A 17-year-old teen and his 14-year-old girlfriend are the youngest couple to get a divorce in Israel, after the 'mock wedding' they held became legal according to Jewish law because they had had sex.
Jerusalem Post:
14-year-old bride divorces husband
Quote:The courts said in a statement that this was the most unusual divorce on record, and certainly the one involving the youngest party. Two years ago, 16-year-olds who had married according to Jewish law were also granted a divorce by the courts. Their divorced status, said the RCA spokeswoman, would likely appear on the teens' identity cards when they receive them at the age of 16.
A report released two weeks ago by the National Council for the Child showed that in 2006 some 4,304 minors under the age of 18 were officially married in Israel, 166 of them under 16. However, the majority of underage unions occurred among Muslims.
Quote:The minimum age for marriage under Jewish law is 13 for boys, 12 for girls.
Mishnah Kiddushin 1:1 specifies that a woman is acquired (i.e., to be a wife) in three ways: through money, a contract, and sexual intercourse. Ordinarily, all three of these conditions are satisfied, although only one is necessary to effect a binding marriage.
Source for above: 'Marriage' in
Judaism 101
Though Israel's
Marriage Age Law gives some minimum ages for marriage, it doesn't invalidate underage marriages.
I wonder in how many countries we still have religious marriage laws.
Since I live in a country where church and state is separated (at least officially), you can marry as often and as young as you like ... in your church/temple/ ... and according to your religion. But it's never a legal marriage: we only know the civil marriage at the registry office as such.
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