Isha Katlanit

In the Jewish Halacha, ‘’’Isha Katlanit’’’ (a causing-death woman) is a woman who became a widow twice. That woman must not marry again, because marriage to her is suspected to be risky.

The origin of that rule is Talmudic. There is a dispute in the Talmud whether woman became “Katlanit” (causing death) after death of two husbands or death of three. The conclusion is that two are enough to define a “Katlanit”. The talmud presented two reasons why marrying a Katlanit is risky. According to the first, the bad luck of the Katlanit woman may endanger her husband. The second reason was that the “fountain” of that woman, i.e her vagina, can have a risky nature.

Maimonides, consistent with his rational attitude, tried to make the Isha Katlanit rule less stricter. He said that if one has already married such a woman, he have no halachic obligation to divorce her. Other rabbis, including Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, took a more rigorous position. In their opinon, a man is not an owner of his life, so he has no right to endanger it. Consequently, one who married such a Katlanit woman must divorce her.

The Isha Katlanit rule is still valid in the Orthodox Judaism. However, Its effect was minimized. Today it is accepted that deaths of old husbands (over age 70) or deaths of husbands caused by an accident are not reasons to define a woman as Katlanit.