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from chalitzah.” The question arises, why should the woman not re-
quire chalitzah, since at the time her husband died he had no child
and this is therefore included in the scenario described by the Torah
as“without a child” [i.e. she should require either yibum or chalitzah]?
[See Rashi (Yevamos 87b) who writes,“‘Without a child’ – this refers
to the time of his death.” In several places it is clear that it is the mo-
ment of the husband’s death that imposes the obligation of yibum or
chalitzah.] The answer to this question is that when the husband dies
leaving an unborn fetus, this is called having a child [provided the
fetus is later born].

The Noda B’yehudah concludes [his resolution of the question
of the Av Beis Din or Tartakove] with a novel insight. If a woman
was not fertilized by her husband’s sperm before his death but only
became pregnant [from his sperm that was already inside her] and
gave birth after his death, although the child is considered as the son
of her husband in every respect, nevertheless in regard to yibum, since
at the time of his death he was “without a child” she requires yibum.
Accordingly, we understand why a yavam need not wait ninety three
days, for either way – if fertilization took place before his brother’s
death the pregnancy would have been recognizable after ninety days
and if it only took place after his death, even though there has been
fertilization and she is now pregnant, she still requires yibum and
there is no concern about having relations with a brother’s wife with-
out a mitzvah.

In light of this insight, the Noda B’yehudah concludes that since
the birth took place more than nine months after the night of the
woman’s immersion, we must suspect that the fertilization took place
after the husband’s death [in order to narrow the gap between the
beginning of the pregnancy and the birth as much as possible]. The
woman therefore requires chalitzah, despite the fact that we attribute
the child to her late husband.

Ultimately however, owing to the great novelty of his insight [that
if fertilization took place after the husband’s death the wife requires
chalitzah] and to the fact that we don’t find any posek who is con-
cerned about this the Noda B’yehudah declares,“because we imagine

Posthumous Artificial Inseminatio 2 51