A PRIMER ON JEWISH A Guide for the Jewish Communal Professional

IRVING A. BREITOWITZ Associate Professor of Law at the University of Maryland, Rabbinics Professor in the College of Jewish Studies Cooperative Graduate Program with George Washington University, and Rabbi of the Woodside Synagogue, Silver Spring, Maryland

This article presents some basic information about the halacha of the divorce process with which Jewish communal professionals should be familiar. It describes the , the problems of the mamzer and the , and the bet din process.

istorically, divorce within the tradition­ discussion, some of this information is quite Hally close-knit and cohesive Jewish important even to Jewish clients who may family, particularly one that adhered to not normally adhere to halacha. Because halacha (Jewish law), was rare. Although women are most often affected by many of the itself recognizes the possibihty of these requirements, this article assumes a divorce, it was an option that was rarely female client. employed and indeed was societally discour­ aged. This is no longer the case. Although THE GET: WHAT IS IT? the divorce rate among the most traditional­ ist segment of Jewry, the Orthodox, is still To dissolve a under Jewish law, a well below that of the general popidation, it husband must present to his wife a specially is on the rise. To some extent, this is a sad prepared document known as a Get. Get is reflection of the "throw away" mentality an Aramaic term meaning "document." that pervades and afflicts all of American Although the term "Get" can be, and occa­ society—if it doesn't "pay" to fix a phone, sionally is, employed in reference to any le­ it doesn't pay to "fix" a marriage. On an­ gal document, its predominant usage is in other level, and this may be a more positive connection with bills of divorce.' development, spouses, especially women, The requirement of a Get is found in may be less willing to endure extreme psy­ Deuteronomy 24:1: "When a man takes a chological (and in some cases physical) wife and marries her, if it then comes to abuse than they were in the past. Educators pass that she finds no favor in his eyes for and psychologists within the Orthodox he has found something unseemly in her, he world are sensitive to this problem and are shall write her a document of divorce and attempting to address it through counseling give it to her hand, and send her out of his and education, with particular emphasis on house.'' A civil divorce has no effect in the reaching persons before they marry (Wikler, eyes of halacha, and any subsequent cohabi­ 1991, 1993). In any case, Jewish communal tation or remarriage is regarded as adulter­ professionals will inevitably encounter cli­ ous. ents who have strong commitments to Jew­ ish law and tradition and should be aware of 'The numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters that and sensitive to these clients' special needs. make up the word Gel is 12. This in tum corresponds to the custom that the Get be composed in exactly 12 lines. Although the professional assisting a Rabbinic conunentators note that in a Torah, there are a spouse whose marriage is in difficulty need total of 12 blank lines separating the books of the Pentateuch from each other. Since 12 is a number sym­ not be conversant with all the nuances of bolic of separation and division, and the Get itself is Jewish law, a few basic items of information termed "sefer " (a document of separation), it is may be helpful. Indeed, for reasons that therefore appropriate to compose the Get in 12 lines and will become apparent in the course of this to refer to the document by a name that indicates this fact

