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Back then was a 9 year old and 1 day boy allowed to do yebam to his dead brothers wife?

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Yes. However, it's not considered "real" yibbum; any relations that they have until he reaches the age of majority (13 years old) don't change that status. (So if they don't have relations after he reaches that age, then dissolving this marriage requires both a get and chalitzah. On the other hand, if they are intimate after he reaches age 13, then the yibbum fully takes effect, and only a get is needed to end it.)

(Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 167:2. Rambam, Laws of Yibbum and Chalitzah 1:16, seems to say that in the first case only chalitzah is needed.)

Thanks to @DoubleAA for pointing out my mistake in the previous version of this answer.

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  • If I'm not mistaken, if there was a huge age gap, they would generally recommend chalitza anyhow ...
    – Shalom
    Aug 27, 2010 at 17:48
  • I thought a katan can't give a get.
    – Double AA ♦
    Feb 2, 2012 at 7:21
  • @DoubleAA, you're right - Even HaEzer 167:5 it indeed says that "a minor's get is not a get" (and in 43:1 it says that his kiddushin are of no consequence halachically and therefore no get is needed). Hm, then, that raises the question: in what situation could she theoretically be allowed to marry anyone else? If he dies, she'd anyway need chalitzah because of her "marriage" to him (assuming, as I would expect, that they were indeed childless - unless perhaps it is possible for him to father children while still a minor? Though the discussion in Sanhedrin 69a-b seems to go against that.)
    – Alex
    Feb 2, 2012 at 16:34
  • @Alex Maybe she's just stuck untill he grows up.
    – Double AA ♦
    Feb 2, 2012 at 16:46
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See Kiddushin 19a, where the Gemara derives from a pasuk that there is no death penalty for relations with a woman married to a nine-year old through yibum.

Also see Yevamos 96b, where the Mishna states that the Yibum of a nine year old is a weak marriage- if he dies she still needs chalitza from the other brothers, but she can't do yibum to any of them, as she had already "married" the child. (In a normal case, after yibum she would become the yavam's wife entirely, and would not need chalitza upon his death.)

There are three approaches to understanding this:

1) Rashi: Min HaTorah yibum works fully, but there is no chiyuv misah. MideRabanan it's reduced to a weak marriage, as per Yevamos 96b.

2) Tosafos: The yibum has no effect at all, mideRabanan it's upgraded to a weak marriage.

3) Ramban: The yibum is partially effective.

All agree that the relationship is permitted, as mentioned in a previous answer. See Yevamos 111b, Yevamos 96b Tos. sv nasah.

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