{{short description, Married woman who has become a widow twice ''Isha katlanit'' ( he, אישה קטלנית, literally: "lethal/deadly woman") is used in '' halakha'' ("Jewish law") for a married woman who has become a widow twice. Such a woman, it is said, should not marry again, because marrying her carries the risk that her next husband may also die (''i.e.'', she will become the "cause" of his death because her marriage to her two previous husbands ended when they died.) The origin of this rule is Talmudic. There is a dispute in the Talmud about whether a woman becomes a ''katlanit'' ("causing death") after the death of two husbands or the death of three husbands. The conclusion is that two are enough to define a ''katlanit'', a term of art found in post-Talmudic literature. The Talmud presents two reasons why marrying a ''katlanit'' is risky: #According to the first reason, the "bad luck" or "misfortune" of the ''katlanit'' may endanger her husband. #The second reason is that her "fountain" (''i.e.'', a

euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

for vagina), can have a "risky nature." Maimonides maintains that if one has already married such a woman, he has no obligation to divorce her according to

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

. Other rabbis, including Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, take a more rigorous position. In their opinion, a man is not an "owner" of his life, so he has no right to endanger it. Consequently, one who married a ''katlanit'' must divorce her. Technically, the ''isha katlanit'' rule may still be valid for those who adhere to Orthodox Judaism. As a practical matter, however, rabbinic authorities have substantially curtailed the relevance of the principles, thanks partly to the rabbinic principle of " The Lord protects the simple" from unusual dangers. In addition, rabbinic authorities have expressed in

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

their concern that widows be allowed to remarry, both for their own moral benefit and for the sake of the Jewish population.E.g., ''Terumat ha-Deshen'' 211 Today it is accepted that deaths of old husbands (over age 70) or deaths of husbands caused by an obvious accident are not reasons to define a woman as a ''katlanit''. Unnatural causes, though, may activate the rule.

Notes

Sources

* Maimonides. ''Mishneh Torah'' H. Issurei Bi'ah 21:31 * Bloom, Amram. ''Beit She’arim'' YD 320 * Breisch, Jacob. ''Helkat Ya'akov.'' ''Note: Case of woman whose first husband dies in a car accident and second in an airplane crash.'' * Isserlein, Israel. ''Terumat ha-Deshen'' 211. ''Note: he overrules Maimonides based on concern for the woman's moral well-being and for Jewish continuity since she would effectively be an

agunah An ''agunah'' ( he, עגונה, plural: agunot (); literally "anchored" or "chained") is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her religious marriage as determined by ''halakha'' (Jewish law). The classic case of this is a man who has left on a journey ...

.'' * Shabtai, David and Raymond Sultan. "Medical Risk Taking in Halacha" in ''Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society'', 2006. * Zbihi, Pinhas. ''Ateret Paz'' Part I, V.3, EH 3, 5748. ''Note: Case of woman whose first husband dies in a racing car accident and, after she converted to Judaism, her second husband died.'
web version
Agunot Bereavement in Judaism Jewish marital law