1,562. Conjugal Obligations with Multiple Wives

Hilchos Ishus 14:4

A husband’s conjugal obligation is based on the number of his wives (at a time when plural marriage was practiced). If a workman has two wives, he must fulfill his conjugal obligation towards each of them once a week. If he has four wives, once every two weeks. Similarly, a sailor with four wives must fulfill his conjugal obligation towards each of them once every two years. The Sages therefore decreed that a man may not have more than four wives even if he has sufficient financial means so that he will be able to fulfill his conjugal obligation towards each of them once a month.

Hilchos Ishus 14:5

If a man takes a vow requiring his wife to tell others what one of them told the other during the jesting that occurs between a husband and wife before marital relations, he must divorce her and pay her the value of her kesubah. This is because a woman may not be compelled to speak inappropriately and to tell others such intimate things. Similarly, if a man takes a vow requiring his wife to use contraception or to act foolishly by performing meaningless acts, he must divorce her and pay her the value of her kesubah.