Do Jews Have Child Brides?

Child marriages persist in Jewish culture, particularly in the Haredi community and Arab groups living in Israel. The Torah includes numerous mitzvot regarding parent-child interaction, such as circumcising sons on their eighth day of life (Genesis 17:10-14). Parents may not sacrifice their children, neither to a foreign deity. Most Jews marry at a relatively youthful age (late teens) for several reasons: to allow young men to fulfill the commandment of procreation and to direct sexuality.

Child marriage and forced marriage are violations of child protection and human rights, compromising a child’s development and severely limiting their health. The Conservative movement acknowledges that “a measure of morality” can be found in non-marital sexual relationships provided they comport with Jewish sexuality.

Child marriage affects girls and boys from all countries, cultures, and religions. Girls are more likely to marry before age 18 than boys, and they often marry much older men (UNICEF, 2014a). Many Muslim family laws have minimum ages of marriage below 18, the internationally accepted definition of a “child.”

Child marriage is a complex issue rooted in gender inequality, poverty, lack of education, harmful social norms and practices, and insecurity. Its drivers vary between communities and look different across and within regions. In Judaism, marriage is traditionally not considered a minimum age, as underage girls are considered their fathers’ property.

In New York, girls as young as 14 can marry, and some states do not even have a minimum age. It is not a Biblical obligation, but a cultural thing and part of their heritage.

Can Jews marry their aunt?

6. Her uncle. Jewish law says that an aunt-nephew marriage is wrong, but an uncle-niece marriage is OK. A man can marry his dead wife’s sister, but a woman can’t marry her dead husband’s brother. Even a childless widow must receive chalitzah, enforced separation, today.

7. A man she had sex with before she was married.

8. A kohens daughter can marry anyone.

Can I marry a girl 10 years younger than me?

There’s no law against marrying someone with a ten-year age difference. It’s fine to marry someone ten years younger than you if she’s okay with it and you’re both on board.

Which religion has the most child brides?

Buddhists have the highest number of child brides in urban areas.

What age do girls marry in Iran?

Religion: Iranian law says girls can get married at 13 and boys at 15, but they can marry younger with their dad’s permission and a judge’s OK. This has made child marriage seem OK.

Family honor: Some families marry off their young daughters to improve their status. Girls are also married off early to stop them having sex and dishonoring the family.

Displacement: Iran hosts almost one million Afghan refugees and around 2.5 million Afghan residents. Afghanistan has a lot of child marriage, and girls are at risk of being married off because of displacement. Families see child marriage as a way to cope with economic hardship and protect girls from violence.

How do orthodox Jews consummate marriage?

Today, the Yichud is not used to consummate the marriage. Couples often eat and relax together before the dancing and celebrations of nissuin begin. On their wedding day, the bride and groom fast. The Yichud is a time for the couple to eat together after breaking their fast. Even if they didn’t fast, it’s a chance for the couple to spend time together before the wedding day gets busy. In Yemen, the groom and bride didn’t use a chuppah, like today. Instead, they used a bridal chamber, which was decorated in the groom’s house. This room was decorated with colorful cloth, cushions, and short mattresses. The couple consummates their marriage when they are alone in the room. The chuppah is described the same way in Sefer HaIttur (12th century) and the Jerusalem Talmud.

Wedding feast After the wedding ceremony and the private time, the bride and groom will enter a room with friends and family to celebrate. The wedding ceremony is serious, while the wedding feast is fun. Guests should bring joy and fun to the couple on their wedding day.

Who was the youngest woman to marry in the Bible?

Rachel (Hebrew: רָחֵל) Rachel, meaning:

Paddan Aram (Aram-Naharaim, present-day Harran, Turkey)

• Benjamin (son/third cousin/fourth cousin)
• Joseph (son/third cousin/fourth cousin)

Leah (sister); Isaac (father-in-law); Rebecca (aunt/mother-in-law); Esau (cousin/brother-in-law); Reuben (nephew/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepson); Simeon (nephew/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepson); Levi (nephew/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepson); Judah (nephew/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepson); Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar. Zebulun (nephew/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepson); Dinah (niece/third cousin/fourth cousin/stepdaughter); Asenath (daughter-in-law); Manasseh (grandson); Ephraim (grandson).

Which country has the lowest legal age for marriage?

Sudan had a different policy about marriage age. Muslim children could get married at puberty. Non-Muslim children could only marry after they were 13 or 15. In late 2020, Sudan changed the legal age for marriage to 18, outlawing child marriage.

At what age did ancient Jews marry?

Chapter 5 explains how people in an honor-and-shame culture arrange marriages. It shows that the rules about marriage are meant to balance ideal social values and reality. While the ideal age for marriage was the teens, men married later. In Palestine, men married women ten or fifteen years younger. In Babylonia, men married women in their teens. Women were valued for their beauty, and couples arranged marriages in various ways, including taking advantage of laws against rape. (But we must remember that these rules, which required the accused rapist to marry the victim, were horrible if they were really raped.) The ideal marriage was arranged by fathers. But few daughters would have a father to arrange their first marriage, and few sons would have a father when they married.

Ch. 6 looks at how ancient Jewish communities valued endogamy over exogamy, but it’s hard to know what their actual marriage patterns were from the data. Satlow shows that the definition of who was in and who was out varied in different Jewish communities. Before the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, priests were expected to marry other priests. In the rabbinic period, endogamy focused on marital castes and social classes, not genealogy or kinship. Palestinian Jews believe all of Israel is a holy people, while Babylonian rabbis saw themselves as a pure caste.

Chapter 7 looks at customs and rituals from Jewish history that weren’t written down. Satlow includes here the betrothal celebration, bride and groom payments, betrothal-to-marriage period, wedding, bride procession, marriage consummation, and wedding feast. Most sources are concerned with the bride’s virginity. Even the Babylonian rabbis are uncomfortable about following the biblical procedure of producing a bloodstained sheet as proof. They offer many excuses for why a woman might not appear to her husband to be a virgin. Palestinian weddings celebrated fertility, while Babylonian weddings focused on sex, perhaps because the bride and groom were young.

What culture gets married the youngest?

The countries where people get married the youngest. Chad has the youngest average age of first marriage at 19.2 years. Two African countries, Niger and Mozambique, come in second and third with 19.4 and 19.6 years, respectively. Bangladesh is fourth with 19.9 years, while Nepal is fifth with 20 years. Myanmar is at the bottom of the list with an average age of 22.3 years. Chad has the lowest marriage rate in the world because the legal age for marriage is low. Before 2015, the legal age for marriage was just 15. In 2015, 68% of marriages in Chad were child marriages. These high rates are caused by things like malnutrition, drought, illiteracy, high living costs, and other factors. In 2015, the legal age for marriage was raised to 18, but many people still marry young. This practice is not only found in poor people but also in wealthy people. The 2016 Chadian government resolution aims to end child marriages by 2018.

Mozambique is almost like Chad. In 2016, UNICEF reported that almost one in two women in Mozambique between 20 and 24 were married before they turned 18. That year, Mozambique had the tenth-highest rate of child marriages in the world, even though the legal age for marriage is 18. A girl can be married at 16 if her parents approve. Poverty also leads to early marriage, which causes more kids to drop out of school.