Dear Mati,



In the Scriptures a distinction is drawn between a wife and a concubine:



“Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines — for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines” (II Chronicles 11:21),

Rachel, wife of Jacob, had a servant named Bilhah, and she gave this servant to Jacob as a wife: “And she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife”(Genesis 35:4), but the Scriptures write of her as a concubine: “And Reuben went and had intercourse with Bilhah, concubine of his father”(Genesis 35:22).

In the Talmud the difference between a wife and a concubine is explained: “Who is a wife and who is a concubine? Rav Yehuda quoted Rav — Wives are taken with a ketubah and kiddushin, concubines without ketubah and kiddushin”(Sanhedrin 21a). [See Rashi and Nachmanides on Genesis 25:6.] A concubine has no rights as a partner, and seemingly a concubine does not require a get when they decide to break up (See Responsa Mishneh Halachot, part 2, section 52).

According to Maimonides, only a king may have a concubine: “And he [a king] takes wives and concubines from all of Israel’s borders. Wives are taken with ketubah and kiddushin and concubines without ketubah and kiddushin, with intercourse only. He has acquired her and she is permitted to him, but ordinary people are forbidden concubines” (Maimonides, Laws of Kings 4:4).

According to Nachmanides every man is permitted a concubine, even in our days, as long as he treats her as a common law wife. “But when she enters his home and has intercourse only with him, her sons are given his name, and she is permitted to him” (Responsa of the Rashba, attributed to Nachmanides, section 284).

In the times of the Talmud the rabbis permitted themselves temporary marriages. They would go to a distant place to satisfy their sexual urges. When Rav happened to be in Darshish, he announced: “Who wants to be my wife for a single day?” When Rav Nachman happened to be in Shachnatziv, he announced: “Who wants to be my wife for a single day?” (Yoma 18b).



Sincerely,



Daat Emet