Agunot

The 'unspoken agunot': The wives of men whose deaths by Hamas were never confirmed - opinion

In contrast to the victim of get-refusal, the war widows desperately wanted to stay with their husbands. They became agunot due to evil forces from without.

|ByRACHEL LEVMORE
A room at Camp Shura designed for families to part from the deceased who have fallen in Israel's wars.
THE WRITER attends an Agunah Day event of the International Young Israel Movement at the Beit Knesset Hanassi synagogue in Jerusalem, 2014.

The IDF preventing wartime ‘agunot’ - opinion

By simply reading this article and discussing it with friends you may protect your wife, mother, and daughters by bringing the authorization to give a get to the soldiers’ and reservists’ attention.

|ByRACHEL LEVMORE
A HUSBAND signs the document in front of two witnesses, ensuring that his wife will not be chained to marriage – she looks on.

Israel's 'chained wives' are hidden victims of war - opinion

The writer highlights the overlooked suffering of women denied Jewish divorce and calls for preventive measures to protect soldiers' wives amid ongoing conflict.

|ByPNINA OMER
Shir Lavi Znati is seen addressing the Knesset.

Freeing 'agunot': A lawyer's fight to help free Jewish women denied divorce

“I found it morally wrong to use the Torah to make women suffer or for revenge. I was always sure that God never meant for it to be used that way.”

|ByDVORA WAYSMAN

Get refuser grants divorce after being arrested at coronavirus checkpoint

"The get has become a halachically endorsed tool that can be abused to extort, control and threaten a spouse," said Director of Yad La'isha.

OCTOBER 9, 2020ByEVE YOUNG
An Israeli police officer and an Israeli soldier at a temporary "checkpoint" in Jerusalem, to check people are not disobeying the governments orders on a partial lockdown, in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus on March 31, 2020.

How Israel's Rabbinical Court saves agunot in the Diaspora – opinion

The only rabbinical court in the world that has the legal power to levy sanctions or even incarcerate a man until he gives the get, is Israel’s Rabbinical Court.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2020ByRACHEL LEVMORE
RABBI PINCHAS GOLDSCHMIDT says that beyond the 57 women freed in Israel, more than 25 women were freed in rabbinical courts in Europe simply due to the very existence of the Israeli law.

#MeToo justice for Weinstein victims, what about Jewish divorces?

Queen Esther saved the Jewish people. The question remains, who will save Jewish women from the abuse of get refusal?

JULY 3, 2020ByYAEL MACHTINGER
WOMEN SHOULD not have to leverage their freedom simply in order to level the deck.

Aguna receives get, able to divorce husband after 14-year battle

"No woman deserves to live in constant torture for 14 years waiting to be released."

JUNE 8, 2020ByAARON REICH
Vicky Tzur (left) is seen with attorney Tamar Oderberg holding the get.

‘Aguna’ – a midcourse Jewish history correction

Anecdotes are not scientific research. But these and 100 others like them define the widely held communal paradigm regarding iggun. Let us extrapolate some views:

MARCH 9, 2020ByBLU GREENBERG
THE BUILDING of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem.

300 Israeli women march for 24 hours in support of agunot

On Thursday, Ohr Torah Stone held its third annual “Women Moving Mountains,” a hike of 300 women to show support for agunot or 'chained women.'

FEBRUARY 25, 2020ByHANNAH HEPNER
Agunot and former agunot during Yad L’Isha’s first-annual Eshet Hamidbar (Woman of the Desert) 22-kilometer walk

300 Israeli women march for 24 hours in support of agunot

The walk even included a discussion circle with agunot and Ohr Torah Stone’s Yad La’isha staff of rabbinical court advocates, lawyers and social workers, with the purpose of raising funds for Ohr Torah Stone's Yad La'isha: The Monica Dennis Goldberg Legal Aid Center and Hotline.

FEBRUARY 24, 2020ByHANNAH HEPNER
Agunot and former agunot during Yad L’Isha’s first-annual Eshet Hamidbar (Woman of the Desert) 22-kilometer walk

Is the Rabbinical Court’s best good enough?

The Rabbinical Court must set itself free to set the agunot free.

FEBRUARY 23, 2020ByRACHEL LEVMORE
THE RABBINICAL court of Tel Aviv. It has been said that rabbinical courts allow men to hold back consent to divorce their wives in order to extort the women into agreeing to unfair overall terms.

Beautiful dishes created to support 'agunot' or 'chained women'

'Duck meat is never fully wrapped in dough, so it represents freedom'

FEBRUARY 11, 2020ByLINDA GRADSTEIN
The dishes made in the spirit of freedom for agunot, including Café Michael’s decadent French toast

Jerusalem restaurants partner to raise awareness about chained women

JANUARY 23, 2020ByHANNAH HEPNER
Eucalyptus resturant