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Judaism on the
Issue of Polygamy
Polygamy has existed among the Israelites long before the time
of Moses. Although no evidence exists of polyandry in ancient
Jewish society, polygamy seems to be a deep-rooted practice,
dating from the most ancient times up to modern days and the
taking of concubines is also a common practice.
Although polygamy is an established practice among ancient
Israelites, there are certain regulations and conditions that
have to be met before a man can take on more than one wife.
There are provisions that if a man takes a second wife, he
must ensure the economic position of the first wife and of her
children; in questions of inheritance, no child of a later
marriage gets preference over a child of the first wife.
Then again, even if Judaism does not explicitly forbid
polygamy it was also not directly sanctioned. The reason for
this is because the practice of having many wives is a
cultural heritage and was left untouched. However with the
evolution of civilization and the people developing greater
moral and religious consciousness, the practice of polygamy
steadily declined.
Although the Talmud recognizes a man’s right to have many
wives, the number of legitimate wives is limited to four as in
the Koran. A woman gains sufficient and reasonable
justification to file for divorce if her husband takes an
additional wife if she has previously been the sole wife.
Should a polygamous state exist, proper arrangements are
necessary for the adequate and satisfactory maintenance of
each wife including separate homes. Nonetheless, all through
the Talmudic age there is no record of any rabbi who is known
to have had more than one wife; monogamy is acknowledged as
the only ideal legal union and the practice of polygamy is a
concession to time, conditions and traditions.
So much so that around the year 1000, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah
issued a pronouncement which is considered a law Ashkenazi
Jews – the pronouncement significantly prohibits plurality of
marriage with one exception: a man could marry more than one
wife if he obtains the special permission of 100 rabbis in 3
countries! Although the pronouncement was issued in 1260, it
continues to be accepted and obeyed by Jews in Europe and
other parts of the West. However, it was not as strictly
observed in Sephardic countries as there are documented cases
of the practice of polygamy in Spain up until the 14th
century.
Presently however, polygamy is allowed among non-Ashkenazi
(non-Northern European tradition) Jews and Ashkenazi Jews who
obtain special permission of 100 rabbis, in principle. The
issue becomes moot and academic as most Jews live in countries
that prohibit polygamy by civil law and most Jews still follow
Rabbi Gershom's pronouncement in the 13th century that banned
polygamy.
Yemenite Jews because they are neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi
and because of their isolation from all Jewish people from the
time of their exile during the middle of the first Temple
period until recently do not follow Rabbi Gershom's
pronouncement. In fact, they actually believe that there are
instances when the Torah even encourages polygamy as when a
man's brother dies and he is required to marry his wife, even
if he is married already which resulted to some Yemenite Jews,
not all, having many wives.
Source:
http://www.devorah.us |
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