145 Joumal of Jewish Conununal Service / 146

The Get itself is written in a combination are present, one of whom has primary re­ of Hebrew and Aramaic; a rough translation sponsibility for ensiuing observance of the follows: requisite formalities—^the Mesader HaGet, tiie "Arranger ofthe Ge^"—with the other On the day ofthe week, the day two serving as witnesses. A scribe who will of the month of in the year compose the text of the Get by hand is also since the creation ofthe world according to present. According to the , "All the calendar reckoning we are accustomed to who are not intimately familiar with the count here in the city situated on the laws of marriage and divorce should take no River , I the son of have part in their proceedings" (Kiddushin 6a). desired of my free will, being under no du­ The Get, although a standardized text ress, to release [alt. trans. - remove, sever], except for names or places, may not be let go, and expel you my wife daughter printed. Xeroxed, or even prewritten with of wiio has been my wife from time spaces left blank for names and places. The past. And dius, I release [aU. trans. - re­ document in its entirety must be written move, sever], let go of, and expel you so that anew for the specific couple whose marriage you may have permission and authority over is being terminated. Since the writing of yourself to be married to any man you may the Get devolves in the first instance upon desire and no one may raise any protest the husband, the husband must formally against your doing so from this day forward designate the scribe as his agent before the and forever more. Behold, you are permitted scribe can begin the composition of the Get. to all men. This shall be to you from me a The Get must contain proper dates based on book of expulsion, a letter of letting go, and a the traditional Jewish calculation, location document of release [alt. trans. - removal, and names of the husband and wife includ­ severance] in accordance with the law of ing common nicknames, etc., with the tradi­ Moses and . tional tag "son of or "daughter of" (Last names are not used.) These names The execution of a Get is a private act; it must be spelled correctiy. Indeed, one of does not require the participation or even the most difficult, albeit tedious, jobs of the the consent of a rabbinical tribunal, though Mesader HaGet is to determine which in view of the fact that the formalities sur­ names should be included and how to trans­ rounding its writing and transfer are numer­ literate those names into Hebrew. For ex­ ous and complex, a rabbinical court of at ample, what if Robert is sometimes called least three is invariably present. Even so, Rob, Bob, Robby, Bobby, or Skip and in ad­ the role of the rabbi is supervisory oitiy. In dition has a Jewish name of Rafael that he the eyes of halacha, it is the husband who never uses? The same questions may be his wife, rather than the state or raised regarding his father, his about-to-be- the judiciary dissolving the marriage. divorced wife, and her father. Upon com­ The basic ceremony is fairly simple and pletion of the writing of the Get, two wit­ can normally be accomplished in under an nesses sign at the bottom. The husband and hour. (The mechanics of the ceremony are wife are both asked a set of formalized spelled out in the Appendix fotiowing the questions as a final assurance that the Get is ^.n. 154. English ti-eat- not a product of duress, compulsion, or ex­ ments can be found in Haut, Divorce in tortion. The husband then takes the docu­ Jewish Law and Life, and in Amram, Jewish ment, physically deposits it in his wife's Law of Divorce.) As already mentioned, hands—again in the presence of wit­ the entire Get is only a 12-line document. nesses—^and, upon the Get's delivery, the Husband and wife or their proxies meet at a marriage is terminated. As a procedural prearranged time and place. Three rabbis matter, a divorced woman generally does

WINTER/SPRING 1994 A Primer on Jewish Divorce / 147

not keep the Get, but returns it to the cus­ pregnancy is an impossibility, e.g., the tody of the bet din (the Jewish court), which woman is infertile, past menopause, or was will issue an official receipt stating that physically separated from her husband for such Get was delivered properly. If fiuther far more than 3 months ( 60b). For evidence of her divorced status ever be­ this reason, modem authorities have ruled comes necessary, the bet din will produce that the 90-day period is not waivable by the original from its archives. If either hus­ means of a sonogram or other early preg­ band or wife is unable to be present, the en­ nancy test (2 Otzar HaPoskim E.H. 13:5). tire procedure may be consummated via The delivery of a Get also triggers ali­ designated proxy, and the Mesader must en­ mony, child support, and custody rights but sure that all powers of attorney are in these are beyond the purview of this article. proper form. The details of the law of Jewish law treatment of child custody is agency are quite complex. Appropriate sparse (see Schaffer, 1984; Shareshersky, power of attorney forms can be found in the 1987; Warburg, 1981). There is an excel­ Appendix following the Shulchan Aruch lent though brief review of property rights E.H. 154. in Engel (1987). A divorced woman is free to marry any­ Interestingly, just as a civil divorce has one she chooses including her former no validity in the eyes of religious law, a re­ spouse except for the following: (I) a ligious divorce is not recognized civilly. Cohen, a descendant of the priestly class; Unlike marriage in which virtually all states (2) a man with whom she committed adul­ accord validity to a marriage performed by tery; (3) persons who served as witnesses an authorized minister of the faith, the for the Get; (4) her former husband if in the power of dissolution still rests exclusively interim she marries someone else who then with the secular judiciary. This, however, dies or divorces her; or (5) her former hus­ was not always the case. Civil divorce is a band if she was guilty of adultery during the comparatively late development. Thus, the course of a marriage {Shulchan Aruch 11:1 Get is totally unrelated to either the grant­ and 30:31). Indeed, unless the husband is a ing or withholding of a civil dissolution. As Cohen or the wife has remarried in the in­ a matter of practice, however, many rab­ terim, the reuniting of divorced spouses is binical tribunals will not supervise the ex­ considered a meritorious deed, undoing in ecution of a Get until all attempts at recon­ part the havoc produced by the divorce. ciliation have failed, which may mean de­ In addition, she must wait 90 days from laying the Get until a judgement of dissolu­ the delivery of Get to determine whether or tion has been entered. This is the official not she is pregnant from her first husband; practice of the Chief Rabbinate of Great marrying earlier could cast doubt on the pa­ Britain, which has taken the position that ternity of a later offspring. The stated ratio­ such deferral is required by secular law nale for this rule is the legal presumption (Maidment, 1974). Rabbis in the United that it normally takes 3 months until a preg­ States do not have a standard practice. nancy is physically noticeable. Were a woman to marry before that point and a THE RIGHT TO INITIATE THE JEWISH child to be bom 6 to 8 months later, it DIVORCE PROCESS would be uncertain whether the child was a fiill-term pregnancy from the first husband The Mishna in 90a discusses the or a premature birth from the second. As grounds upon which divorce should be pur­ codified, however, this 90-day period is es­ sued and records three opinions. The House sentially absolute. Remarriage before the of Shammai maintains that one should not expiration of 90 days is prohibited even un­ divorce one's spouse unless she is guilty of der circumstances where an undetected adultery. The House of Hillel permits di­ vorce even on the basis of such trivial dis-

