Mistress, lover, kept-woman, common-law wife? What exactly is the concept of a concubine in Judaism? How does Jewish law regard such a relationship? Posted on What is the true contemporary halachic status of pilegesh?
In the Talmud , a pilegesh is defined by Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav as a woman married without kidushin and without a ketubah Babylonian Talmud , Sanhedrin However, Rambam Hilchot Ishut defines a pilegesh as a woman without a ketubah but with kidushin. Kidushin, which means sanctified, is part of the marriage ceremony and reflects the holiness of Jewish marriage. During the ritual of kidushin , the man sanctifies his woman and designates her for himself and no other.
According to Rambam, after the Torah was given, one who has relations with a woman without kidushin is punished with lashes by Torah law. A pilegesh without kidushin , is an institution exclusively reserved for Jewish kings. An ordinary person may not take a pilegesh, or engage in any type of relations outside of a marriage Rambam, Hilchot Melachim Th e Shulchan Aruch , explains that if a man lived with a woman the way of znut, not for the sake of kidushin , she is not considered married.
This is the case even if he designated her for himself and lived with her for the sake of intimate relations exclusively between the two of them.
The Rema Rabbi Moshe Isserless , ibid. It is important to note that even the Rabbis, who do not consider pilegesh to be an infringement on a Torah commandment, may still hold that pilagshut violates the positive commandment of the Torah that a man must marry by way of kidushin.
