Midrashic Women by Judith R. Baskin

Author:Judith R. Baskin [Baskin, Judith R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Women's Studies, Jewish Studies
ISBN: 9781611688696
Google: -iYzCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
Published: 2015-05-01T04:07:02+00:00

Aggadic Views on Divorce

For many of the sages, the solution to a bad wife was obvious, as indicated in the following excerpts from an extended discussion of good and bad wives in B. Yevamot 63b:

Rava said: [If one has] a bad wife it is a meritorious act to divorce her, for it is said, “Expel the scoffer, and contention departs, / Quarrel and contumely cease” (Prov. 22:10). Rava further stated: A bad wife, the amount of whose ketubbah is large, [should be given] a rival at her side, as people say, “By her partner rather than by a thorn” [i.e., a bad wife is more easily corrected by subjecting her to the unpleasantness of a rival than by chastising her with thorns]. Rava further stated: A bad wife is as troublesome as a very rainy day; for it is said, “An endless dripping on a rainy day / And a contentious wife are alike” (Prov. 27:15). . . . “I am going to bring upon them disaster, from which they will not be able to escape” (Jer. 11:11): R. Nahman said in the name of Rabbah b. Abbuha: This refers to a bad wife, the amount of whose ketubbah is large. “The Lord has delivered me into the hands of those I cannot withstand” (Lam. 1:14): R. Hisda said in the name of Mar ‘Ukba b. Hiyya: This refers to a bad wife the amount of whose ketubbah is large. In the West it was said: This refers to one whose maintenance depends on his money.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.