THE SLOW ROAD TO MONOGAMY
contemporary discussion, indicated that monogamy was established as the practical road of Ashkenazic Jewry; Asher ben Yehiel (1250-1328) considered monogamy binding in his code. From the contemporary responsa of Solomon ben Aderet (1235-1310), we can see that it was not accepted in Spain or in Provence .”
Polygamy was therefore almost eliminated in northern Europe , although it continued in the Muslim -dominated lands of the Mediterranean. When we view polygamy in Islamic society, we find it taken for granted, with virtually no statements about the ideal of monogamy; no efforts to eliminate polygamy were successful in Muslim -dominated societies.
Despite the force of Rabbenu Gershom ’s decree, it was not seen as an absolute ban on polygamy in Ashkenazic lands or in the border areas where some communities followed Sephardic customs. Exceptions were permitted, albeit seldom. The fact that other ways of dealing with the exceptional circumstances outlined below were not used, however, indicated a reluctance to move decisively in this direction. Other remedies could have been found for every instance in which polygamy was invoked, but this was not done.
The various discussions of the herem dealt with four instances in which polygamy could be permitted even in lands where it was normally not practiced: levirate marriages, a wife’s barrenness, a wife’s insanity, and special instances of a wife’s improper con duct.