Reply To: How do you know when its time?

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#825760
NotABochurAnymore
Participant

There is a story which can be found in the book “Dear Son” by Rabbi Goldschmidt (which is an excellent and very practical book, BTW). I will summarize it here but it is worth reading first hand in the book itself. A man once came to speak to the author about his failing marriage and to discuss the prospect of divorce. Rabbi Goldschmidt asked him if there are children involved and was told there were. Rabbi Goldschmidt then said that there is no option of divorce where children are involved and that more work needs to be done to better the marriage. The man protested and said that “listen, it’s better for the kids to not see the fighting. They will end up having two homes. two birthday parties, two chanukahs, two everything. it isn’t pleasant but better than the status quot”. Rabbi Goldschmidt brought him a used gemara and explained that children doodle in their gemaros sometimes and that doodling can really reveal a lot about what the child is thinking. The man accepted this notion and Rabbi Goldschmidt showed him the gemara which had some scribbling in it. One of these lines said “one home plus one home equals no home”. The gemara had belonged to a child of divorce and the words expressed his pain and confusion. The man was shocked and went home to talk to his wife. they did not get divorced and ended up working things out and having a beautiful marriage.

I am not saying what your specific case involves, but it is worth noting that children who come from divorced homes generally carry a tremendous pain. Unless one of the parents is being abusive or has severe emotional or psychiatric issues, divorce is a cruel torture for the children that is done out of one or both parents not willing to do what is necessary to work on the marriage. The work is VERY HARD, but necessary and worthwhile when considering the alternative. Please take this into consideration.