This approach is illustrated in the collected responsa of Israel Isserlein (Austria, c. 1390–1460). In answer to the question, “Can a man who hears his wife cursing and saying bad things about her mother and father reprove her for this several times? If this does not work, can he then beat her in order to ensure that she does not do this any more?” He answers: “Even though Mordecai [b. Hillel] and R. Simhah wrote that he who beats his wife transgresses the negative precept “not to excess” (pen yosif, Deut. 25:3), and is dealt with very harshly, I disagree with this strict interpretation. I base my interpretation on R. Nahman [ben Jacob, d. c. 320 c.e., Babylonian Lit. (Aramaic) “spokesman.” Scholars active during the period from the completion of the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.) until the completion of the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds (end of the fourth and fifth centuries respectively), who were active primarily in the interpretation of the Mishnah. In the chain of tradition they follow the tanna’im and precede the savora’im. amora ] writing in the name of R. Isaac [one of the earliest known Babylonian tannaim, middle of the second century] who wrote that it was permissible to beat a Canaanite slave woman in one’s possession in order to prevent her from transgressing. He of course should not overdo it or else she would be freed. Anyone who is responsible for educating someone under him, and sees that person transgressing, can beat that person to prevent the transgression. He does not have to be brought to court” (Isserlein, Terumat ha-Deshen, Responsum #218).
Their viewpoints is after that tricky by R
R. Joseph b. Ephraim Caro’s (1488–1575) views on wifebeating are not consistent in his works. In Kesef Mishneh (Caro’s commentary on Maimonides’s Mishneh Torah), Caro seems to agree with Maimonides that the wife’s duties are so important that a husband may beat her if she refuses to perform them. Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi (Sha’arei ha-Teshuvah) who writes that anyone who beats his wife transgresses two negative commandments. Caro suggests excommunicating the perpetrator so that he not transgress the laws of the Torah and that chastising him is too mild a penalty. To support this position he cites R. Simhah of Speyer and agrees with his predecessor that if the husband is a habitual wifebeater, and bruises her (hovel), the court can even cut off his hand. Thus, in BY 74, Caro makes clear that the wife who flees her abusive husband is not a rebellious wife and the husband must either honor her more than himself or divorce her and pay her the money from her marriage contract. It appears, from the sources he cites here that Caro is totally opposed to wifebeating-for any reason. Yet in Beit Yosef (BY 154) Caro quotes R. Simhah’s responsum in its entirety, which favors forcing the husband who beats Tinder quizzes his wife to give her a divorce-even through recourse to the civil courts and writes at the end of this source: “One cannot rely on the writings of R. Simhah and others to force the husband to divorce his wife because none of them rely on the famous decisors (poskim).”
But not, when you look at the Beit Yosef: Also ha-Ezer 74:7–twelve, Caro relates to Roentgen
Moses ben Israel Isserles (Rema, 1525 or 1530–1572), the fresh new glossator of your own Shulhan Arukh. The guy regulations you to, although unwarranted wifebeating warrants compelling a partner so you can divorce or separation their spouse “if the woman is the reason behind it, such as for instance, when the she curses him otherwise denigrates his father and mother and you will he scolds their silently very first therefore cannot assist, then it’s visible that he’s allowed to defeat this lady and castigate her. Whenever this is simply not recognized that is the source, brand new spouse isn’t sensed an established provider as he claims you to definitely this woman is the reason and you will depicts the girl as the a beneficial harlot, for everybody women can be assumed to get rules-abiding” (Darkei Moshe, Tur, Even ha-Ezer ).
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