WINTER/SPRING 1994 Joumal of Jewish Communal Service / 148 satisfactions as burning the soup. Finally occur through mutual consent. As one au­ asserts that a husband has the thority noted, "when [Rabbeinu Gershom] right to divorce his wife even in the absence saw how the generation was abusive of Jew­ of any basis for dissatisfaction; for example, ish daughters insofar as divorcing them un­ he is simply atti^acted to someone else. It is der compulsion, he enacted that the rights clear from several places in the Talmud that of women be equal to those of men, and just these opinions do not pertain to the legal as a man divorces oitiy from his own will, validity of a Get issued after the fact, but so too a woman might henceforth be di­ merely to the moral advisability or propriety vorced only willingly" (Teshuvot Rosh of instituting the procedure (Gittin 90a). 42:1). The Talmud after all is a mixture of law, Essentially, therefore, Jewish law gener­ morality, and spiritual aspiration; it is both ally requires the consent and participation a legal and religious work. In point of fact, of both parties in the Get ceremony. Under under the original law of the and the no circumstances does the rabbirtic court Talmud, a husband had an absolute right, or have the power to simply declare the mar­ at least power, to divorce his wife at will for riage at an end, a fimdamentally different no reason at all, and unlike the case in mar­ approach than that of secular divorce where riage, her consent was not reqmred. "A it is indeed the court and not the parties that wife may be divorced either willingly or un­ terminates the marriage. willingly but a husband may divorce only from his free will" (Yebamot 112b). How­ WHAT HAPPENS IF A COUPLE IS ever, the halachic rightofth e husband to ef­ DIVORCED WITHOUT BENEFIT OF GET fect divorce without the consent of the wife does not permit the divorce of a spouse who The Problem of Mamzer is deemed mentally incompetent, though the level of requisite competence for divorce Under halacha, in the absence of a Get nei­ law may be somewhat lower than it is in ther party is generally pemutted to remarry other areas, such as commercial transac­ or cohabitate. Nevertheless, the conse­ tions. The standard merely requires that quences for a woman are far more serious. she perceive that she has been divorced and A man who remarries without giving his knows that she is no longer to live with her first wife a Get is at most guilty of a rab­ husband (Yebamot 119:6-7). binic infraction (the edict of Rabbeinu Gershom) and imposes no stigma or disabil­ The absolute right of a husband recog­ ity on his future offspring. A woman who rtized by biblical and talmudic law to insti­ remarries without fiaving received a Get is tute divorce proceedings underwent a dras­ not only guilty of a biblical offense of adul­ tic change in the 10th century. Rabbeinu tery but also imposes on her children the Gershom, known by his contemporaries as permanent stigma of mamzer. "Me'Or HaGolah" (Light ofthe Diaspora) and an acknowledged leader of East Euro­ The term mamzer is often translated as pean Jewry, spearheaded the enactment of a an "illegitimate child" or "bastard," but it decree that prohibited a husband from di­ has a specialized, technical mearung that is vorcing his wife against her will except in not captured in the translation. A child that narrowly defined circumstances. In addi­ is simply bom out of wedlock is not a tion, he instituted a decree baiming the bib­ mamzer and is under no disability at all. A lically permitted, though discouraged, prac­ mamzer is a child bom out of or from an adulterous union between a married tice of polygamy. These takkanot (legisla­ tive enactments) essentially introduced a woman (including a civilly divorced woman spirit of equality in divorce proceedings and who has not received a Get) and a man for the most part necessitate that all divorce whether married or not. Such a child may not marry another Jew unless that person is

