Marriage and Divorce in Jewish Society in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Istanbul

Abstract

The article discusses different aspects of the marriage institution as practiced in the eighteenth and nineteenth century Istanbul by the Jewish community, which first and foremost adhered to the Jewish law but at the same time also followed the Romaniote customs embraced by the local Sephardic community from the sixteenth century and on. The article devotes extensive attention to the old Romaniote custom of betrothal gifts (sivlonot) and deals with the monogamy condition, the age of marriage of men and women, which had social and economic meaning. The article discusses the patterns of divorce among the city’s Jewish society and deals with some patterns of the family life of Istanbul’s Jews. It also includes information on women’s status in the Jewish community. The article will mainly deal with the following topics: Betrothal and marriage; Conditional kiddushin and kiddushin by proxy; Divorce methods and prominent grounds for divorce; Remarriage; Levirate marriage, halitzah, and Agunah status. Throughout the article, the model of the patriarchal family in Istanbul is emphasized. We also learn that the familyused to arrange the marriage, and it was rare to marry for love, and choices based on romantic love were usually not considered legitimate. The article also discusses the application of Jewish women to the Muslim courts for divorce. The information for the article was gleaned mainly from the Responsa literature written in the community, ketubot (marriage contracts) and Jewish court records.