marriage, marrying, the state of being married; more specific tags are `wedding` and `intermarriage`
31
votes
5answers
2k views
What is the halachic source for objection to gay (civil) marriage?
New York State is considering legalizing gay (civil) marriages, so tonight on our answering machine we received a message urging us to pray that it doesn't pass because gay civil marriages were, you ...
20
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the point of having a rapist marry the woman he raped?
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (JPS)
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man that lay ...
18
votes
2answers
910 views
Questions about Polygamy in Jewish Law and Culture
I've recently been looking into polygamy (having more than 1 wife), and had a few cultural questions.
Was polygamy accepted at the time of David and Solomon? Were there any laws about it?
Was ...
15
votes
2answers
599 views
Apologetics for marriage at 3 years old
Are there contemporary apologetics for the Mishnah (Niddah 44b) that a girl of the age of 3 can be married by sexual relations? (It seems difficult to accept that such a thing is even allowed in ...
14
votes
3answers
341 views
Saying “I love you” during nidda
While a woman is nidda and she and her husband are observing harchakot, is it permitted for them to tell each other, "I love you," or is that too suggestive of a statement for the nidda period?
14
votes
3answers
211 views
Was it ever the norm for children to get married?
The Gemara describes many Halachos that apply when someone gets married at very young ages, many under 12, and even a few for the age of 3. There are stories of people who did get married at such ages ...
14
votes
1answer
289 views
Riddle: when would a couple be forced to break their engagement? [closed]
Riddle:
Chaim and Shprintza got engaged. They, their entire families, and their rabbis were all totally happy about the engagement. They didn't hide any information from one another. Chaim and ...
14
votes
2answers
248 views
Called to the Torah before wedding
I recently received an invitation to a friends wedding and I noticed that it said he would be "Called to the Torah" with a date and time approximately 1 week before the wedding.
I am not Jewish, so ...
13
votes
4answers
393 views
Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom text
Does anyone know where I can find the actual text of the Gezeira of Rabbeinu Gershom? It keeps popping up in my learning, but only as being referenced, I would like to read that actual text.
13
votes
2answers
321 views
Why is hair sometimes considered *erva* (nakedness) but sometimes not?
Why do people say that the hair of a married woman is considered as nakedness, but not the hair of a single woman? Isn't hair just hair? What if a man grew his hair long - would it also be ...
13
votes
1answer
209 views
What's the leading medical explanation for the “woman whose husbands keep dying” (“katlanit”) phenomenon?
The Gemara says that if a woman gets married, then her husband dies; then marries another guy and is widowed from him; then once more; we then assume something about her is causing her husbands to die ...
12
votes
8answers
334 views
Yaakov Marrying Two Sisters
According to those that say the Avos kept the Torah beforehand (here), how was Yaakov allowed to marry two sisters?
(Yes, I'm aware that there are many answers)
12
votes
3answers
1k views
Taking a concubine (pilegesh) today
Moderator's note: As with all discussions of Jewish law on this site, any information included in this question or its answers is presented only for the purpose of understanding the relevant ideas, ...
12
votes
2answers
322 views
Can someone have more than one potential soulmate simultaneously?
I have been told from several different people that it is possible for one person to have multiple Besherts (divinely intended marriage partners, soulmates if you will) to choose from. He may only ...
12
votes
2answers
231 views
Marital Prenups
In 1993 Rabbi Mordechai Willig, a Rosh Yeshiva at YU and a member of the Beth Din of America, drafted a prenup for use at Jewish weddings to avoid future Aguna/Mesorevet Get problems. The agreement ...
12
votes
1answer
284 views
Is it ok for spouses to touch in public?
Are spouses allowed to touch one another in public (when the wife is not a niddah) or is this a violation of tzniut? I am asking specifically regarding touch that is not in any way sexual or even ...
