Two events in the past week presented a contrast of extremes in the ending of marriage. In "Sin City," an Orthodox Jewish man celebrated his remarriage without having formally divorced first wife under Jewish law. Meir Kin did not give his wife a "get," or "writ of Jewish divorce," leaving her technically chained to him in marriage, and so unable to remarry. The cruelty persists even though the couple has been civilly divorced for seven years. For better and sometimes for worse, Jewish marriage is forever, unless something breaks the eternal bond of husband and wife.
In Hollywood, a woman with Jewish roots and her husband publicly called it quits after 11 years of marriage. Gwyneth Paltrow announced the couple's separation on her blog – part of her website Goop.com, where she sells a “positive lifestyle,” with recipes for homemade artisanal foods, like kale and white bean and sweet potato korma, and luxury fashion items, like $3,500 bangles and $250 throw pillows. Paltrow neatly described the break-up as a “conscious uncoupling.” In the Goop lifestyle, marriage is apparently supposed to melt away with minimal resistance.
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