Intentional presence of unsuitable witnesses at a secular wedding
Hello Rabbi,
In your third book in the trilogy, you argue that the majority of jurists in our generation reject the deliberate presence of disqualified witnesses at a wedding to a secular couple so that the Kiddushin will not be valid.
Why would we want them to be invalid?
So that if the wife commits adultery, the prohibition will not be so great and the children will not be bastards.
It's as if a discussion is taking place based on the assumption that secular society is relatively promiscuous, to the point where people are debating whether it's better not to actually be married according to the Mosaic and Jewish law in order to prevent bastards?
Yes. At the same time, the value of a legal marriage is also unclear when the couple is secular.
A. How common is this assumption (that secular society is relatively promiscuous and infidelity is to be feared) among the poskim (how do I even check this)?
B. Can you briefly explain why the value of a lawful marriage is unclear when the spouses are secular?
A. I haven't checked, but I estimate that it is very common. I don't know how to check except for anonymous surveys, and even there the reliability will be quite limited.
B. Kiddushin is not a moral matter, but a halakhic one. There is no value in a secular person's behavior according to the halakhic law. Mitzvot require faith (even for a method that does not require intention). See my article on the fall of a secularist in a crime:
https://mikyab.net/%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%91%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D/%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9B%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%AA-%D7%97%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99-%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%94
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