Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions by Witte Green Browning
Authors: Witte Green Browning
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law, folklore, and homiletics—and multiple opinions on all manner of subjects—monogamy and polygyny, ascetic and more indulgent sexuality, strict and lenient grounds for legitimate divorce—making it difficult to reach firm historical conclusions based on this literature. Yet it is precisely the multivocal nature of Rabbinic texts, particularly the Talmuds, that will allow the diverse schools of the Middle Ages to each claim origins in these canonical sources.
s e x , m a r r i a g e , a n d f a m i l y i n t h e p o s t - t a l m u d i c p e r i o d
The rise of Islam in the seventh century, politically centered in Baghdad, brings with it the ascendancy of the Babylonian Talmud for the majority of world Jewry. Although Jewish communities will rise, flourish, and decline throughout the Near East, North Africa, and Europe over the course of the next thirteen centuries, until the modern period most will see their religious practice governed by, or at least rooted in, this Rabbinic text.
In spite of the common Talmudic basis, three factors contributed to the emergence of variation, at times significant. First, varying traditions of Talmudic interpretation evolved, often regionally based, leading to different rulings and applications of Rabbinic dicta. Over time these amalgamated into two general cultural spheres—Sefardic (Spain and the Mediterranean) and Ashkenazic (central and eastern European)—that differed in many respects on the full range of legal and philosophic matters, including sex, marriage, and family.
Second, the structures, rules, and mores of Jewish communities were greatly influenced by their interactions with the local Muslim or Christian society, be it open, tolerant, or discriminatory. Local Jewish ordinances and customs were largely a product of these idiosyncratic realities. Finally, at times major religious movements, such as the pietistic German Hasidim and the mystical trends introduced by Kabbalists in Spain and then later throughout Jewry, had considerable impact on Jewish views and practices on family issues. All these sources of variety were compounded throughout this period by the Jewish migrations (voluntary or forced) that often brought Jews of differing practice and outlook together.
Actually, the separateness of the Jews in medieval society turned out to be a boon for the development of Jewish law. The relative autonomy granted Jewish communities in matters of personal status through most of the Middle Ages meant Jewish authorities were able to redress serious issues with great effect, even if these contravened Talmudic law. Thus shortly after the Muslim conquest the Babylonian academies issued an ordinance, known as takanta de-metivta, allowing a woman to sue for divorce in court by claiming “my husband is detestable to me” (ma’is alai), undermining the husband’s exclusive and uni-lateral right to divorce granted him in the Talmud (Doc. 1–37). In northern France and Germany ordinances attributed to the eleventh-century Gershom, Judaism 9
“the Light of the Exiles,” prohibited bigamy and would not allow a man to divorce his wife against her will (Doc. 1–38). Ultimately, all of Ashkenaz and even some Sefardic communities would accept Gershom’s rulings, but the Babylonian ordinance was no longer normative by the thirteenth century. Other ordinances affecting inheritance, clandestine marriages, and deception were also common during this period. In medieval society common custom could be as effective as the ordinance; although polygyny remained a practice among wealthier Jews in Muslim lands, financial stipulations evolved in near eastern Jewish marriage contracts intended to discourage this practice, and by the eleventh century the clause was standard (Doc. 1–39).
During much of this period Jewish families were relatively stable, with av-erage family size between two and six children (Jews in Arab lands being at the higher end of that range and
law, folklore, and homiletics—and multiple opinions on all manner of subjects—monogamy and polygyny, ascetic and more indulgent sexuality, strict and lenient grounds for legitimate divorce—making it difficult to reach firm historical conclusions based on this literature. Yet it is precisely the multivocal nature of Rabbinic texts, particularly the Talmuds, that will allow the diverse schools of the Middle Ages to each claim origins in these canonical sources.
s e x , m a r r i a g e , a n d f a m i l y i n t h e p o s t - t a l m u d i c p e r i o d
The rise of Islam in the seventh century, politically centered in Baghdad, brings with it the ascendancy of the Babylonian Talmud for the majority of world Jewry. Although Jewish communities will rise, flourish, and decline throughout the Near East, North Africa, and Europe over the course of the next thirteen centuries, until the modern period most will see their religious practice governed by, or at least rooted in, this Rabbinic text.
In spite of the common Talmudic basis, three factors contributed to the emergence of variation, at times significant. First, varying traditions of Talmudic interpretation evolved, often regionally based, leading to different rulings and applications of Rabbinic dicta. Over time these amalgamated into two general cultural spheres—Sefardic (Spain and the Mediterranean) and Ashkenazic (central and eastern European)—that differed in many respects on the full range of legal and philosophic matters, including sex, marriage, and family.
Second, the structures, rules, and mores of Jewish communities were greatly influenced by their interactions with the local Muslim or Christian society, be it open, tolerant, or discriminatory. Local Jewish ordinances and customs were largely a product of these idiosyncratic realities. Finally, at times major religious movements, such as the pietistic German Hasidim and the mystical trends introduced by Kabbalists in Spain and then later throughout Jewry, had considerable impact on Jewish views and practices on family issues. All these sources of variety were compounded throughout this period by the Jewish migrations (voluntary or forced) that often brought Jews of differing practice and outlook together.
Actually, the separateness of the Jews in medieval society turned out to be a boon for the development of Jewish law. The relative autonomy granted Jewish communities in matters of personal status through most of the Middle Ages meant Jewish authorities were able to redress serious issues with great effect, even if these contravened Talmudic law. Thus shortly after the Muslim conquest the Babylonian academies issued an ordinance, known as takanta de-metivta, allowing a woman to sue for divorce in court by claiming “my husband is detestable to me” (ma’is alai), undermining the husband’s exclusive and uni-lateral right to divorce granted him in the Talmud (Doc. 1–37). In northern France and Germany ordinances attributed to the eleventh-century Gershom, Judaism 9
“the Light of the Exiles,” prohibited bigamy and would not allow a man to divorce his wife against her will (Doc. 1–38). Ultimately, all of Ashkenaz and even some Sefardic communities would accept Gershom’s rulings, but the Babylonian ordinance was no longer normative by the thirteenth century. Other ordinances affecting inheritance, clandestine marriages, and deception were also common during this period. In medieval society common custom could be as effective as the ordinance; although polygyny remained a practice among wealthier Jews in Muslim lands, financial stipulations evolved in near eastern Jewish marriage contracts intended to discourage this practice, and by the eleventh century the clause was standard (Doc. 1–39).
During much of this period Jewish families were relatively stable, with av-erage family size between two and six children (Jews in Arab lands being at the higher end of that range and
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