Blessing of the Mitzvot at Kiddushin and Girushin

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asked 7 years ago

Have a good week, Rabbi,
It is written in the Rambam in the Laws of Marriage:
3:3 [23] Anyone who consecrates a woman – whether by himself or by a representative – must first bless the consecration, he or his representative, and then consecrate, in the same way that all the commandments are blessed first.
According to this, why is the blessing not also recited upon the divorce in the same way that one recites upon all the mitzvot (according to the Rambam, there is a positive mitzvot upon the divorce in the book).
Best regards,

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מיכי Staff answered 7 years ago

It is not clear whether this is truly a positive commandment in the sense that when doing so one is fulfilling a mitzvah. It could also be interpreted as permitting (the woman), in which case there is nothing to bless over it. For example, from the fact that blessings are given over a slaughter, the latter prove that it is not only permissible but a mitzvah. Although the language of the instruction at the end of the mitzvah of divorce implies that it is indeed a mitzvah, since it writes that even a valid annulment is included in it. I wrote about this in the article Mida Tovah, regarding the parashah that comes out of the womb. I suppose there is a simple explanation for not reciting a blessing over such a sad mitzvah (at least not the blessing of the mitzvah, but perhaps the judge of truth). It is clear that breaking up a house is not God’s will.

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אורן replied 7 years ago

I thought of another possible explanation, that the mitzvah is that if and only if the man and woman are in a relationship, they should have it under kiddushin. This fits with the educational system that whoever divorces without a book annuls the act, and also explains why they don't bless, because the beginning of the mitzvah was in kiddushin, and divorce is just a continuation of it.

מיכי Staff replied 7 years ago

The Rambam counts this as a separate mitzvah. According to him, two details of the same mitzvah count as one mitzvah (see Shors Shevii, 11, 12 and more).

hubh replied 7 years ago

It is clear that breaking up a home is not God's will. Where do you get it from?
To the same extent, divorce can be considered as redemption; imagine if there was a prohibition against divorcing.

מיכי Staff replied 7 years ago

It has nothing to do with what you and I think. The sages were the ones who fixed the blessing of the commandments, and they themselves said that whoever divorces his wife, the altar sheds tears over him, and so on. Therefore, even if you think there is no problem with this, the sages who fixed the blessings think there is, and therefore they did not fix the blessing.

hubh replied 7 years ago

Maybe.. Shalom Beit Vedi is certainly an important value in Chazal.
But in any case, the betrothal blessing from which the questioner drew his inspiration. Beit Yosef and the Sela assume that this is a general blessing on the holiness of Israel.. and not a blessing on the commandments as such. For several reasons.
By the way, there is no blessing in the halitza either..

דב קרולוויץ replied 5 years ago

I am surprised not to see answers based on sources. Rashba, answer 18, said that there is no blessing in an action that is sometimes a transgression (as sometimes men expel women for no reason). I would like to see other sources that discuss this question.