The translation below was made by Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn. I added all the material in square brackets [ ], added some punctuation, changed other punctuation and grammar, changed one "an" to an "a," and broke what was one long paragraph into several smaller paragraphs to make it easier to read:
Sefer HaChinuch #579: Divorce requires a document. The basis of this mitzva is that since a woman was created to help her husband and she is to him like a desirable utensil.
A similar idea is expressed in Sanhedrin (22b). A woman does not make a covenant except with one who makes her into a utensil.
Since a woman is there to serve a purpose, it is the will of God that when he is disgusted with this utensil he should remove it from his house.
Because of this reason there are some of our Sages who say in Gittin (90a) that even if she burns his food he is able to divorce her, i.e. [even] for a trivial matter, since she is nothing but a valued utensil in his house.
However other Sages say that since she is [created] in God’s form and image and God prepared her for her husband’s needs and [his] honor – with [her] eyes to see and [her] ears to hear and [her] intelligence – it is not right to reject her and send out of his house except for a major reason. This is as the [biblical] verse says, “Because he found in her ervas davar (something disgusting).”
Nevertheless according to all the Sages, if he finds some major problem with her it is correct to divorce her.
That is because of the reason I mentioned, that she was only created for his sake. And since she is causing him upset and he is disgusted with her there is no necessity for him to remain with her.
The Jewish approach is not that of some of the non-Jews who make a strong binding commitment to marriage that is only ended by death. A man should not be afraid to divorce his wife if she does something repellent and destroys all that is in the house and burns down all of his possessions.
However the Torah commands that when she is sent away, it shouldn’t be done by words alone, because this can lead to much trouble and immorality in our society. Because a wife who is committing adultery could simply claim that she was already divorced. In addition if divorce is too easy to do then it becomes very common.
Consequently the Torah requires that a divorce be based on a written document and that there be witnesses who testify, and that all those who claim to be divorced can show it.
An additional advantage of a complicated written procedure over an oral agreement is that the delay and effort can cause the man’s anger to dissipate sometimes and he will decide not to divorce his wife, and great is peace…
It's important to understand several things about what you have just read.
First of all, there are two opinions cited, one allowing capricious divorce and one allowing divorce only for serious matters.
Secondly, Sefer HaChinuch was written in the 13th Century CE, about 750 years ago. It reflects the views of its time.
What is problematic, of course, is that for many haredi rabbis, it still reflects their views – even though we can show historically that Jewish women – at least upper class Jewish women – were treated better than this late in Second Temple period and that many great Jewish sages – like Rashi, for example, rejected the Chinuch's harsh view.
And when haredi rabbis can find active harsh opinions to hold by, they often do or, at least, they give those harsh opinions weight and, in the case of divorce, time. So a harsh opinion can bind a woman to a horrible, even violent marriage even though it is by far outnumbered by moderate and lenient ones.
And behind the Kiryas Joel Satmar Rebbe's attack on the child victim of Rabbi Nechemya Weberman as a "whore" is the idea that women are, in the end, only vessels for men's enjoyment, vessels that fill a need, vessels that are often enticing when they should not be, that lure men to sin, that are filled, as the Talmud says, with filth and vomit, whose blood brings impurity and distances all who come in contact with it from holiness.
The awful truth of the Sefer HaChinuch is that a woman is not much more than a high end blow up doll in parts of halakha, a sex toy/maid/cook/nanny/wet nurse/laundress who saves men from sin by spreading her legs and taking it.
But any time a man wants a new cook or a better maid or a later model sex toy, a legitimate strain in halakha is right there to allow him to get one while throwing the original out on the doorstep first. Because a woman is only a vessel – all the rabbis agree on that. She may be a $150 pot or she may be a diamond encrusted 24 carat gold and platinum tea service, but she's still an a vessel, an object, a purchase.
And you can almost always return her if you find a better deal.
[Hat Tip: Louis.]