Public Litigation Projects

The Tort of Get-refusal(Family Court)

CWJ has spearheaded a novel and very powerful approach to helping agunot and mesoravot get ("chained women") via tort law, bringing damage claims against recalcitrant husbands in Family Court. These cases  provide women with much-needed economic and personal leverage during the divorce process. Moreover, the use of tort law (damage claims) has the potential to systematically reconfigure the gender imbalance in the system of divorce in Israel.
Click here for details of precedent-setting decisions in the area of tort law for get abuse.

Some milestones:

• Judge Greenberger offers the initial precedent supporting the idea that recalcitrance is a basis for a tort claim, 2001
• Judge Hacohen awards 425,000 NIS to a woman in damages for get abuse, 2004
• Judge Greenberger awards 550,000 NIS in damages to a victim of recalcitrance, 2008
• Judge Maimon extends responsibility to family members of the recalcitrant husband
• Appeals court unequivocally defends the principle of the tort of get-abuse, and sustains award of 700,000 NIS for victim of recalcitrance, 2011

Conversion and Natural Justice (High Court of Justice)

CWJ files petitions that ask a reluctant Supreme Court to re-examine religious court rulings that violate “natural justice” or exceed jurisdictional boundaries – such as:

• Conversions that were repealed by rabbinic courts
• Petitions to invalidate the slush fund use to pay off recalcitrant husbands for the get
• Petitions against rabbinic "blacklists" of Jews who are forbidden from marrying in Israel -- mamzerim

CWJ has had some very important successes in this area. In the case of the convert "X", a woman who was cruelly and needlessly interrogated by rabbinic judges during her divorce proceedings, CWJ intervention reversed the rabbinic court decision that nullified her conversion. In other words, thanks to CWJ, "X" is Jewish again. Read the entire story about "The Interrogation of X" here.

Discriminatory tenders (Labor Court)

CWJ files claims against the state for abuses of process that occur in the rabbinic court, such as rabbinic court tenders which bar women from applying for positions in the religious courts and establishment. For more details, read about it in the Jerusalem Post here.

Petitioning rabbinic judges (Rabbinic Court)

CWJ takes on cases of women whose husbands refuse to give them a divorce, with an eye towards precedent-setting cases. CWJ takes special interest in cases of blacklisting and blackmailing, as well as other incidences of injustice within the rabbinic court. CWJ is working on extending the tort of get-abuse to hold rabbinical judges directly responsible for women's suffering.

Public Awareness Projects

CWJ seeks to raise awareness about the injustices within the rabbinical court system, and to create broad support for legal and legislative solutions. The following are some projects aimed towards these goals:

Savta Bikorta

CWJ has created a series of video-clips using the character of "Savta Bikorta" ("Grandmother Critic") that reveals the inside story of what happens behind the closed doors of the rabbinic courts. Watch the videos; hear the chilling tales:

 

The Never-ending Story — how a woman hired a detective to find her husband, found him, brought him to the rabbinic court, and how the court let him go and 9 years have passed without remedy or relief. (English with Hebrew subtitles)

From the Beginning — how marital property issues are reopened in the rabbinic courts at the request of the husband, leaving both the wife’s personal status and property at the mercy of the husband and court. (Hebrew with English subtitles)

Taking Testimony in the Rabbinic Courts — how the rabbinic courts are clueless when it comes to evaluating the weight of evidence, and the near impossibility of proving domestic violence. (Hebrew with English subtitles)

Oops, You’re not a Jew — how the rabbinic court can undo a conversion of many years with sleight of hand, and when you’re not even expecting it and thought you were just going for a get. (Hebrew with English subtitles)

No Fault — how no fault of the husband is grounds for divorce. Even when a husband has molested his own child, the rabbinic courts do not view this as ground for divorce. (Hebrew with English subtitles)

Columns in Ynet

• For Rivkah's Hebrew columns in Ynet, click here
• For Rivkah's English language columns in Ynet, click here
• For Rivkah's columns that were translated but not yet published, click here

Art installations