Marriage in Judaism is the ideal moral and social position for a man and a woman. Orthodox Jews viewed marriage as the fulfillment of God’s purpose; in their view, man became complete only by finding his partner in marriage. From antiquity, the Jews made sure that the rights and roles in a legitimate marriage were respected. The bride and groom drew up a ketubah, a Jewish marriage contract that obligated the husband to provide for the wife and guaranteed her financial compensation in the event of their divorce or the death of her spouse.

If the husband died prematurely, the wife had to marry his brother. Such a marriage was called a levirate marriage and served to continue the lineage of the deceased and to preserve his land allotment within his own tribe. Levirate marriage was prescribed by the Torah, but later the Talmud replaced it with the halitzah ritual, which allowed a childless widow not to marry her brother-in-law.

In the halitzah ritual, the widow had to undress her dead husband’s brother. The woman would lean against the wall, and the man would put forward his right foot in a specially made odd laced sandal. They would both recite a text in Hebrew, after which the widow would untie the straps of his sandal with her right hand, remove it, and throw it over her shoulder. The woman would spit on the floor in front of the man and say in Hebrew,

After the ceremony, the widow received a get halitzah document, which allowed her to freely choose her next husband.

A get is a divorce letter that was drawn up when a husband and wife decided to end their marriage by themselves. Without this paper, the divorce was invalid and the woman was still married, even if she left her husband’s house. The get was written by a special scribe, a sofer, a very important and respected person who copied the Torah scrolls, prayers, and household amulets.

The text of the get consisted of two parts: the tofes, the general part for all divorces, and the toref, a description of the specific details of the couple’s divorce. It was necessary to include all the names of the husband, the wife, the witnesses, and the place where the document was drawn up. The witnesses signed the get, and the husband gave it to the wife in front of them. From that moment the woman was considered divorced and could control her own destiny.