MOSHE ZEMER

Reuven married Leah in Alexandria and gave her a postdated bond[for her kefubah] in the amount of one hundred Egyptian dinars. She is a scion of an outstanding Alexandrian family. After she had borne him a son... a quarrel broke out between the man and his wife’s relatives. He swore in the presence of witnesses that she would not be his wife unless she canceled thirty dinars of his debt to her. His intention was to triumph over his in-laws. When his wife’s family heard this, they were greatly incensed that he would decrease his obligation to his wife without any wrongdoing on her part. His demand was so disgraceful that they stopped her from agreeing to it. Her relatives took him to the beit din, where he was informed that he could not force his wife to forfeit the sum."

To this point of the questioner’s narrative, we are presented with a not uncommon financial controversy between members of a family. Then the husband discovers a halakhic artifice that will help him win the case and, suddenly, the love of Zion enters his heart. The questioner continues:

Someone at the Rabbinical Court advised him to invite his wife to go with him to Eretz Yisrael and settle there. If she would not agree to leave her family and native country, she would lose the postdated bond. Therefore, she would be forced to succumb to his will. The husband threatened his spouse with this action, and made this claim in the beit din.