11
votes
4answers
363 views
Getting married in age order
Those that refrain from allowing a younger sibling to get married prior to an older sibling mention the verse from Lavan, "Lo Yaiose Kain BimiKomeinu Losais Hatziyira Lifnei HaBechira, In our locale ...
11
votes
3answers
259 views
11
votes
1answer
120 views
If a woman had more than one husband, to which would she be united at the Resurrection?
Ezra Stiles was a Congregationalist minister in Newport, Rhode Island in the late 18th century. He was a frequent visitor to the Newport Synagogue and there met Rabbi Raphael Hayyim Issac Carregal, a ...
11
votes
2answers
136 views
Promised to name son Shimon - now husband is Shimon!?
A woman who desperately wanted to get married traveled to Meron, the burial place of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai, and vowed that if she found her match, she would name her first son Shimon in his merit. ...
10
votes
2answers
686 views
Can a Cohen marry a bat niddah?
Can a Cohen marry a bat niddah? Are Cohens generally restricted from marrying baalei teshuva because of the possibility that they may be b'not niddah?
10
votes
6answers
422 views
40 Days Before Conception
It is written somewhere (I don't remember exactly where) that 40 days before conception, it is called out in Heaven who that person will marry. However, if the person gets married multiple times how ...
10
votes
1answer
727 views
Can you see your wife unclothed?
I think someone in another question here (or on another site?) said he was told by his "chassan teacher" not to look at his wife unclothed. It seems like this is not the real halacha to me, or at ...
10
votes
3answers
355 views
Talis Gadol for Unmarried Individuals
In my minhag (and I believe it's minhag Ashkenaz), unmarried men do not wear a Talis Gadol (only a Talis Katan).
Why is this so?
10
votes
2answers
246 views
What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape?
What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape?
What are the steps taken and how does this come to be resolved according to halachah and in the most constructive way for ...
10
votes
3answers
214 views
Why did Achashveirosh take Esther if she was already married?
According to the opinion that Queen Esther was married to Mordechai.
Achashveirosh was looking for unmarried girls (Esther 2:2–4). Why did he take a married woman? Especially considering that Queen ...
10
votes
2answers
295 views
Would a baalat teshuva need a get from each previous sexual relationship?
Would a baalat teshuva need a get from each previous sexual relationship? In light of the idea that marriage can be contracted solely through bi'ah/public knowledge of the couple's relationship (as ...
10
votes
1answer
103 views
Why did Avraham prefer the daughters of Aner, Eshkol and Mamre over Eliezer's daughter?
Rashi on Bereishis 24:39 says that
Abraham said to [Eliezer] “My son is blessed, and you are cursed [Eliezer was a descendant of Canaan who had been cursed by Noah], and an accursed one cannot ...
9
votes
6answers
278 views
Leah: Isn't it enough that you took away my husband?
I have never had any understanding of this statement by Leah to Rachel: "Isn't it enough that you took away my husband?" in parsha vayetze.
The obvious truth seems to be the opposite: after all, ...
9
votes
2answers
401 views
Can the child of two converts marry a Cohen?
Can the child of two converts marry a Cohen? How does the situation differ if only the mother, or only the father, is a convert?
(I have read that "ideally" the child of two converts should not ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Is a rabbi required to be married?
I have heard (I honestly cannot remember where...) that to be a rabbi a man must be married. Is there any truth to this?
I am more interested in knowing if this "WAS" true in time of Jesus, than if ...
9
votes
2answers
385 views
Can only the husband in a gentile married couple convert?
We are a gentile married couple and my husband wants to convert orthodox and im still not sure if i want to convert at all. i found out that the conservative would let my husband convert and stay with ...
9
votes
3answers
418 views
9
votes
1answer
157 views
Does someone who dies very young have a soulmate?
As discussed in this question, the Talmud tells us that 40 days before someone is born, a heavenly voice calls out "This person is destined for so-and-so".
Not sure if anyone can answer this, but ...
9
votes
0answers
183 views
(How) was Tu B'Av observed as a matchmaking/singles-meeting event through history?
