The Sanctification of subordination: a feminist analysis of Jewish marriage

Traditional Jewish marriage as practised today− and the only form of marriage officially recognised and sanctioned for Israeli Jews marrying in the State of Israel− is based on an acquisition-like, non-reciprocal arrangement developed by the ancient rabbis. Marriage and its acquisition-like nature is understood in divergent ways by ancient rabbis and throughout the development of Jewish law. This thesis explores the legal and literary consequences of elements relating to marriage as they emerge in rabbinic literature. It also traces the development of some of the major debates through medieval Jewish halakhists. It then goes on to examine, in light of these medieval discussions, two models of relationship that partially and fully bypass the acquisition respectively, the first being conditional marriage and the second being exclusive sexual partnership or derekh kiddushin. Approaching traditional texts within more contemporary moral frameworks raises questions about how the authority of the traditional texts is maintained and transformed when they are subject to new and ongoing modes of analysis. On the one hand, our traditions form our home and on the other hand, they sometimes they need to be remade in order to make them feel like home. Negotiating Jewish marriage is bound up with questions of who has the authority to create legal meaning and what are the limits of the capacity of the community of meaning to determine legal meaning in a constant process of flux.