Fighting for Chained Women in Israel's Religious Courts April 10, 2008

Fighting for Agunot ("Chained" Women) in Israel's Religious Courts
with Susan Weiss, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Women's Justice

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In Israel, the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical authorities exercise State-sanctioned control over family law and Jewish life cycle events; the only legal conversions, marriages, and divorces for Jewish citizens are those conducted by the Orthodox Rabbinate. No one suffers more from this arrangement than agunot, chained women whose recalcitrant husbands refuse to grant them a get (divorce). In fighting to free themselves from failing or abusive relationships, agunot are frequently the victims of extortion by their husbands.

The actual number of agunot in Israel is a matter of great dispute. While women's rights organizations estimate that well over 10,000 women are struggling to secure a divorce from their husbands, the rabbinical courts claim that the number is hardly more than 350.

About the Speaker: Attorney Susan Weiss is the founding director of Yad L'Isha, and the founder and executive director of the Center for Women's Justice. Susan initiated the innovative tactic of filing for damages against recalcitrant husbands in the Israeli civil courts, and has been fighting for the equality of Jewish women in divorce proceedings for over 20 years. She is an editor of The Law and its Decisor, a legal journal published by Bar Ilan University, and has written extensively about Jewish women and divorce. She is also a doctoral candidate at Tel Aviv University.

About The New Israel Fund: NIF is the leading human, civil, and social rights organization in Israel, and the only organization dedicated to empowering all members of Israeli society. For twenty-eight years, NIF has fought for social justice and equality, and offers Diaspora Jews a way to connect with Israel that reflects progressive values. More at www.nif.org