ABSTRACT
This article explores how the Jewish law of obligations deals with the breach of a promise to marry.1 What are the halakhic consequences? How do the present-day rabbinical courts of the State of Israel regulate what happens when a promised marriage falls through, that is, when there is a breach of shidukhin? Consider the following case. The plaintiff, relying on the defendant’s promise of marriage, made nonrefundable deposits on wedding music, a photographer, a reception hall, and a custom-made wedding gown. One month before the wedding was to take place, the defendant informed the plaintiff that he would not be keeping his promise to wed her. She then cancelled all the wedding plans and brought an action against her former fiancé for reimbursement of her wedding-related outlay, which had been expended in reliance on the unfulfilled promise to marry. The defendant sued the plaintiff for the recovery of gifts he had presented to her in anticipation of the marriage. Given that shidukhin, i.e., a promise to marry, has been characterized as an instance of “two who have undertaken an obligation,”2 how does the Jewish law of obligations define this ‘obligation’? Does it really constitute a hithaivut in the formal halakhic sense? Is one obligated to marry the affianced party? Can one
* Dayan, Beth Din of America, and Research Scholar at the Institute of Jewish Law, Boston University School of Law.
