{"id":468,"date":"2011-07-11T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/07\/polygamy-%e2%89%a0-same-sex-marriage.html"},"modified":"2011-07-11T18:49:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-11T18:49:00","slug":"polygamy-%e2%89%a0-same-sex-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/07\/polygamy-%e2%89%a0-same-sex-marriage.html","title":{"rendered":"Polygamy \u2260 Same-Sex Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The anti-gay crowd often cites the opinion that if gay marriage is legalized then polygamy is next.\u00a0 I always get a little chuckle out of this because usually these folks are also for \u201cbiblical\u201d definitions of marriage which, let\u2019s face it, were widely polygamous.<\/p>\n

The elimination in the west of polygamy was a response to many social pressures, not the least of which was the recognition (even in the biblical narratives themselves) that such unions are inherently unfair.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that every marriage is inherently equal, but ideally it is a two way agreement.\u00a0 Introducing \u201csister wives\u201d into a marriage is a recipe for domestic hostility and even violence.<\/p>\n

The Iowa organization, \u201cThe Family Leader,\u201d has been circulating a statement called \u201cThe Marriage Vow<\/a>,\u201d to Republican candidates for president.\u00a0 Bachmann and Santorum have already signed on.\u00a0 In it there is the erroneous assertion that:\u00a0 \u201cFaithful monogamy is at the very heart of a designed and purposeful order \u2013 as conveyed by Jewish and Christian Scripture\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uh\u2026\u00a0not exactly<\/a>:<\/p>\n

A new [Israeli] organization is trying to reinstate polygamy into mainstream Orthodox Judaism, despite it being against the contemporary norm of Jewish law, and prohibited by the state.<\/p>\n

Now it may surprise you to learn that Jewish polygamy was only officially banned in the tenth century C.E. by Rabbeinu Gershom of Mainz. \u00a0The prohibition applied solely to Ashkenazim and was a bone of contention between them and the Sephardim (read A.B. Yehoshua\u2019s excellent \u201cA Journey to the End of the Millennium\u201d for a great fictional take on this).\u00a0 In fact, there were more than a few Sephardic immigrants to Israel who showed up with more than one wife. \u00a0Moreover, Rabbeinu Gershom\u2019s ban expired over 700 years ago!<\/p>\n

Now to be very fair to the vast majority of Orthodox Jews in Israel, this is not an idea they are likely to embrace.\u00a0 There is an inherent understanding that polygamy is not a good idea even if it can be proved to be technically within the bounds of Jewish law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a distortion and madness,\u201d said Rabbi Ya\u2019acov Bezalel Harrar, the head of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u2026The validity of Rabbeinu Gershom\u2019s excommunication ban might have expired, but that doesn\u2019t mean that polygamy is permitted,\u201d Harrar said, noting that in the Even Ha\u2019ezer, the relevant section from the Sephardi equivalent of the Shulhan Aruch, the Tur, it is noted that such a ban on marrying a second woman is desirable.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo rabbi would permit such a thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is despicable villainy,\u201d Harrar continued. \u201cI am even less bothered by homosexual relations than such an instance in which a man takes two wives. In a homosexual scenario there are two people who decide to live their life that way. Here a person is putting two women into a conflict.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hey Iowa!\u00a0 Did you hear that?\u00a0 In the gay \u201cscenario\u201d it\u2019s about two people living their lives together.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with polygamy or as many of your friends loathsomely claim, with\u00a0pedophilia or bestiality.\u00a0 And the last time I checked, the U.S. Constitution doesn\u2019t give government the right to deny two people the equal right to join their lives in marriage just because they are the same gender.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The anti-gay crowd often cites the opinion that if gay marriage is legalized then polygamy is next.\u00a0 I always get a little chuckle out of this because usually these folks are also for \u201cbiblical\u201d definitions of marriage which, let\u2019s face it, were widely polygamous. The elimination in the west of polygamy was a response to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,12,20,33],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-church-and-state","tag-fundamentalist-christianity","tag-israel","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPolygamy \u2260 Same-Sex Marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The anti-gay crowd often cites the opinion that if gay marriage is legalized then polygamy is next.\u00a0 I always get a little chuckle out of this because\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/07\/polygamy-\u2260-same-sex-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Polygamy \u2260 Same-Sex Marriage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The anti-gay crowd often cites the opinion that if gay marriage is legalized then polygamy is next.\u00a0 I always get a little chuckle out of this because\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/07\/polygamy-\u2260-same-sex-marriage.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-11T18:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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