Two Moons; A tormented husband has to choose.
Before you read the ending of the movie
described here yesterday, I wanted to mention that Maaleh is the only religious film school in Israel. As the study of performing arts pushes the envelope of artistic creativity and expression, it's even more complex attempting to weave it together with Orthodox
halachik observance.
The Maaleh School of Television, Film and the Arts JerusalemIn the coming weeks I hope to review other Maaleh movies on my blog; every movie directed by students at Maaleh is an expression of Israeli life, a different shining facet of the challenges and complexities we face on a daily basis. Strikingly, many Maaleh films painfully touch upon core life issues which halacha, hashkafa, family life and politics sometimes don't always adequately prepare us for.
Yesterday's movie, "One Too Many," was directed by Maaleh Graduate (2005) Shaiya Bernstein.
And now...the ending.
After a scene of the husband promising the Nurse (second wife) that he would divorce his first wife, he returns to the hospital where his first wife is starting to pack. Gently he hands her a rose and announces his decision.
He wants to stay with his first wife, and divorce the second one.
Just as final point, Rabbeinu Gershom was responsible for the current famous edicts concerning marriage and polygamy (not to mention, the prohibition of reading someone's mail without permission)
It is indeed true that, by virtue of an edict promulgated by the 11th century authority, Rabbenu Gershom, no religious divorce may be effected without the consent of the wife and hence a wife may prevent the remarriage of her estranged husband if she refuses to accept a get.
Since the disintegration of the marriage is attributable to abandonment by the wife, and since it is she who refuses to accept a divorce, it would, in the absence of a biblical prohibition against polygamy, be inequitable to bar the husband from taking another wife by reason of rabbinic legislation.
However, the edict of Rabbenu Gershom does require that a minimum of at least one hundred scholars domiciled in at least three different countries or, according to some authorities, three different jurisdictions, certify that dispensation for a second marriage is factually justified.
Source:
FactBites (didn't see this on Hihurim...)
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
14 comments:
Yesterday's posting was better. When will you post a new movie review?
That's it? That's so predictable? What a let down :)
I was waiting to find out that in the end, the nurse and first wife were really sisters from some secret love affair. And then the husband turns to the dark side...
Must Gum: Well...it was based on a true story...I think the story in and of itself was pretty crazy to begin with. The hospital staff called the wedding right after the first wife woke up to try and stop the Chuppa, but it was too late...
But...the next movie I'll post about (when I get around to posting about a movie) will be in one posting, and isn't any less compelling.
Sorry this wasn't as good as my "Feeling Manila" postings. Yet now the number one google search engine keyword search for my blog is...Manila teenage hitchikers
What a privledge :-/
And the reason I took them down.
Isn't that the story of Ariel Sharon and his wife? Wasn't he really in love with her sister and she mysteriously died?
See, soaps and classics lead to the right results. The first wife stays, the second goes.
:)
Is there any way to view the film school's movies online?
AFAIK, in general, to get a heter meah rabbanim one must first deposit a get with a bet din, to be delivered as soon as the wife consents to accept it, and swear al daat rabbim not to cancel it. Presumably this would have been required of our husband, and therefore the dilemma is solved - the bet din informs her that her get is waiting for her any time she wants it, and she can take as long as she likes to get used to it, but the facts aren't going to change.
Chana: If you want to write a script for them, I'd be happy to pass it on to an aspiring director ;-)
Milhouse: While your point may not have come up in this movie, the husband could have gone back to Beit Din and asked for "Hatarat Nedarim" -- because his neder was under the pretense that his first wife would never wake up.
ECahan: His first wife died under mysterious circumstances, and then he married his first wife's younger sister. The son of his first marriage also died of strnage circumstances (accidentally shot by a rifle...then again, Cheney did that last week)
K-loyalist: Check out the Maaleh website. These aren't the films you can download freely from the web (or find them on emule/kazaa)
Wait, me funcused. He told the nurse he'd divorce wife #1 but then couldn't go through with it? What was wife 1's reaction? So what'd he tell the nurse after promising to stay with wife 1? What was her reaction?
I'm surprised I was, like, the only one who voted for the opposite results. What can I say, I'm not a very moral person! ; )
The point of a neder al daat rabbim is that it can't be undone. En lo hatara. And AFAIK that is what is required in order to get a heter me'ah rabbanim.
Soon we'll be calling you "Ebert at the Muqata"...seriously, thanks for reporting on this intriguing story/movie.
RR: I hope to make it a weekly feature :)
Elster: I'll email them to you. trying to lower my profile from the Philipino government now.
Millhouse: That's very interesting - thanks!
Irina: According to Millhouse, your decision was 100% correct halachically as well as morally. Give yourself an extra point :)
Ayelet: I think I forgot the exact flow of that part of the movie. Yes, he did promise his second wife (the nurse), but then changed his mind (with no reason given).
Anytime the Rabbanut in Israel orders a Heter Meah Rabbanim, a Get is deposited with them. Contrary to popular belief a Heter Meah Rabbanim (at least in israel) does not mean Polygamy. The Rabbanut allows the Husband to re-marry b/c he has deposited a Get that the wife refuses/can't receive. It's just out of concern for the part of the Cherem D'Rabbenu Gershom that forbade giving a Get against the will of the woman, that the Rabbnut will wait until the woman accepts the Get before allowing her to marry someone else. But technically, the Beit Din can accept it on her behalf. In this movie, the woman the coma was already "divorced" and if the guy was Cohen he'd be in an even bigger fix if he chose to go back to wife #1
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