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and also to study Torah, on condition that no bad odor ema- #
nates from him. Is it Permissible to Hide the Fact that There is a
Child from a Previous Marriage?
3. The Rambam (Hilchos Ishus 14:8) teaches:

A woman who prevents her husband from marital relations is 1 Question
called a moredet (rebellious one). One asks her: Why are you rebel- If a psychologist or physician is asked about the previous marriage
ling? If she says: He disgusts me and I cannot cohabit with him of my of his patient, and he knows that his patient has a daughter, is he
own will, then one forces him to divorce her, because she is not like a obligated to reveal this? Is the patient himself obligated to do so? If
captive to be raped. She leaves without her kesubah but can take her he withholds the information, has he committed a sin?
worn clothes etc., but she takes nothing of her husband.

In other words, if the woman in this case says that her husband
disgusts her because of his colostomy, according to the Rambam we 1 AnsweR
force him to divorce her. Although she leaves without her kesubah, she This would seem to be something that people care about. It causes
leaves because she is not like a ‘captive to be raped.’
family problems and legal claims from the ex-wife for child-support.
In Responsa Rashba (attributed to Ramban #138) there is a ques- If he hid it, it is probably viewed as a blemish. However, the physi- 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 4 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:23 | SR:-- | Magenta #20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-C_efi-ab | 4 - A | 18-08-20 | 13:46:23 | SR:-- | Yellow 20818_efi-ab - 20818_park-
tion there about a woman who says that her husband disgusts her. cian is not obligated to report it since the woman herself should have
Can she make this claim if the man has no blemishes? The Rashba thought to look into it. It is also not halachically considered a serious
answers: If she says he disgusts her, she does not have to give a reason blemish because a daughter is viewed as an “obligation”. Put it this
or excuse, since just as people have different tastes in food, so too way. If a woman marries a man who has financial obligations of which
they find different men or women appealing. (In other words, just as she was unaware, is the fact that he hid the debt viewed as a blemish?
there is no logical explanation for why Reuven likes beans and hates Just as hiding a debt is not viewed as a blemish, so, too, hiding the fact
barley, while his friend hates beans and likes barley, so too here. The that he has a daughter is not viewed as a blemish. This is what I heard
woman’s claim that he “disgusts” her stems from an emotion and logic from my father-in-law, Rav Y. S. Elyashiv zt”l.
cannot be applied to it.) Therefore, if she says he disgusts her and she However, if the husband has to care for his daughter, this is cer-
wants nothing to do with him or his kesubah, we heed her words and tainly considered a blemish in the eyes of the world and it is also a
do what it says in the Gemara. true disturbance. Nonetheless, if the woman could have found out on
Likewise, in our case, if the woman speaks the truth when she her own and did not bother to ask around, then she herself is at fault
says her husband disgusts her, she is not considered rebellious, and and one need not reveal it to her. This is what I understood from my
according to the Rambam we force her husband to divorce her. The father-in-law’s words.
Maggid Mishneh writes that there is an alternate opinion among the In Responsa Maharsham (Vol. 7 #152) there is a discussion about
meforshim which rules that we do not force this man to divorce her, an orphan girl who became pregnant and gave birth from fornication.
and that even if we do follow the Rambam, it would be appropriate to From then on, she conducted herself with modesty. She later got
establish a guideline here because of the lack of boundaries that could engaged to a young man from far away who did not know that she
occur as a result. Since the generation is weak, a woman could set eyes already had a child. If he knew, he would have broken off the relation-

106 1 Medical-HalacHic Responsa of Rav ZilbeRstein Epilepsy 2 91