Topic of Interest #1: Judaism and Divorce

My main post on the BU discussion board for week #4 got me thinking about the topic of Judaism and Divorce. I have liberal views on marriage for myself, mainly that I am anti-marriage! But again, this is only a view that I hold for myself. This is probably in large part due to coming from a divorced family in which my mother is going through her fifth divorce and dad is on his third marriage. I also have several close friends who have been married and divorced at least once, if not twice, during the several year period that Leroy and I have been happily unmarried. At any rate, I have no opinion on whether it's right or wrong for a religion to meddle in divorce. The steps a Jewish person has to take in order to obtain a religious divorce is something I find interesting; therefore, I will outline those steps here.

*The Hebrew word, Get, is what the Jewish religion uses for the term divorce decree. For the most part, American and Israeli Rabbis will not officiate a wedding of a divorced person without a Get. These are the steps in obtaining a Get:

1) What is called a Jewish Religious court gives permission for a divorce in cases of adultery, a refusal of sexual relations, abuse, or contagious disease. (This court is held after a civil divorce has been granted.)

2) A contract is written "under rabbinical supervision" and requires witness signatures.

3) The husband and wife must sign the Get; however, they do not have to sign it in each other's company if they so choose.

4) An old tradition may or may not ocurr after the Get is signed in which it is cut with a knife or scissors. The tradition started in the time of the Romans when Jewish courts operated in secrecy; the Get was cut in case of discovery so that the Jews could deny the legality of the contract.

The Get is scribed in Aramaic and costs about $350. Any child born into a Jewish marriage of a divorced mother who did not obtain a Get is considered illegitimate by the Jewish religion and is therefore not recognized as a Jew.*

*Source:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Divorce.html