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How can Beis Hillel permit divorce for burning food when shalom bayis is so sacred we erase God's name for it? The reasons someone gives for divorce reveal whether a real marriage ever existed—burning soup as grounds shows a transactional arrangement, not a spiritual partnership. True shalom bayis means active growth together, making minor irritations irrelevant.
Rabbi Zweig begins with the famous dispute between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel regarding grounds for divorce in Parshas Ki Seitzei. While Beis Shammai requires serious misconduct ('ervas davar'), Beis Hillel permits divorce even for burning food. This appears to contradict the supreme Jewish value of shalom bayis (marital harmony), for which we even erase God's name in the sotah procedure. The resolution, Rabbi Zweig explains, is profound: the reasons someone gives for wanting to end a relationship reveal the true depth and value of that relationship to begin with. If burning soup is sufficient cause for divorce, it indicates there was never a real marriage - only a transactional arrangement where the wife serves as a cook or housekeeper.
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Parshas Ki Seitzei 24:1
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