By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld
During Mattan Torah Bnei Yisroel died after hearing Hashem speak. They then came back to life. Were the men required to re-marry their wives when they came back from death? In Meseches Megillah we find that Rava killed Reb Zeira while drunk. When Reb Zeira became alive again via a miracle, was he required to re-marry his wife? The same question would apply to the son of Shunamis that Elisha was me
The Chida wanted to bring a proof from the Yerushalmi in Gittin daf 40b that another kiddushin is not necessary. The gemara discusses a scenario of a person who gives a get on condition that he does not come back within twelve months. The man dies after a couple of months. Rav Chagai said the wife could get married because we don’t think he will come back from the dead. Reb Yosi, on the other hand, said she couldn’t get married because a miracle may happen and he may come back. Even Bavli, that does not worry that a miracle may happen, may still be modeh that if a miracle does happen she is still married to her husband. Therefore, we see that the fact that the husband died did not remove the kiddushin and he would not require a new kiddushin. The Ohr Sameach says that there is no proof from this Yerushalmi that a new kiddushin is not needed. It could be that the get would be batel and therefore she would require a yibbum or chalitza, but not to say that the husband may live with her again without another kiddushin.
The Ben Ish Chai in Sefer Ben Yehoyodu says from the fact that by Mattan Torah the Jews were not required to re-marry their own wives, we see that one who dies does not have to do kiddushin again. Reb Chaim Kanievsky was maskim to this. The problem is that after Mattan Torah we find according to Brisker Rov that the Jews had to have kiddushin again since before Mattan Torah a man could get married without witnesses. It therefore stands to reason that everyone got remarried with witnesses.
Another raaya the Ben Yehoyodu
The Avnei Nezerin Even Ha’Ezer siman 56 argues concerning someone who wanted to say that as soon as the husband becomes alive again the hetter of the woman being now unmarried dissolves since the whole hetter came about as the husband died. Now that he is alive again, the hetter disappears. The Avnei Nezer says to the contrary; that once she had the hetter that she was able to marry someone else, she stays muttar. He compares it to the case where one divorces his wife saying that today you are divorced but tomorrow you are not. We say that once she is divorced, it does not stop and she stays divorced, so in this case in order for him to live with his wife he would need a new kiddushin. This would hold true even according to Reb Elchonon in Kovetz Shiurim 2:27 that explains that the reason a woman becomes muttar when her husband dies is because there is no metziyus of a husband that prohibits her to marry someone else, Once that metziyus is there, even if for a short while, she is not muttar even if her husband comes back alive.
I believe there was a Gadol who is still alive today who had quadruple bypass surgery and felt that he was more dead than alive so he was mekadesh his wife again.
May we be zocheh to have this question of whether Kiddushin is necessary or not answered by Eliyahu Hanavi during techi
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