25 votes

Wife not wearing wedding ring after marrriage

For a good review of the significance of the wedding ring in Judaism, I recommend the section entitled "The Marriage Ring" of the book The Jewish Way in Love & Marriage, by R' Maurice Lamm. As R' ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
  • 47.6k
19 votes

Why would a Jewish woman marry through a religious ceremony, knowing she risks becoming an agunah for life?

Let's take your question a step farther: why get married at all? Why not just live with, and have relations with, whomever you like? No marriage means no difficulties in ending it. If you're ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
18 votes

Can a rabbi conduct a marriage if the bride is already pregnant from the groom?

Short answer -- it's allowed. You'll find a discussion elsewhere on this site about if someone impregnated a woman, do we recommend that he marry her. Which implies that the rabbi can certainly do ...
Shalom's user avatar
  • 130k
17 votes

May a man marry the women with whom he committed adultery?

No. See Mishnah Sotah, 5:1: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאֲסוּרָה לַבַּעַל, כָּךְ אֲסוּרָה לַבּוֹעֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם) נִטְמְאָה, וְנִטְמָאָה, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, כָּךְ הָיָה דוֹרֵשׁ ...
DonielF's user avatar
  • 34k
17 votes

Should a young man establish an income/house first and then marry or vice versa?

Sotah 44a: תנו רבנן אשר בנה אשר נטע אשר ארש לימדה תורה דרך ארץ שיבנה אדם בית ויטע כרם ואח"כ ישא אשה ואף שלמה אמר בחכמתו (משלי כד, כז) הכן בחוץ מלאכתך ועתדה בשדה לך אחר ובנית ביתך הכן בחוץ מלאכתך זה ...
Joel K's user avatar
  • 41.3k
15 votes

What is the greatest age difference between a married couple in Tanach?

Based on certain midrashim and assuming they're compatible, Naamah was Noach's wife and was born, at the latest, in 129. Noach was born in 1056. That makes her at least 927 years (+/- rounding ...
Heshy's user avatar
  • 9,135
15 votes
Accepted

Source that you can't tell your wife not to lend to others

Kesubos 72a תניא נמי הכי המדיר את אשתו שלא תשאל ושלא תשאיל נפה וכברה ריחים ותנור יוציא ויתן כתובה מפני שמשיאה שם רע בשכינותיה Someone who imposes a vow on his wife that she may not borrow or lend ...
user15464's user avatar
  • 11.3k
14 votes
Accepted

Is it acceptable under Judaism to never marry?

The general answer is no it is not acceptable. Marrying and having children is a personal obligation of every Jewish man. Even if a man has the required number of children, or is unable to have ...
Yishai's user avatar
  • 31.8k
14 votes
Accepted

Are two biological brothers allowed to marry two biological sisters?

In the Tzavaos of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid #25 seen here he says two brothers should not marry two sisters. See note #37 (#32 in the linked edition) from Rabbi Reuven Margolis quoting the Noda Biyehuda ...
user6591's user avatar
  • 33.2k
13 votes

Source why ביאה is not an option for שליח קידושין

R' Elchonon Wasserman in Kovetz Shiurim (Kesuvos 74a) brings this question from R' Akiva Eiger, and explains how the Kiddushin of Biah is fundamentally different from Kessef and Shtar, and why that ...
chortkov2's user avatar
  • 7,771
13 votes
Accepted

Why is the first time a couple has marital relations called "beilas mitzvah?"

Tosfos, Ketubot 4a: בעילת מצוה. קרי לה בעילת מצוה משום דכתיב כי בועליך עושיך ואמרי' (סנהדרין דף כב:) אין אשה כורתת ברית אלא למי שעושה אותה כלי וע''י כך מידבק בה ובאין לידי פריה ורביה ולהכי קרי לה ...
Alaychem goes to Codidact's user avatar
13 votes

Minimum age of קידושין for a female?

From the day she is born (Shulchan Arukh EH 37:1).
Double AA's user avatar
  • 96.9k
13 votes
Accepted

Hypothetical, what should a wife do if she discovers her husband is uncircumcised?

Being circumcised does not affect one's status as a Jew. His wedding is valid, and he can continue living with his wife. There are certain males who are not allowed to be circumcised, including those ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
12 votes

Why is the daughter of a married woman permissible?

