Religion Magazine

Interesting Psak: No Removal of Wedding and Divorce

By Gldmeier @gldmeier
An interesting case came before the beis din of Yerushalayim.
A woman already twice divorced came before the beis din complaining about the difficulty she is currently having in finding a new husband. All potential suitors are concerned about her two divorces and don't want to continue the relationship with her. They think of her as a serial divorcer and think she is too big a risk. She says people compare her to a "black widow".
She asked the beis din to wipe out her first wedding and divorce and make it as if that marriage never happened. Then she would be divorced just once previously and that is fairly normal in today's society and would not on its own scare away potential suitors.
Why would they wipe out the first marriage?
She claims that the first marriage was a complete mistake - even to the level of mekach taus.  She says that before she got married to her first husband she was unaware of his disturbed mental state. She claims she was deceived by him so the marriage should not have been valid at all.
After looking into her claims, the beis din decided that she knew enough about his mental state before marrying him and had even written about it. And even if she had been deceived and the marriage was a mistake, you cannot just wipe it away as if it did not happen.
So, the beis din, headed by Rav Aberjil, decided they would not erase her first marriage, but they would write her a note as part of her psak saying that there is nothing preventing anyone from marrying a woman who has been divorced multiple times.
source: Haredim10, Kipa
I hope it helps her find comfort, but it seems to me that their note would only help reassure people that there is nothing wrong from a halachic, perhaps even kabbalistic, perspective. They still might say she is divorced twice and perhaps she is too much trouble to invest in.. I hope she finds her match and finds happiness, but it seems there is nothing the beis din can do to help her with that - she has to do that on her own.
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