and so one of the seed of Israel.

_Yevamoth_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Rabbi Yochanan said:--If, after the death of her husband, a woman should
remain unmarried for ten years and then marry again, she will have no
children. Rav Nachman added:--Provided she have not thought of marrying
all the while; but if she had thought of marrying again, in that case
she will have children. Rava once said to Rav Chisda's daughter (who
bore children to Rava, though she did not marry him until ten years
after her first husband's death), "The Rabbis have their doubts about
you." She replied, "I had always set my heart upon thee." A woman once
said to Rav Yoseph, "I waited ten years before I married again, and then
I had children." "Daughter," said he, "do not bring the words of the
wise into discredit. It is thou, not they, that are mistaken." Then the
woman confessed that she had been a transgressor.

Ibid., fol. 34, col. 2.

The Rabbis teach that if a man live with a wife ten years without issue
he should divorce her and give her the prescribed marriage portion, as
he may not be deemed worthy to be built up by her (that is, to have
children by her).

Ibid., fol. 64, col. 2.

As a set-off we append here a romantic story paraphrased from
the Midrash Shir Hashirim. A certain Israelite of Sidon, having
lived many years with his wife without being blessed with
offspring, made up his mind to give her a bill of divorcement.
They went accordingly together to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, that
legal effect might be given to the act of separation. Upon
presenting themselves before him, the Rabbi addressed them in
these fatherly accents:--"My children," said he, "your divorce
must not take place in pettishness or anger, lest people should
surmise something guilty or disgraceful as the motive for the
action. Let your parting, therefore, be like your meeting,
friendly and cheerful. Go home, make a feast, and invite your
friends to share it with you; and then to-morrow return and I
will ratify the divorce you seek for." Acting upon this advice,
they went home, got ready a feast, invited their friends, and
made merry together. "My dear," said the husband at length to
his wife, "we have lived for many a long year lovingly together,
and now that we are about to be separated, it is not because
there is any ill-will between us, but simply because we are not
blessed with a fami