Jewish Museum of Bologna
17 - 18.30
Wednesday 1, 14, 21 February, 7 March 2018
Teacher: Rabbi Alberto Sermoneta
Jewish marriage is not an indissoluble sacrament, but rather a contract that for a number of reasons can be dissolved. Thus the possibility of divorce, of the splitting of the marriage, arises.
The Hebrew word indicating divorce is gherushim; it is formalised before the rabbinical court, bet din. Originally, as the Hebrew word reveals, divorce was conceived essentially as the repudiation of the wife by the husband; still today, the essential element is the ghet, the bill of divorce, the document that sanctions the end of the union and is handed to the wife by the husband.
In reality, the woman can also request this document. There are many reasons for which the Talmud justifies divorce: the inability to procreate, incompatibility of character, unbecoming conduct by either party. As a guarantee for the woman, there is the ketubbah, the marriage contract.
To find out more, consult the page of the Museum website