Marriage: Polygamy
Question
In Judaism, Is it allowed to have many wives.
Answer
Shalom!
Thank you for your question!
Although the Torah allows for multiple wives, the great Rabbi, Rabbeinu Gershom (died 1040) instituted a ban on marrying more than one wife.
There were a number of reasons he instituted the ban. Among them: so the multiple wives won't fight, so that a first wife is not abandoned or mistreated, to ensure that a man will be able to financially support his first wife, and perhaps most importantly, because the non-Jews had abandoned polygamy and it would look bad for the Jews to do live such a lifestyle.
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