Gittin 90: Reasons to Divorce; Reasons to Stay Married

We end Masechet Gittin with some of the basic questions regarding gittin: after all is said and done, when should a man divorce his wife?  Our Mishna gives us three opinions.

• Beit Shammai: if the husband finds that he wife has been promiscuous;
• Beit Hillel: if the wife burns her husband's food;
• Rabbi Akiva: if the husband finds another woman attractive (or any other reason)

The rabbis mostly turn to Deuteronomy 24:1, where we are told that if a husband finds his wife displeasing due to licentiousness, he can divorce her.  They look at specific translations of words to understand whether or not it was required that a woman have sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband to be divorced against her will.  Can a husband divorce his wife simply because he finds another woman attractive?

How could a husband divorce his wife because she burns his food?  Or over-salts it?  The rabbis suggest that Beit Hillel are describing a disconnect between husband and wife rather than nitpicking.  However, if a woman is deemed to behave licentiously or promiscuously, the rabbis consider it a mitzvah for her husband to divorce her.  Her new husband is seen as foolish at best, for he has welcomed wickedness into his home.

Our daf - and our masechet - end with a warning about ending a marriage lightly.  We are told that it is as if  the alter itself is crying tears when a marriage ends in divorce, particularly a marriage from youth.  It is as if one has willingly broken G-d's wishes for our wellbeing.  Malachi 2:13-14 is used as a prooftext, as it speaks about a man treating a woman with contempt after she has been present for him.  

Throughout Masechet Gittin our rabbis have been balancing Torah imperatives, including the husband's overarching power regarding divorce, with what they believe might word best for ancient Jewish communities.  We see the rabbis' assumptions about women's licentious natures.  However, it was enlightening to read about the rabbis' attempts to protect wives from thoughtless or cruel decisions made by their husbands.