Edinost in Dialog (Apr 2021)
Contraction of Marriage in Traditional Judaism
Abstract
Nations and peoples throughout history have formulated norms that govern interpersonal relations. In this sense the Jewish Law is unique, as it is not a system of regulations of a state but of a people with more than 3000 years of history. They have rarely lived in a sovereign state of their own; they have most often been dispersed throughout the world and lived in different social orders. Various legal systems have had some influence on the development of Jewish legal norms; nevertheless, the Jews have preserved their autonomy, which is particularly evident in their wedding rites. They consider marriage a religious institution that is subject to divine laws; consequently, the Jewish marriage law has to implement the ethical and religious ideals of marriage as ordained by the Law in concrete life and practice. In this sense the Jewish marriage law extracts the celebration of marriage from the private sphere of the fiances and their families and emphasizes the social and moral character of this institution and its fulfillment of the divine plan for human beings, for it is “not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2,18). The prophets compare the marriage bond to the covenant between God and the chosen people of Israel. The Jewish marriage is not a sacrament in the Christian sense but a mitzvah, that is, a fulfillment of a religious commandment. It is a berith, a holy covenant that entails rights as well as duties. The marriage bond is intended for humans to proliferate and to make them happy in communion with another; it is thus of great social importance. The article presents particulars of the Jewish wedding and marriage practice, which come from the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic tradition, whereby marriage is contracted in stages; it also deals with the question of divorce.
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