Virginity pledge alternative

The former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav (Rabbi) Ovadia Yosef is known both for his great wisdom and his unfortunate moments with the press. Like father like son, perhaps, as his son recently made a decree that all unmarried men over age 20 must leave Jerusalem. It's meant as an incentive to push them to get married, but of course it sounds not so good. Much like Rav Ovadia's statements.

According to the rabbi, who publishes a weekly column on the Eretz Israel Shelanu leaflet, in the past it was customary to banish "older" single men from the capital as punishment for their refusal to marry and provide for a family.

In recent generations, Sephardi rabbis decided to annul this regulation, but according to Rabbi Yosef it should be reinstated. "Only a yeshiva student who studies Torah has an exceptional permission to postpone marriage, if he fears that marriage might distract him from his studies.

"But normally one must not delay marriage till after 20, and those who do had better leave Jerusalem and go study somewhere else," he wrote.

Last week the rabbi discussed in his column the question of what was the right age for marriage, and concluded that men must wed no later than age 19.

"Any man who reaches the age of 20 must hurry without tarrying, or he might find himself looking for many more years," he stated.