.. The sugya as a whole is in fact an attempt to answer the question, Why should a man marry" (Satlow pp). And the answer that it gives is much more complex than recognized by "our" darshan (Satlow pp).
Virtually every society supports marriage as a social institution, and so must answer the question of "why marry," therefore the answers serve the concrete function of convincing people to marry, "thus physically reproducing the institution ... thus societies, like those of Jews and non-Jews in antiquity, that offer quite distinct social roles to men and women," often use different means of persuasion to convince men and women to marry (Satlow pp). However, on the other hand, marriage can also be found an articulation of how that society's understands marriage, which in turn becomes a key to understanding more complex issues of group values and identity (Satlow pp). When modern Americans suggest that one should marry for love, this is actually reflecting the value placed on an individual's happiness, and thus is also reinforcing other institutions, such as democracy, that depend on this same value (Satlow pp).
According to the Mishnah, "A man should not cease from [attempting to fulfill the commandment] of procreation unless he has children" (Satlow pp). It goes on to say that the School of Shammai says, "In order to fulfill the commandment to procreate he must have] two boys," and the School of Hillel says, "A boy and a girl, as it is written ... Male and female he created them (Gen. 5:2)" (Satlow pp). Satlow points out that the Babylonian Talmud's discussion of this mishnah is composed mainly of two intertwined, yet independent, commentaries (Satlow pp). One commentaries is on the mishnah proper, the obligation to procreate, while the other is on marriage (Satlow pp).
The Talmud begins its commentary thus: "But if he has children, he may abstain from procreation, but he may not abstain from having a wife" (Satlow pp).
Rav Naiman said in the name of Shmuel, "Even if a man has several children, he is forbidden to live without a wife, as it is said, 'it is not good for man to be alone'" (Satlow pp). However, some believe that if he has children, he may abstain both from procreation and from having a wife (Satlow pp). Satlow notes, that if he has now children he marries a woman capable of bearing children, but if he has children, he can marry a woman not capable of bearing children (Satlow pp). The practical difference, says Satlow, is that he "may sell a Torah scroll, (in order to contract a marriage only) in order (to marry a woman capable of bearing) children" (Satlow pp). Marriage to a woman incapable of procreation is of a lesser level than marriage to a fertile woman, thus a man is not permitted to sell a holy object in order to raise money for the marriage contract (Satlow pp). Musonius Rufus, a first-century Roman aristocrat, stated in his writing, that marriage was not only a topic for philosophers and moralists, but also for rhetors (Satlow pp). The rationale that a man should marry in order to create a household is pervasive in many Jewish Palestinian sources, in fact, early all Jewish writings from the Second Temple period share this view (Satlow pp).
Author Andrew Dearman points out that there is no exact equivalent for the modern Western term for 'family' found in the Old Testament because the two societies, modern Western and ancient Near Eastern, have different ways of defining kinship and social identity (Dearman pp). According to Dearman, the closest Hebrew term to 'family' is 'bet ab,' which literally means as 'father's house,' and reflects a male-headed, multigenerational household as the basic kinship unit in ancient Israel (Dearman pp). Dearman says that a household was shaped "by endogamous marriage rites, patrilineal succession, and inheritance customs that privileged the eldest son, all practices which differ appreciably form the modern Western counterparts" (Dearman pp). Moreover, it is important to understand that the literary contents of the Old Testament originated from only segments of ancient Israel (Dearman pp). Mispaha, another term related to the idea of family and often rendered 'clan,' is a kinship unit of related fathers' houses, and this association of related clans would comprise or constitute a tribe, or sebet (Dearman pp). Each of these units or clans was crucial to the self-understanding of an individual in ancient Israel who, as is often noted in text, had a pronounced sense of corporate...
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