Published January 07, 2010
[Many of the laws stated herein regarding divorce was at a time when a man could divorce a wife without her consent.]
The law as it appears in the Shulhan Aruch (Eben haEzer 83) is loosely translated as follows:
If someone injures a married woman the loss of her earnings and medical expenses belong to her husband. Pain payment is paid to her. Regarding humiliation and injury if they are visible as when he struck her in her face or her neck or her arm or her fingers she gets one-third of the payment and two-thirds go to her husband. If injury is not visible, the husband gets one-third and two-thirds to the woman. The husband’s portion of the compensation is paid to him immediately and the wife’s portion is used to invest in real estate and the husband gets the income of the land so purchased. She cannot waive the payments, not her portion nor his portion of the compensation. If she did waive such payments, it is of no force and effect. But the husband cannot sue on her portion from the assaulter without her permission. This applies when others caused her injury; but if the husband caused the injury to his wife, he must pay her immediately all of the injury and all of the humiliation and all of the pain. This all belongs to the wife and the husband is not entitled to any income such moneys bring to her. She may give these moneys away to anyone of her choosing. The husband must continue to pay for her healing. Rama in his emendations adds, “if someone insulted her with words although generally if one insults another with just words he does not have to pay compensation, if he insulted her publicly the husband receives two-third of the compensation and she gets one-third. If the insult was not public (but there were two witnesses present) the husband receives one third and she gets two-thirds.
This chapter of the Shulhan Aruch concludes with the following statement “If one injures his wife in conjugal relations he must pay her for her injuries.
Immediately following this chapter in Shulhan Aruch there appears the following law: The objects that a woman finds belong to her husband and if she is now in a state of being doubtfully divorced, the object belongs to her. Tosafot is cited as giving reasons why this is so. One is that this is done because of the sustenance he is required to provide her with. And the other reason is to prevent enmity.
From the foregoing we can see that the halacha sets certain guidelines that are fair to both the wife and husband. As was shown in prior lessons the husband has many responsibilities to the wife and some of these are partially offset by having certain payment go to him.
With the next lesson we shall IY"H return to Rabbinic civil law.
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