Can a wife request a divorce if the husband takes a second wife?

Hello & Greetings

A man who is married to a woman according to the law of Moses and Israel is forbidden to marry another woman according to halacha, since today the custom is that every man marries one woman, so every woman agrees to marry a man only on the basis that the husband will not marry another woman, and this is what the husband undertook at the time of marriage.

Besides, according to the Rama, it was forbidden to marry a second wife, just as Rabbeinu Gershom decreed that it was forbidden for a man to marry another wife over his wife, and this is the custom of the Ashkenazim. In addition to the Sephardic custom, it is customary to swear the groom when reading the Ketubah that he will not marry another wife over his wife.

In any case where the husband has committed this and married another woman, the wife does not have to remain married to him in this way, and can say that it is not acceptable for her to be married to him in such a situation that he is cheating on her, and she has the right to ask the husband for a divorce.

Even if the husband did not actually marry another woman, but only lived with another woman without marriage, his wife may request a divorce and say that she does not wish to remain married to her husband in this way.

It is important to note that the process of requesting a divorce is only within the framework of an organized Orthodox court, because a divorce that is not done within the framework of an organized Orthodox court is usually worth nothing, and may cause serious problems later on.

Best regards for good news

Rabbi David Ohayon

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