Beginning with the Bible, Judaism has always recognized the special needs of the widow and the orphan. Both the widow, a married woman whose husband has died, and the orphan, a child whose mother or father has died, are frequently classed together in the Bible, for they are among the helpless in society. Therefore, the Bible warns: "You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan" (Ex. 22:21). This theme is reiterated in the prophets, "Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow" (Isa. 1:17). The Psalmist cries to God for retribution from the wicked for "they kill the widow and stranger; they murder the fatherless" (Ps. 94:8). Special legislation is enacted for their protection (Deut. 24:7).
The sages show similar sensitivity regarding the widow and the orphan. R. Yosé said: "Anyone who robs a widow or an orphan, it is as if he robbed God" (Ex. R., Mishpatim 30:8). "Who is one who performs charity continuously? He who raises an orphan" (Ket. 50a).
Aside from expressing their concern, the sages legislated a variety of laws which benefit the widow and orphan. Since the widow does not inherit her deceased husband's estate (it reverts to the children), the rabbis found it necessary to safeguard the widow financially and instituted the Ketubbah, the marriage contract, which served as an insurance policy which was paid to the wife after her husband died (Ket. 4:2). If her deceased husband was owed money, the debt was to be paid to the widow (Ket. 9:2).
The Talmud also reflects the problems a widow encountered in finding a home. At times, she returned to her father's house. Under other circumstances, she went to live with her in-laws or she became the guardian of her children and remained in her deceased husband's home. As guardian, she was required to report to the local court concerning the amounts paid from the estate to feed and cloth her children (BB 9:6). If the widow lived alone, she had to be careful not to take in lodgers, for people might suspect her of licentious behavior (AZ 22a).
A person who has lost either a father or a mother and is incapable of fending for himself or herself is considered an orphan in Jewish law. There is no age limit to this status (Maim., Yad, De'ot 6:10). If a young girl is given in matrimony by her father and is then divorced before she reaches her majority, she is given the status of orphan, even if both her parents are alive (Ket. 73b). The community is obligated to assist an orphan in paying for a marriage celebration. A girl orphan takes precedence over a boy orphan in receiving such assistance (Ket. 67a).
Widows play a secondary role in two further commandments. The first is the obligation of a brother-in-law to marry the widow of his brother if the latter died without leaving any children (Levirate Marriage). The purpose of this commandment is to ensure that the name of the deceased will not be blotted out, for the firstborn of a levirate marriage is "accounted to the dead brother" (Deut. 25:5-6).. The second commandment is that which prohibits the High Priest from marrying or having intercourse with a widow. Here the focus is on the High Priest. He is obliged to marry a virgin and is prohibited from marrying any woman who is not a virgin.
Maimonides in his Sefer ha-Mitsvot, Negative Commandment 256, writes: "It is forbidden to deal harshly with fatherless children and widows, whether by word or by deed. We must speak to them very gently and kindly, treat them as well as we possibly can, show the most favorable disposition toward them, and set ourselves a very high standard in all these matters."
