Question Hello and thank you for taking the time to review and answer my question. I was learning recently about the Seven Noahide laws, one of which is the prohibition against adultery. Namely, that a married woman may not have relations outside of marriage. As such, she and the partner would be subject to the death penalty. Now, that seems to apply to non-Jews. I was curious, from a purely halachic standpoint, what would be the case with a married non-Jewish woman and a Jewish man. Would both of them be subject to the death penalty? Or, perhaps only she would, since Halacha views relations with a non-Jew on a different level as with a Jew. Thus, where a man were to have relations with a Jewish married woman, he might be subject to the death penalty, relations with a married non-Jew might be a completely different and separate prohibition, or just falls under the general prohibition of having relations with a non-Jew.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer this question and I'm looking forward to yoru answer.
Answer Allan:
This is a 'sticky wicket' area. The various Poskim (experts) rule differently on the actual definition of Adultery. Most agree with your initial definition, but others disagree. In my opinion, adultery takes place when either party joined in the holy union (here definitions vary as well-some do not recognize non-Orthodox or mixed unions) has sexual relations with another. As far as the death penalty goes, since this is no longer applicable, it is academic. Halakha 'evolves' a bit more slowly the more conservative one is, so I suspect even the ultra-Orthodox will eventually come to a definition similar to mine. I hope this helps some. As I noted initially, this is a very complicated portion of Halakhah and I'd rather present you with the more liberal version, in this case. Shalom!
