersions on
her presumption of innocence because of this. Shall we
accuse a Jewish daughter of playing harlot, presuming she
was promiscuous and disregarding her presumption of
proper behavior and her presumption of being fit to marry
a kohen simply because she saw blood during pregnancy?!
For should we presume she had promiscuous relations we
thereby disqualify her from marriage to a kohen and such
a presumption goes against the majority, for most Jewish
daughters are not promiscuous. There have been cases
of expectant women having menstrual bleeding during
the initial months of their pregnancies. Physicians too
have testified to having seen a number of cases of women
who had menstrual bleeding up to the eight month and
although that is uncommon, during the early months of
pregnancy it is a very common occurrence.

3. Although the Taz (Yoreh De’ah 335:5) and the Shach
(Yoreh De’ah 195:19) both state that a man who is deathly
ill does not have the strength to achieve an erection, their
intention is that he cannot have a major erection to the
point where desire overcomes him and leads him to sin.
In our case however, where the woman had immersed in a
mikvah, and it is a mitzvah for him have relations with her
and the woman also persuaded him to do so, particularly
since she saw that he was dangerously ill and she was con-
cerned lest she require chalitzah from the brother-in-law
who was three years old, necessitating a ten year wait until
he attains maturity – it is certain that she made every effort
to find favor with him and he thereby achieved an erection.

48 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein