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Mattathias of Arta, Greece (rabbi of the Corfu congregation in the sixteenth century). He quotes the entire responsum of R. Simhah (attributed above as being R. Meir’s) to support his own point of view. Binyamin Ze’ev recognizes that the perpetrator agrees in the end to divorce her “of his own free will” (ad she-yomar rozeh ani) as a result of the force of the court. Binyamin Ze’ev quotes several sages (Samuel of Evreux, first half of thirteenth century, talmudist and tosafist of Normandy; Elijah ben Judah of Paris, first half KambodЕѕa naiset treffit of the twelfth century, French talmudist, commentator, and halakhist; and Meshullam ben Nathan of Melun, twelfth century, talmudist in northern France) who were in favor of denying all the privileges of the community to the perpetrator who refused to give his wife a divorce. This would include denying his right to circumcise and educate his son and even the right to be interred (in a Jewish cemetery). Binyamin Ze’ev does not view these extraordinary means as coercion-they are to be considered as aids to help the husband to do what is right. Continue reading