Halochos Gedolos - Halachos Arayos brings that this question was asked by Yosi ben Tadai Ish Teveria to Rabbi Gamliel. Rabbi Gamliel answered him that it would be impossible for a Kohain Gadol to ever ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
12 votes

Divorced woman remarrying her ex-husband

Both the first relationship and the second one would have to be formal marriages (the kind that requires a Get to dissolve) for the prohibition of remarrying your divorcée to come into effect. (ShA EH ...
Double AA's user avatar
  • 96.9k
11 votes

Currently in a marriage with a non-observant Jewish woman and I want to convert to Orthodox

Greetings and welcome to J.SE. Many born-Jewish couples have worked out agreements whereby one spouse's level of observance is higher than another's. Some of the biggest questions involve matters ...
Shalom's user avatar
  • 130k
11 votes

Custom of groom stepping on bride's foot?

R. Avraham Azulai (Hesed LeAvraham, Nahar 48 bot. of pg.) describes this custom as a symbol of dominion. He relates as follows (trans. by Israel Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, pg. 203 fn. ...
Oliver's user avatar
  • 11.9k
11 votes

"She may marry any Jewish man"

They meant "other than a Kohen, she can marry any Jewish man that a born-Jewess can marry"; her status as a convert poses no additional issues. (In fact, she can marry more men than a born-Jewess, as ...
Shalom's user avatar
  • 130k
11 votes
Accepted

If your wife requests intimacy in a niddah state, may you refuse?

Pesachim 72b discusses a woman who desires intimacy from her husband, and it is approaching the expected time of her period. והאמר רבא חייב אדם לשמח אשתו בדבר מצוה סמוך לווסתה The Gemara asks further:...
robev's user avatar
  • 19.6k
11 votes
Accepted

Why is it that you are not allowed to be intimate with your wife during niddah, but you are allowed to eat food prepared by a niddah?

You have correctly identified the flawed premises in your argument. Premise 2 is technically incorrect. One who is intimate with a niddah has the status of an av hatum'ah (source of impurity) on a ...
Joel K's user avatar
  • 41.3k
11 votes

For those who hold that David sinned, how was he allowed to ever marry Bat Sheba?

The Gemara in Kesubos 9a asks that question and gives two answers 1) The woman only becomes forbidden (to her husband, and as a consequence also to the adulterer) if she willingly commits adultery. ...
N.T.'s user avatar
  • 7,781
10 votes

what percentage of Reform Jews are halachically Jewish?

Non-halachic Reform Jews are those whose mother was not Jewish, yet they consider themselves Jewish because of either a heterodox conversion or patrilineal descent. We can mostly figure out the ...
Yair Rand's user avatar
  • 474
10 votes

What is the point of having a rapist marry the woman he raped?

From a historical perspective one has to understand a few things. One: We live in a time of such safety and ease that our ancestors would not be able to fathom it. Cities used to have walls, because ...
Aaron's user avatar
  • 10.5k
10 votes

Wife not wearing wedding ring after marrriage

Halachically speaking a person does not have to use a ring for kiddushin (thus the woman need not wear it). Additionally, after the ceremony is over, the wife does not have to keep whatever object ...
sabbahillel's user avatar
  • 42.8k
10 votes

Was Dan born out of wedlock?

You're possibly referring to the Maharsha to Shabbos 55b. To explain how Reuven didn't sin with Bilhah, he explains based on the gemarra in Yevamos that Avaraham's children couldn't marry a shifchah. ...
robev's user avatar
  • 19.6k
10 votes
Accepted

Can a woman who commits adultery do teshuva and return to her husband?

Maimonides writes in Laws of Divorce 11:14 that Deuteronomy 24 does indeed apply in the case of a married woman willingly committing adultery, such that she is then forbidden from returning to her ...
Joel K's user avatar
  • 41.3k
10 votes
Accepted

Can a man knowingly marry a woman who can't have children?

The Rama writes in Even Ha'Ezer 1:3 ובזמן הזה נהגו שלא לכוף ע"ז וכן מי שלא קיים פריה ורביה ובא לישא אשה שאינה בת בנים כגון עקרה וזקנה או קטנה משום שחושק בה או משום ממון שלה אע"פ שמדינא היה ...
Eliyahu's user avatar
  • 5,335
10 votes

Would marriage really not solve this man's problem?

This question is based on a misquote of the Talmud. Here is the actual text: ולינסבה מינסב לא מייתבה דעתיה כדר' יצחק דא"ר יצחק מיום שחרב בית המקדש ניטלה טעם ביאה וניתנה לעוברי עבירה שנאמר (משלי ט, ...
Jay's user avatar
  • 6,427
9 votes
Accepted

a girl marrying against her parents wishes

Tzitz Eliezer 14:73 spells this one out very explicitly: it's identical for sons and daughters -- the parents can't force them to marry or not-marry someone if they don't want to. (Though he adds that ...
Shalom's user avatar
  • 130k

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