Tell me more ×
Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It's 100% free, no registration required.

Many American rabbis will refuse to perform a wedding unless the couple has a specialized prenup regarding halachic divorce. This is known as "The RCA prenup" or "Rabbi Willig's prenup." From what I understand, its mechanism is almost identical to one found in a document in Nachlas Shiva, from hundreds of years ago. Here's the quote from Nachlas Shiva:

ואם ח”ו שיעשה כמר פלוני הנ”ל לזוגתו מרת פלונית איזו דברים שאינה יכולה לסבול וצריכה לבית דין, אז תיכף ומיד יתן לה עשרה זהובים לפיזור מזונות. וכן יתן לה כל חודש וחודש משך ימי הקטט. וכל בגדיה ותכשיטיה השייכים לגופה. וירד עמה בדיני ישראל לבית דין שלהם, תוך שני שבועות אחר בקשתו ממנו, ועל פיהם יעמוד כל ריב וכל נגע.

Should, G-d forbid, Mr. so-and-so do anything that his wife, Mrs. so-and-so, cannot bear, and they shall need a rabbinic court, immediately he must provide her with ten gold coins for her support, and continue to do so monthly for the duration of the conflict ... The husband shall deal with a Jewish court following Jewish law, within two weeks of his wife's request to do so; this court shall have final say.

Yet I've heard that some rabbis are halachically opposed to today's prenup because they feel it's a problem of "get me'useh" (a Jewish divorce can be invalidated if it was done under duress, in some circumstances; here the duress would be the ongoing payments of support). Do they disagree with the above Nachlas Shiva text, or draw some distinction between it and the contemporary case?

share|improve this question
Is that the entire prenup? I don't see anything there about a get, only a din torah. – YDK Nov 3 '10 at 16:33
1  
From context, I'm pretty sure the language here was a euphemism for a Get. – Shalom Nov 3 '10 at 16:58
1  
Possibly, but keep in mind a society where staying in a bad marriage protected by court orders may have been a better option than divorce. – YDK Nov 3 '10 at 23:55
In the Talmud, they would beat the husband until he gave a get, so since that wasn't duress then how would this agreed payment be? The only argument I can see against this, is that if the man knew he was going to get a divorce, he wouldn't have signed this document / wouldn't have agreed to the terms. (Similar to the assumptions regarding gambling) – avi May 22 '11 at 18:28
@Avi, to answer your question: physical coercion could only be ordered by the courts in situations where they'd rule he "absolutely must" release her. In many situations it's not quite that bad, so duress would invalidate the Get; the question then becomes whether self-imposed duress is considered duress (and if a support agreement is considered self-imposed duress). – Shalom May 23 '11 at 20:16
show 1 more comment

1 Answer

If you can find where is the source (where in Nachalas Shiva) on hebrewbooks it would be helpful.

There is an old dispute whether Ones Mammon (forcing someone to give a get through money, in other words fining him if he doesn't gives a get) is considered an ones or not. The Rama says that there is an argument between the Bais Yosef in the name of the Mahari"k and the Rashba. The Rama says that lechatchila one should absolve the husband from the fine.

Here the situation is different, as the 10 gold coins could be pre-obligated as support (what he is obligated according to the ksuva and not connected to the get.)

share|improve this answer
1  
Isn't this a comment? – Double AA Feb 3 at 2:43

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.