Chained to a Dead Marriage: Can We Fix the Agunot Issue?

An agunah, in classical Jewish Law, is a woman whose husband is unable or unwilling to grant a divorce. “It is literally a woman chained to the bonds of a dead marriage,” says Lisa Fishbayn, director of the Project on Gender, Culture, Religion, and the Law (GCRL) at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. Secular law evolved over the 20th century to grant men and women an equal right to ask for divorce, share marital assets, and receive custody of children in accordance with the children’s best interests; Jewish Law says that a marriage can only be terminated by a divorce decree, known as a get, which must be delivered by the husband, even if he abandons the family or refuses to grant the divorce out of spite. Currently, GCRL is collaborating with top scholars on this issue to better understand the problem and contemplate solutions. Here is a glimpse into what they are exploring.

Michelle Cove, Editor
mcove@brandeis.edu

In This Issue

• A Jewish Form of Domestic Abuse

  Why there are agunot in the 21st century, and what you can do about it.

• New Approaches to the Agunah Problem

  An inside look at what top scholars are examining right now at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.

• Blind to Legal Consequences

  The surreptitious long arm of Israeli rabbinic courts.

• A Quest for Historic Knowledge

  Why Ben Steiner devotes his time to studying archives rather than standing on the activist front lines.

• Wanted: Missing Jewish Husband

  How Jewish women used newspaper ads and editorial stories to track down their deserting husbands.