Changing the system: Outside the Jerusalem's Rabbinical Court

In both the global arena of activism on behalf of agunot, and on the individual level of representing women in the Israeli rabbinical courts, OTS women advocates are a strong force for progress and change.

Dedicated to freeing Jewish women from unviable or abusive marriages with husbands who refuse to grant them a get (Jewish divorce), the Monica Dennis Goldberg School for Women Advocates and its Yad L’Isha Legal Aid Center and Hotline are working to foster systemic changes on behalf of women’s rights in the Israeli legal system. Yad L’Isha recently waged a protracted legal battle against the appointment of new rabbinical court judges with reputations of being unsympathetic to women seeking divorces. The outcome, reports Yad L’Isha director Batsheva Sherman-Shani, is that five out of the 18 newly-appointed judges – who can hold the position for life – are known to have a more open and creative approach toward helping a woman obtain a get from a recalcitrant husband.

Representatives of Yad L’Isha will soon appear before a Knesset committee regarding a proposed law for protecting women during divorce proceedings. The new law will ensure the fair division of a couple’s joint possessions toward the start of divorce proceedings. "This will make it much more difficult for a husband to blackmail his wife into giving up her rights to shared assets in exchange for a get," explains Sherman-Shani, who authored the bill. The law has passed its first reading in Knesset and will be returned for a second reading after the committee meetings.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Financial blackmail from their estranged husbands is actually a common reason women turn to Yad L’Isha for assistance in securing a Jewish divorce.

“For nearly five years, I tried everything to obtain my get,” says Los Angeles resident Linda L. “Just fighting for legal custody of my two children in the civil court drained me of all my financial resources, and then my ex-husband never paid any alimony or child support. In the religious court, he blackmailed me for $100,000, which I could never give him. Afterwards he disappeared altogether to Israel.” With him out of the U.S., Linda assumed that she had no legal recourse to fight for the get, until at last a friend told her about Yad L’Isha. “The organization is a godsend for people like me who have been living a true hell.”

Yad L’Isha advocate Dina Raichik, a graduate of the Monica Dennis Goldberg school, sued Linda’s husband in the Israeli rabbinical court and arranged for a restraining order to prevent him from leaving the country. Shocked at his wife’s actions, the man raised his demand to $300,000. In response, Dina scheduled a “marathon” bet din hearing, which enabled Linda to address all the court issues during a one-week trip to Israel.

“I dreaded appearing before the beit din,” Linda recalls. "Imagine standing in front of three rabbis and baring your soul to them! But Dina gave me strength.”

The rabbis ruled that Linda’s husband must give her the get. “Dina’s knowledge and persistence convinced the rabbis to finally rule in my favor,” she declares. Although her husband is appealing the ruling, Linda is confident of a successful outcome. “At last, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she says. “It’s time for my children and me to move on with our lives.”

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