Earlier, we mentioned that if the groom delays the wedding, the obligation to support his wife already devolves on him – unless it is delayed due to an unforeseen circumstance. By contrast, with divorces (Get), we do not pay attention to any unforeseen circumstances. For example, there was a case where the husband gave his wife a Get on the condition that he did not come back within a year. On the last day, he was coming but was delayed by the river. Even though he cried from the other side of it, “See, I came back!” – the divorce had already taken place. Why did the Sages establish this rule? – To help modest women, who would be still waiting for their husbands, saying that perhaps he did not fulfill the condition of the divorce due to an unforeseen circumstance; and also to stop the immodest ones who would get married by saying that the husband gave her a valid divorce, when in fact we were prevented from returning.
A law about marrying only on Wednesdays does not apply today. Even back when it did, people might be prevented by an unavoidable circumstance and get married earlier, such as Monday. What unavoidable circumstance could that be? Imagine that the mother of the bride or the father of the groom dies just before the wedding – and the feast is already prepared. In that case, they do not delay the wedding but rather delay the burial. All the time the parent is not buried, his children are not considered mourners. Thus, they can proceed with the wedding, consummate the marriage, and then the groom (if it was his father who died) observes the seven days of mourning.
Art: River Landscape At Dusk, With A Huntsman Resting by Johann Christian Reinhardt
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