1,975. Not Divorcing the Slandered Wife

Naarah Besulah 3:4

The Torah requires that if a man makes a slanderous report against his wife then he must remain married to her forever as per Deuteronomy 21:19, “She shall remain his wife.” This is so even if she is blind or leprous. If he divorces her, he violates a prohibition, as the verse continues: “He may never divorce her as long as he lives.” If he divorces her, he is compelled to remarry her and he is not given lashes, as was explained regarding a rapist. However, if another man precedes him and betroths his ex-wife, if she dies or if he’s a kohein and unable to marry even his own divorcee, then he is given lashes for divorcing her.

Naarah Besulah 3:5

If the wife is found to have been unfaithful, or if she’s found to be prohibited because of a negative or a positive commandment or as a secondary relation, then he should divorce her by giving her a get. The reason that the positive commandment for a slanderer or a rapist to remain married to his victim doesn’t trump a negative commandment prohibiting her is because it’s always possible that this woman won’t want to remain married to him, with the result that both the positive and the negative commandments will be fulfilled.