| Abstract: | This paper has two aims: historical and dogmatic. Historical, by studying two actual halakhic traditions in which divorce was issued at the wife’s demand, with an analysis of the interaction between them: the Palestinian divorce clause, according to Cairo Genizah ketubbot (marriage documents), and the Geonic compulsion of a get (a writ of divorce) in the case of the rebellious wife ( moredet ). Dogmatic, by examining the status of three halakhic concepts of the unilateral termination of marriage derived from the above traditions: coercion of a get , terminative condition, and annulment of marriage. Historically, the paper rejects some suggested links between these traditions. Nevertheless, a fascinating interaction between them is revealed at a different level. Later in time some halakhic writers connected the two traditions. This link, although historically doubtful, strengthens the dogmatic weight of these traditions, and reflects the nature of the halakhah as an interpretive legal system. |
