Big Love: Technically KosherThe recent raid of a polygamist sect's ranch in Texas got us wondering about polygamy outside of the Mormon community—specifically among Jews.

Jews have a biblical tradition of men marrying multiple wives (Jacob, for instance, married Leah and Rachel, and had two concubines as well). So why are today’s polygamists living in communities and compounds in Texas, Utah, and Colorado, but not in Jerusalem and Williamsburg?

Polygamy was allowed in biblical times, but seems to have been something mainly reserved for the very rich: Basically, those wealthy enough to afford it. Even in those situations, there were limits. Deuteronomy 17:14-17 says, “I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee…Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.” Kings were seen as standard bearers for all Jews, so Jews shouldn’t have too many wives. The rabbis limited the allowed number of wives at 18, though that would have been extremely rare even in the centuries when the Talmud was being written.

By the time the Mishnah and Talmud were being written, polygamy seems to have fallen out of favor. More than 2500 rabbis are mentioned in the Talmud, and only one of them had more than one wife. Polygamy is discussed at length in the Talmud, which parses situations having to do with inheritance and greed in families with more than one mother, but it seems to be more of a legal exercise than a useful guide. Rabbi Gershom b. Judah (often referred to as Rabennu Gershom), a Rabbi living in France in the 10th century, famously decreed that polygamy was prohibited—along with reading other people’s mail. This prohibition has been held up by the Ashkenazi community since its inception, but the Sephardi community has actually never adopted it, and no major Sephardi rabbinate is on record making a similar statement.

Believe it or not, Israel’s Chief Sephardi Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has come out in favor of legalizing polygamy in contemporary Israel, and the Jerusalem Post published a pro-polygamy editorial by Greer Fay Cashman. There’s a pro-polygamy ultra-Orthodox Jewish blog, and a page at polygamy.com devoted to “an open analysis and review of the Cherem (excommunication) Rabbeinu Gershom and the issue of polygamy for Orthodox Jews.”

There are even some underground groups within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that still practice polygamy. We might wish it was a myth, but it’s not.

Previously: There Are No Jews in China

Polygamy: Not as taboo as you thoughtWhile we're feeling superior to the Mormons, and discussing sex, let's touch on Polygamy in Jewish history and law!

Most of us know that Jews today don't engage in Polygamy, and most of us also know that Jews used to engage in lots of Polygamy (about 40 men in the Torah had more than one wife).  King David had eight wives and a bunch of concubines.  Soloman had like, 700 wives!

But until far more recently (if you trust the Jewish Encyclopedia), Jews were okay with a man marrying multiple women (though not so much the other way around):

Permitted according to biblical law, polygamy was practiced throughout the talmudic period and thereafter until the tenth century (Piskei ha-Rosh to Yev. 65a; Sh. Ar., EH 1:9). Already in amoraic times, however, the practice was frowned upon by the sages, who prescribed that polygamy was permissible only if the husband was capable of properly fulfilling his marital duties toward each of his wives

Whoa!  The tenth century?

Just wait... it gets better.  According to Wikipedia, the Torah:

includes a few specific regulations on the practice of polygamy, such as Exodus 21:10, which states that multiple marriages are not to diminish the status of the first wife; Deuteronomy 21:15-17, which states that a man must award the inheritance due to a first-born son to the son who was actually born first, even if he hates that son's mother and likes another wife more;[4] and Deuteronomy 17:17, which states that the king shall not have too many wives.[13] One source of polygamy was the practice of levirate marriage, wherein a man was required to marry and support his deceased brother's widow.

In the modern day, Rabbinic Judaism has essentially outlawed polygamy. Ashkenazi Jews have followed Rabbenu Gershom's ban since the 11th century. Some Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews (particularly those from Yemen and Iran, where polygamy is a social norm) discontinued polygamy much more recently, as they emigrated to countries where it was forbidden. The State of Israel has forbidden polygamous marriages, but instituted provisions for existing polygamous families immigrating from countries where the practice was legal.

Now, the rest of this seems not-so-shocking.  But that last line-- I'll admit I'm a little surprised to discover that there are still Jewish polygamous families today. Sadly, I found sites online that use this information to build terribly anti-Semitic arguments about how Israel supports Polygamy as a practice, though I won't link them here.

Want more?

Here's an article discussing whether Polygamy should be legal in Israel...