Q&A: The Torah’s Intent Regarding Divorce
The Torah’s Intent Regarding Divorce
Question
What is the Torah’s intent in the fact that it forbade a woman to divorce without the husband’s consent—or more accurately, made the husband’s consent necessary? I saw that Rabbi Bazak wrote: "It is clear that it is not the Torah’s will for a husband to keep his wife against her will, etc." But if so, it is not clear to me what its will is. And how does Rabbi Bazak know that this is not its will? Does the Rabbi agree with him?
Answer
This is not consent but will. The Torah did not forbid divorcing in that way; rather, it determined that the divorce is not valid without the husband’s will.
But I didn’t understand the question. When making a contract or dissolving it, you need the agreement and will of the parties. The question is not why the husband’s will is needed, but why the wife’s will is not needed.
He is probably right regarding the Torah’s will, because morality says that it is improper to do this. And if Jewish law determines that he has that right, then apparently this is a halakhic determination on a level above the moral one, which remains unchanged.