That's something of a myth, as we don't even know *who* made the cherem (we know for certain of only one cherem of Rabbenu Gershom, against reading someone else's mail), let alone when and for how long. Regardless, Rabbenu Gershom died less than a thousand years ago; moreover, the cherem was renewed when the State of Israel was created.

I never heard it was renewed. is there anything written about this? documentation? what was the process?

Like I said, it never really lapsed, but the Chief Rabbinate formally re-accepted it after independence. That includes all kehillot, and no one protested, so there it is.

Of course people who made aliyah with more than one wife were allowed to keep them.

(It should be pointed out that polygamy was pretty much nonexistent in the Jewish world, at least outside of countries- Islamic ones, that is- where it was practiced by the wider population, and even then it was rare. Post-Matan Torah, the only non-king in Tanach with more than one wife is Elkana, father of Shmuel, and that was a special case. In all likelihood, no Jew in Europe at the time of Rabbenu Gershom had more than one wife anyway. There are claims the cherem was made because Christians attacked Jews for allowing polygamy even if they didn't practice it.)

Then in the 1970's Ovadia Yosef began working against what he saw as Ashkenazic "halakhic cultural imperialism." One result of this is that polygamy is *slightly* more permitted in the Sephardic world. No one is allowed to actually have two wives, of course, but there are technical circumstances where polygamy being permitted makes some things easier. For example, this isn't exactly polygamy, but Yibum was still practiced in some Mizrachi communities. It no longer is, but if it's *technically* allowed, that makes certain aspects of divorce and remarriage easier to handle.

Anyway, this case may be related to that last point. No one is literally married to two women, but it makes the beit din's job- and the couple's lives- a bit easier at times if it's not dismissed out of hand.

interesting.thanks.
btw, from what I remember the reason for the cherem was an experience that rabbeinu gershom had personally, when he married a second wife that was much younger and she ended up leaving him for a goy, a general who ended up causing a lot of problems for the jewish community. I dont remember the details of the story but from what I read about that, this incident made rabbeinu gershom feel it was a bad idea.

I heard the "bad marriage" line as well. It has to be a myth, considering that there's no evidence R' Gershom even made the takana in the first place. (The takana exists; who made it is another question.)

As I said above, as there's no documented basis for the cherem (which of course doesn't mean it isn't in effect), there can be no documented "expiration."

I doubt the claim of the Gra is any more documented than a required "renewal."

Jews tend not to have more than one wife anyway.

As a Cohen, you should know about this. The GRA in Maaseh Rav haShalem p 276 wanted to do things to bring the geulah closer: abolish the (supposed, per you) cherem rabbenu gershom about two wives (which by the way, expired at the end of the fifth millennium, meaning year 5000), and reinstitute daily birkhat cohanim.

As for documentation of the cherem, its very generally discussed in SA. Like I said above, its more of a minhag custom than a cherem (whatever cherem means).

I give up. You can only say the same fact so many times.

Maaseh Rav p 276