Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Pious Adultery - is wife prohibited as adultress?

 Binyan Tzion    (#154) … The normal practice of Jews is to travel for several days while their wife remains at home alone with the children and servants. One day when the husband was away on business a man arrived from Poland with ripped clothing and he requested from the wife a place to sleep. The wife had been very modest all her life, nevertheless her religious sensitivity blinded her and out of a feeling pity she gave him a place to stay as well as food and drink. However the guest refused to eat anything that came from an animal and he refused to drink anything other than water and he did other actions of an ascetic. For example he afflicted himself and everyday he remained in his room studying .Everynight at midnight he would say the prayers of mourning for the destruction of the Temple (Tikun Chatzos). In addition he refused to sleep in a bed or bench but only on the ground with a stone for a pillow. Everyday he would immerse himself twice in cold water in the river in the winter, One Friday night after the meal was finished  and the children and servants had left the table and gone to sleep in another room – this fraud remained sitting at the table alone with the woman. After they talked a while she asked him who he was and where he had come from and where was he going? He replied that he was G-d’s messenger and his name was Eliyahu the Prophet and he was gathering his fellow Jews from the four corners of the Earth and that he only revealed this information to certain pious individuals. The woman in her foolishness totally believed him. She then went to sleep in her bedroom which adjoined the dining room. This disgusting person remained sitting in his place study a sefer until midnight. After midnight he got up and quietly tiptoed to her bed and woke her from her sleep. He told her that he had traveled from one end of the world to the other and he had not found anyone as righteous as she was who was deserving to be the mother of the Messiah. But the problem was that her husband was not fitting to be the father of the Messiah. He said therefore he had been sent from Heaven to have intercourse with her and at the appropriate time she would give birth to the Messiah who would redeem all the Jewish people. He said to prove he was really Eliyahu  The next Tuesday after he had left her she should open the trunk which stood in her bedroom she would find a treasure of gold coins. But this would only happen if she didn't open the trunk before he had left. He spoke these things in such a convincing manner that he succeeded in seducing her and having intercourse with her on Friday Night and Saturday night. However on Sunday before dawn he fled from there and no one knew where he went. This foolish woman decided it would be a good idea to write to her husband that he should return home quickly since G-d had given them a great treasure. Her husband listened to her and returned on Tuesday. But when the woman opened the trunk she did not find any treasure that the seducer had promised her. When she realized that she had been tricked she screamed and cried bitterly and told her husband all the disgusting things that had transpired through this wicked man. She explained to him that she hadn't done this to rebel against him but rather she had done it for the sake of Heaven. She explained that the seducer was ugly and very disgusting and she hadn't done it for lust. However her husband was not placated with this explanation and went to the Rav and told him everything and asked what the halacha was regarding his wife. The Rav sent for her and cross examined her carefully and she told him all the details mentioned here. The Rav ordered that they separate from each other until he had a chance to consult with other rabbis. [...] Conclusion: Saying that when she deliberately had adulterous intercourse – for the sake of Heaven – it did not constitute rebelling against and betrayal of her husband is not a good argument to permit her to her husband according to the Maharik and Rema.

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