The right of Yemenite Jews residing in Palestine to practice polygamy was put forth by one of the most prominent leaders of the Yemenite Community who appeared before the Rabbinical Court of Appeals against his wife who refused to permit him to marry a second wife, and demanded a divorce on this ground.
By request of the Central Committee of the Jewish Women’s Equal Rights Association, Dr. B. Joseph appeared before the court in behalf of the wife. The argument of the husband was that the Yemenites, being Eastern Jews, are permitted to have more than one wife.
Dr. Joseph pointed out that the applicant’s influential position in the Yemenite Community made the case a very important one because of the example it set.
The verdict of the Rabbinical Court of Appeals has not yet been issued and the Jewish Women’s Equal Rights Association in Palestine is looking forward to it with great interest.
In connection with this case, the Jewish Women’s Equal Rights Association urges that laws enacted by the government prohibiting marriage under the age of sixteen which would eliminate child marriage and the punishment of bigamy as a crime would improve the matrimonial conditions in Palestine as a whole.
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