("rebellious wife"). In Jewish law, a husband has the right to conjugal relations with his wife. If she consistently refuses to engage in such relations for no valid reason, her husband can turn to a Bet Din and have her declared a moredet, which will allow him to divorce her without being liable for the amount specified in her Ketubbah.
One may divide the moredet into two subcategories: a) a woman who gives an inadequate reason for her refusal; and b) a woman who gives a reason accepted by the bet din as legitimate. In the former case, the Mishnah decreased the value of the wife's ketubbah by a fixed amount for each week that she refused until the ketubbah became worthless. If decreasing the amount was felt to be unavailing, the bet din would have the woman declared a moredet weekly in the synagogue. If that did not help, the bet din had the right to invalidate her ketubbah and order her to accept a divorce. Should she refuse to accept the divorce, the bet din could permit the husband to marry a second wife.
Where the wife had a valid reason for her refusal, the approach was different. Such a reason might be a claim of incompatibility accepted by the court, or a husband's wish to change his religion. In such cases there would be no announcement in the synagogue. The original ruling in such cases was that a divorce could be issued immediately, although the woman would forfeit her ketubbah. Later authorities modified the ruling, postponing divorce for 12 months to permit reconciliation, with the woman duly apprised of the fact that she would be losing her ketubbah. When a woman is in danger of being hounded by her husband's creditors and possibly imprisoned should she remain with him, she is not considered a moredet.
When a husband refuses to engage in conjugal relations with his wife, he may be labeled a mored. If he persists, the value of his wife's ketubbah is increased each week until he finally grants her a divorce. She may also demand full support until such time as her husband applies for a divorce.
