FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions What Is an Agunah?An agunah is
a woman whose husband has disappeared or does not have the capacity to
deliver a bill of divorce to his wife because of his physical or mental
condition. An agunah is trapped in a marriage that exists “on paper” alone, and she cannot free herself from this marriage or marry another man. What Is a Get?A get is a bill of divorce that a husband gives a wife.From the moment that the get reaches a woman's hands, she ceases to be her husband’s wife. In the words of the Torah, the get is a “writ of manumission”- sefer kritut. The get cancels the kinyan relationship that exists between husband and wife so long as they are married, and frees the women to marry another man (except a What Is a Mesorevet Get?A mesorevet get, a victim of get refusal, is a woman who is in possession of a rabbinic court decision ordering her husband to give her a get, or who is in the middle of legal proceedings in which she seeks a get from her husband, and her husband refuses to deliver the get to her. The mesorevet get is not considered free to marry another man until her husband delivers a get to her. Most modern writers conflate the terms agunah and mesorevet get.What Is a Mamzer?A mamzer is a child born to a married woman who became pregnant from a man who is not her husband; or a child born to parents of an incestuous relationship (sexual intercourse between blood relatives that is prohibited under Jewish law). A mamzer cannot “be part of the community.” A mamzer can only marry a convert or another mamzer. The child of a mamzer is a mamzer for generations.What Is Kinyan Be’Kiddushin?This refers to the legal act that gives the husband exclusive conjugal rights to his bride. Upon the act of kinyan, the wife is forbidden to other men. The husband is not forbidden by this act to other women.What Is a Get Meuseh?The forced divorce, this is a bill of divorce that is not given of the free will of the husband. The coerced divorce is invalid even if the coercion is done by rabbis, and even if the get has been authorized and conducted by the rabbinic courts. However, if the rabbinic courts issue a decision ordering, or better yet compelling, the husband to deliver a bill of divorce to his wife, the bill of divorce is valid (kosher) even if not given of the free will of the husband.What Is Get Extortion?This is a term that describes the way that the rabbinic courts turn a blind eye to-- or even cooperate with and encourage-- a husband's practice of making demands in exchange for the get. Since the rabbinic courts take a stringent position with regard to the idea of the forced divorce (get meuseh), they prefer that the parties reach an agreement and settle between themselves, rather than rely on a court order against a recalcitrant husband. Behind the rabbinic court demand that the wife “compromise” with her husband (even after decisions have been rendered with respect to matters that are ancillary to the divorce) stands the notion that if a woman gives in to her husband's demands, the bill of divorce will be given of his free will, without the need for a court order of any kind to be issued against the husband. What are CWJ's solutions for agunot?CWJ encourages Jewish communities and their leaders to adopt comprehensive solutions that will protect women from becoming victims of get refusal in the first instance. Such as a Contract for a Just Marriage.Until such time, CWJ requests that civil courts condemn and hold husbands responsible for the damage caused when they exploit their power under religious laws to infringe on the personal autonomy and freedom of their wives. CWJ believes that there are many ways to solve the problem of Jewish women and divorce within the rubric of Jewish law.
How is CWJ different from other organizations that help agunot?CWJ’s main goal is to prevent the problem of the agunah from ever happening. We take cases that we hope will change the way our courts, our rabbis, and our communities deal with the problem of the agunah. Each case that we take to the family court, the rabbinic court, or to the Supreme Court is with an eye to the possible precedent that may result from such representation. For example, we sue husbands in the family courts for damages for get refusal in order to create precedents in tort law for the misuse of the get in the divorce process. We sue to dismiss divorce contracts signed under duress to prevent future extortion of women who are desperate to receive a get. We represent women who want to sue the government for the judicial mishandling of their divorce cases in the hope that this will improve judicial practices in the bet din. We represent women who want to clear their children of the stigma of mamzer. Most organizations that provide legal services to the agunah offer legal-aid which focuses on making our courts work more efficiently for individual women.We are always pleased when we can help an individual woman, but our main goal is to set important principles that will have an impact on women as a group, and on the general Jewish public. As “vanguard (front-line) cause-lawyers” CWJ wants to change how our courts work and how they think about "justice." Does CWJ support civil marriage for Israeli Jews?CWJ’s goal is to enable the Jews who marry under the chupah to do so without compromising their civil liberties. CWJ’s main goal is to make Jewish marriages user-friendly and just. We want our tradition to be a living tradition. We are currently examining suggestions made by such thinkers as Prof. Pinhas Schiffman and Dr. Ariel Picard regarding civil marriage as a possible solution to the problem of Jewish women and divorce. |
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