: What is the traditional Jewish attitude toward divorce? What is the Reform attitude toward divorce? Is a get necessary before remarriage can occur?
ANSWER: Judaism looks upon divorce with sadness ( Git . 90b; San. 22a), but recognizes that it might occur. It makes divorce easy and simple when the parties are no longer compatible, in keeping with the Biblical statement ( Deut 24: 1-2). According to the Tal mud , divorce could be given by a man for virtually any reason, even the most minor one( Git. 90a). This was subsequently restricted according to the decree of Rabbenu Gershom ( Finkelstein, Jewish Self- Government in the Middle Ages, pp. 29ff; Shulhan Arukh, Even Ha- ezer 119.6). A divorce always originated with the husband, and the wife accepted the document. A court could force the husband to give a divorce, and a man might be punished and imprisoned for his refusal to give a divorce; this remains true in in modern Israel . If he remains unwilling after punishment, nothing further can be done( B.B. 48a; Yad, Hil. Erusin 2:20; Amram , Jewish Law of Divorce, pp. 57ff; Schereschewsky, Dinei Mishpahah 285ff). There are also certain circumstances under which a court may demand a divorce, although neither one of the parties involved has requested it. The detailed reasons for a divorce have been codified in the various early codes and in the Shulhan Arukh, Even Haezer( 1.3; 11.1; 39.4; 70.3; 76.11; 115.5; 134; 154.1-7, etc.). The actual procedure and the document of divorce have been surrounded by many restrictions in order to ensure their complete validity. The