I know the Talmud describes how the fifteenth day of the month of Av (Tu b'Av) was a day of ... I'd say "matchmaking", but I think "marriage-minded-singles-meeting" is more like it:
אמר רבן שמעון ...
8
votes
2answers
227 views
Why doesn't a ben niddah acquire the status of a mamzer?
One who commits incest is punished with Kares (spiritual separation from the divine source), and any product of incest has the status of a Mamzer.
One who has relations with a Niddah is also ...
8
votes
1answer
140 views
Are marriages on Shabbat allowed?
I saw a similar question, hope I'm not being redundant.
I wanted to know if marriages on Shabbat are allowed, and if not, where is it said, and why not.
Thanks in advance! It is a pleasure!
8
votes
2answers
174 views
What's the role of the state in halacha's recognition of marriage for Bnai Noach (non-Jews)?
If I understand correctly (I think this was in R' Aaron Lichtenstein's book on the Seven Noahide Laws), halacha recognizes a marriage between a non-Jewish man and woman if they've gone through ...
8
votes
2answers
234 views
Polyandry and Polygamy In Judiasm
What is rule and constraint on Polygamy and Polyandry in Jewish Rule? Is that allowed or prohibited? In both case either allowed or not, give me explanation on it.
I found one or two question on ...
8
votes
3answers
426 views
Custom of not giving knives as a gift?
I'd heard that some people have a custom not to give knives as a gift (as knives are a sign of shortening life, not extending it); I asked one rabbi who said he hadn't heard of such a custom, but it ...
8
votes
2answers
105 views
Respect: Parents and parents-in-law
Does the Respect required by the children for their parents is equally true for the parents-in-law ?
I'm sure a son has to obey his father above his father-in-law if there is any disagreement between ...
8
votes
1answer
196 views
If a Jewish couple is married through a civil ceremony alone, do Jewish marriage laws apply to them thereafter?
If a Jewish couple is married through a civil ceremony alone, do Jewish marriage laws apply to them thereafter? Assume no ketubah; perhaps a ring, but not necessarily 2 witnesses. Could one say that ...
8
votes
1answer
65 views
Did Yaakov marry Bilah and Zilpah?
Bilah and Zilpah are referred to as the נְשֵׁי of Yaakov (Bereshis 37:2). Did he ever technically, formally marry them?
8
votes
3answers
314 views
Halachic/sociological basis to support the split-apart beds for a nida couple?
I'd seen a clip from a TV show that's about Orthodox Israelis in which a married couple has a bed that's one big frame, upon which two mattresses can either slide together or apart, depending on the ...
8
votes
2answers
461 views
Are Jewish women permitted to use birth control that stops menstruation?
Is there any reason that a Jewish woman who has permission from her Rabbi to use birth control could not choose a pill that stops her from menstruating? Although certain birth control pills are ...
8
votes
2answers
225 views
Why should one have marital relations as if forced by a demon?
The gemarah (nedarim 20b) mentions that one of the reasons for having beautiful children is due to having relations "as if forced by a demon". Rashi there explains the term as either indicating that ...
8
votes
1answer
322 views
Married woman covering hair
Is it strictly necessary for a married woman to keep her hair covered in the following situations? If not, how important is it?
1) When alone in the house
2) When alone (or with husband) in the ...
7
votes
1answer
374 views
Daughter of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man
Is a Kohen allowed to marry a woman who is the daughter of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man?
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Kohen Gadol Yibum
Is it ever possible for a Kohen Gadol to perform the Mitzvah of Yibum. After all, every case of Yibum involves a widow which the Kohen Gadol is not allowed to marry?
7
votes
1answer
115 views
Beis Shammai's dinar for kiddushin - philosophy?
The Mishna in Kiddushin (1:1) outlines a machlokes regarding the minimum amount of money necessary to effect kiddushin (i.e. create a marriage).
According to Beis Hillel, the amount of money (or ...
