daf bit: Ketuvot 75

[cellio]

A mishna discusses cases where a man can divorce his wife without paying her ketubah. One such case is if she is found to have certain bodily defects -- the defects that disqualify a priest can also disqualify a wife (if the husband chooses), according to the gemara. However, the mishna teaches, if the defect was visible the man has no recourse, and if she resides in a town with a public bath he has no recourse even if it was invisible. Why? Because it is presumed that he had his female relatives check her out before betrothing her. (75b)

(Aside: two pages later is the mishna that discusses the man's defects and when he can be compelled to divorce her.)

Comments

[cellio]

Correct. Religiously, only the man can initiate divorce. There are cases when he is required to under halacha, and none of this affects civil divorce.

The restrictions on remarriage absent the religious divorce run in only one direction, so the situation is unbalanced. (The man can remarry even if he hasn't given his wife a bill of divorce (a "get"), but she is stuck -- again, religiously and not civilly.) This is why it is sometimes necessary for a rabbinic court to compel the man, though they do not always succeed and then things get ugly. These days, many couples write what amounts to a pre-nup into the ketubah so that the "get" will be automatic upon civil divorce.