Why would anyone want to get rid of Kiddushin (and not marraige)? The answer is that marraige is unequal from its very beginning, Who does the taking according to our tradition? The man. Who ends the relationship? The man. The woman in the Torah is passive. It is not a partnership.
If not Kiddushin then what?
Perhaps, she suggested, a mechanism of oaths and vows could be used to create a halachically binding relationship, in which the partners pledge sexual fidelity to each other. “I would argue for a completely new marriage ceremony, because the reality of our world does not match what the halacha of kiddushin actually is,” Rabba Epstein said.There is no question that she is right, marraige in Judaism is not fair or equal for women. The question is what do we do with this (and other ) fact(s)? Something has to give, either we need to accept what the Torah says or reject it. But to say we accept the Torah but we can't live with a,b,c,d,... so we will change those doesn't work. That is not Judaism but rather is a new religion of your own making based on Judaism. This is why MO/OO doesn't work for me (and I believe most Charedi questioners), we understand that there are certain lines in Judaism you simply cannot cross without destroying it.
Not just marriage - The Torah and Halacha are not fair to women. Honest Jews have admitted this, but they say it's G-d's wishes. Good Grief. See posts in #6 http://altercockerjewishatheist.blogspot.com/2014/04/some-reasons-to-reject-orthodox-judaism.html and also http://altercockerjewishatheist.blogspot.com/2016/09/oral-tradition-part-2-treatment-of-women.html
ReplyDelete> we understand that there are certain lines in Judaism you simply cannot cross without destroying it.
ReplyDeleteIn *Orthodoxy*.
IF you see Judaism as Jews' attempts to connect with the Divine, or something like that, then it is subject to change in order to better allow the current generation of Jews to best establish that connection. It isn't Orthodox, but it is Judaism, and most of the other streams of Judaism do something like that.