[Avodah] polygamy

[Micha Berger]

I suggested that the RBSO timed cheirem deR' Gershom on polygamy to
end right before the Shoah caused a number of men to accidentally take
2nd wives because they wrongly thought their first wives had perished.

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 06:10:46PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote on Areivim:
> Where did you get that from?  The Shulchan Aruch says it expired at
> the end of the fifth millennium.

There are two opinions, that it ran for the rest of the millenium (as
you cited the SA) or that it ran for /a/ millenium (e.g. the LR's sichah
of 3 Iyar 5747, parsashas Tazria-Metzorah mentions both 300 years and
1000 years).

But in any case, as I saw in the sichah, I was a century off when I
the 2nd opinion would have his cheirem run out shortly before WWII.
The LR mentions a millenium, and wikipedia tells me RGMH was niftar
in 1040, not 940.

BTW, our current lack of polygamy may be based on the fact that no one
closer in time to RGMH mentions this millenial time limit, and therefore
there are grounds to doubt it is real. (IOW, that we hold like a third
opinion.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Despair is the worst of ailments. No worries
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