Volume 67, Issue 7

Halacha Versus The Modern Man
by Avi Zohar

Jewish law dictates that a man who wishes to divorce his wife is required to give her a get, a document of divorce, in order for the divorce to be legally recognized.  Refusing to provide one leaves woman in a state of limbo, as they are forbidden to remarry without one.  A woman ensnared in this trap is referred to in rabbinical literature as an aguna.

On Friday, December 6, the Organization for the Resolution for Agunot (ORA), a Yeshiva organization that was formed this year to pressure recalcitrant husbands into granting their wives divorces, staged a protest in Brooklyn for this very reason.  The protesters, which were mainly Yeshiva students, picketed outside a hardware store that employs the husband, using signs, chants, and the collective recitation of tehillim, to convey their message.

As is generally the case with the ORA’s rallies, the students organizers used every means possible to avoid protesting, which, in their eyes is a last resort.  The idea of these protests, said one of the organizers, is to properly educate the noncompliant man so that he can fulfill the mitzvah of granting his wife a get.  “When it comes to educating a man, protesting is a last resort, and we actually do everything within our power to avoid the educational rallies,” said one of the organizers. 

In this case, conversations with a number of rabbis and family members were held prior to deciding on holding a protest.  In many cases, lawyers are also consulted and sometimes the husbands are even offered concessions.  Strategically applied pressure either by a person’s boss of by family and community members is also a tactic utilized by the ORA. 

And not all the action takes place behind the scenes, sometimes the ORA has to protest, forcing the subject to deal with the negative publicity of such an occurrence. Yet there is a common denominator to all ORA tactics: strict adherence to all pertinent halachot.  “We have an obligation to do this,” several of the organizers said in reference to their line of work.  

Despite the apparent imperative, a lack of sufficient manpower is the organization’s Achilles Heel.  Members of the ORA stressed the need for more student involvement.       “The more people involved, the longer the protests can go on, which allows for a greater chance of success,” said one organizer.  Since past events have mounted a fairly large numbers of protesters and this one only attracted twenty devotees, organizers were somewhat ambivalent about the turnout.

The students that do participate, however, seem highly motivated by their cause.  Indeed, even a last-minute transportation problem did not hinder the group from arriving at their destination.  When the buses did not arrive, alternate means of transportation were quickly arranged and the protest did, in fact, take place.

Although there have been no new developments to date in this case, the organizers are confident that a resolution will crop up.  “It takes a lot of time, but we are confident that something good will happen,” one of them said.

 If necessary, more protests will be organized until this man agrees to grant his wife the get.  ORA and all the people involved in getting women the gittin that they need are very confident in what they are doing.  “Giving a wife a get is a mitzvah, and we will keep organizing protests and stay involved until we succeed,” one member said.¨

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to the editors.
All content is copyright © Yeshiva University Commentator.