Q&A: Civil Marriage Abroad and the Implications for Children
Civil Marriage Abroad and the Implications for Children
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I will describe a case and would like to know the halakhic implications:
Data:
- An unmarried Jewish woman married a Jewish man in a foreign country for the purpose of obtaining citizenship in that country (the man is a citizen of that country and the woman is not).
- The wedding ceremony took place in a purely civil format, as is customary in that country. For present purposes, there was no officiating rabbi, seven blessings, etc.
- The couple was not religious (there may have been some connection to tradition and belief in the Holy One, blessed be He, but broadly speaking they did not observe Torah and commandments).
- The couple did not actually live together and did not have marital relations.
- After some time, the woman obtained citizenship and the couple divorced civilly.
Questions:
- Do these marriages count as halakhic kiddushin? Is the woman considered a married woman even after the separation, (or from the outset was she not considered his wife?) and is a divorce according to Jewish law required?
- Would children later born to that same woman from another man be considered mamzerim? Does it make a difference whether she married the “new” man or not?
- Do the answers to 1 and 2 depend on the specific laws of each country regarding civil marriage (for example: the type of agreement they sign, whether there is separation of religion and state, etc.)?
- Do the answers depend on whether, on the civil legal level, the separation process was a civil divorce or an annulment of marriage under that country’s laws?
- Do the answers depend on the fact that the man received a sum of money for this wedding for citizenship purposes?
- If the man is homosexual, could that affect the answer (for example, perhaps one could argue that in any case he had no intention of marrying her in order to live with her as a couple married according to Jewish law)?
- Could the presence of some of the conditions together in 3-6 affect the answer, in a case where each one individually does not change the answer?
Thank you very much (and more generally for the site).
Answer
At first glance, it seems there is no concern at all for kiddushin. They were not done according to law, and even if they had been done according to law, here it is clear that there was no intention of kiddushin. Therefore, regardless of any of the clauses you mentioned, there is no concern for kiddushin or mamzerut. The woman is unmarried, and everything is fine.
Discussion on Answer
The man must give the woman something worth a perutah (a ring) with the intention of betrothing her according to the law of Moses and Israel, in the presence of two valid witnesses, and say: “Behold, you are betrothed to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel.”
Thank you very much, Rabbi.
Just to clarify, this still makes no difference even if a ring was given and each side agreed to marry the other by a verbal declaration (including apparently signing an agreement/contract), as is customary in ceremonies of this kind?
More generally, what exactly are the absolute minimal conditions for kiddushin to take effect? Beyond two valid witnesses (and a ring in the case of betrothal by money), do the man and woman have to say specific words? Is there any importance to a particular order of actions? And based on what can one determine intention (after all, that is something internal to a person)?