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Neighbor's Divorce Problem Results in Former Milwaukeean's
New Book
NOTE: This article is in reference to Jack Nusan Porter's 1995 book, Women in Chains: A Sourcebook on the Agunah (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc.), which he edited. I, as Webmaster, strongly encourage all visitors interested in the agunah problem to purchase this book. It is an invaluable resource for anyone affected by aginut ["state of being chained"].
While growing up on Milwaukee's West Side, Jack Nusan Porter and his family became embroiled in the domestic situation of their Orthodox upstairs neighbor, a woman he calls Devorah.
Devorah's husband refused to give her a get, a Jewish religious divorce, unless he received full custody of their three children.
For years, until she finally agreed to his terms, Devorah was an agunah - from the Hebrew word meaning chained. According to Jewish law, until her husband consented to give her a get, she was not free to remarry and start a new life.
"We were all affected by this," Porter recalled in an interview from his Boston home. "People need to understand that an agunah affects many, many people."
Porter said that his feelings about Devorah and her situation simmered inside himself for many years, and have finally emerged as a book, "Women in Chains: A Sourcebook on the Agunah" (Jason Aronson, Inc., $19.95), which Porter edited.
The book is a compilation of scholarly articles; newspaper and magazine stories featuring prominent U.S. Jewish divorces; and some short fictional pieces that deal with the plight of the agunah.
Opposing views included
Porter attempts to deal with all facets of the issue. One article criticizing the current situation in Jewish religious courts was written by members of the activist group Agunah, Inc. It is followed by a response from Agudath Yisrael of America, which includes a statement from former Milwaukeean Rabbi Labish Becker.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin offers the Modern Orthodox position. Rabbi Sidney Schwartz speaks for the Conservative Movement. (The Reform movement has nullified the need for a get, a position neither Orthodoxy nor the Conservative movement accept).
Porter said one goal in writing the book was to "raise the consciousness" of the Orthodox rabbis, many of whom are grappling with the issues involved.
"Most agunot are being blackmailed, for children or money," Porter said. He also cited cases of agunim - men whose wives refuse to accept a get, leaving them chained as well.
Judaism's divorce laws were once considered among the most liberal. By insisting that a woman agree to divorce, these laws prevented a husband from divorcing her against her will.
Neither side has to prove the other is at fault. However, both parties must agree to a get.
In New York, which has the highest concentration of Orthodox Jews in the United States, State Senator Sheldon Silver introduced the bill known as the New York Get Law, although no specific mention is made of Judaism or a get.
Instead, the law states that a "barrier to remarriage" will be taken into account by the civil courts when equitable distribution of property is determined. It is similar to a law in Canada, which states that the court can reopen financial and custody settlements if one party is preventing the other's remarriage.
"We need a Silver Bill in every state," Porter said.
'Rabbis are helpless'
His book contains one article describing the law. It is paired with a statement from Rabbi Dovid Zweibel of Agudath Yisrael opposing the Silver Bill, charging that it is coercive. Jewish law requires that a get be freely given.
This issue becomes confusing because in the past, if a beit din (religious court) determined that a husband should give his wife a get, it could order the husband beaten until he agrees. In Israel today, a beit din has the power to jail a recalcitrant husband until he agrees to give the get.
However, according to Zweibel, a civil authority cannot order a husband to issue a get. But other Orthodox rabbinic organizations, including the Rabbinical Assembly of America, have supported the Silver Bill.
For the most part, said Porter, "the rabbis are helpless."
In the shtetls of Europe, a rabbi could issue an excommunication edict against a husband who defied the beit din, guaranteeing social ostracism. In our mobile society, this tactic has lost it's sting.
Porter said Devorah's husband now lives in Baltimore, where no one knows his history.
"He's still in denial about the whole thing," said Porter, who is still in touch with both parties. "Yet, she nearly died in a car accident because of the stress of the divorce."