For the source text click/tap here: Yevamot 104
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A widow without children must marry her brother-in-law via sexual intercourse, which is the yibum ceremony, or take off his shoe, which is the chalitzah ceremony, a type of divorce between the widow and the levir. It is written “And she shall remove his shoe from his foot” (Deuteronomy 25:9).
From the Torah’s use of foot the early stages (the Tanaaim) learned that if the brother-in-law is lame and his leg has been amputated below the knee, the widow cannot fulfill the chalitzah ceremony — for the part of the leg above the knee is not considered a foot; only the part below the knee is considered a foot.
We explore the halachic restrictions applying to the amputee including reference to Dr Fred Rosner and Rabbi Mordechai Tendler’s review of Reb moshe Feinstein’s rulings.