WINTER/SPRING 1994 A Primer on Jewish Divorce / 149 also a mamzer or a convert (Jew by choice). to his great anguish and chagrin, that because Moreover, the status of mamzer continues his mother had failed to obtain a Get in 1956 indefinitely. The child of a momzer is also 9 years before he was bom, he had the status a mamzer ad infinitum. However, although of a mamzer and almost 30 years later could a mamzer'% disabilities are quite severe, not halachically marry the person he desired. they are limited to one particular area: choice of marriage partners. In all other re­ Although there may be halachic avenues to spects, such as inheritance rights and eligi­ help victims like Mark, the bottom line is bility for community positions of authority, very clear: All Jewish women married to halacha does not permit discrimination. In­ Jewish men need to be infijrmed about the deed, the Talmud states that a "mamzer need for a Get and the consequences offail­ who is a scholar of the Law is entided to ing to obtain one. Even if a woman does more respect than a High Priest who is an not subscribe to the religious tenets that ignoramus" (Horiyot 13a). mandate a Get, the need to preserve the op­ One might assume these concems apply tions of her future children and grandchil­ only to Orthodox or other tradidonal Jews dren make the procuring of a Get highly de­ who consider themselves bound by halacha sirable from a purely secular perspective. and have no relevance or meaning to the Although the chent makes the ultimate de­ vast majority of American Jewry who do not cision, he or she must have the information consider themselves bound by these norms. to make the decision, and it may very well A moment's reflecdon reveals why this is be the duty of the Jewish communal profes­ an egregious error. Consider the following sional to provide that input. Note, however, real-life example that intermarriages between Jews and non- Jews do no require a Get for their dissolu­ Mrs. X was married in 1956. The marriage tion. did not produce any children and was gener­ Unfortunately, not all Gittin (plural of ally an unhappy one. Mrs. X filed for divorce Get) are regarded as equal. For a variety of in 1958, and a judgment of dissolution was reasons, a Get prepared under the auspices entered one year later. Since neither Mrs. X of the Conservative movement may not be nor her husband were religiously observant, accepted by various segments of the Ortho­ the issue of Get was never brought up, and dox commuiuty with the result that the indeed Mrs. X indicated she was not aware stigma of mamzer has not been eliminated. such a requirement even existed. She remar­ Clients must be informed that only an Or­ ried in 1965 and had a son from that second thodox Get can fiilly preserve their fiiture marriage. Since she and her second husband marital options. It will then of course be were Reform Jews, once again, the issue of the client's choice which route to pursue. Get was simply not raised. In 1988, their 22- The Reform movement does not subscribe year-old son Mark took his first trip to Israel, to the institution of Get; nevertheless, a a college graduation gift from his parents. number of individual rabbis counsel their While visiting the Westem Wall, Mark en- congregants to procure a Get to avoid the coimtered some friendly people who invited complications of mamzer. There is also a him to dinner. Mark then began at­ nonsectarian organization, Kayama, operat­ tending a yeshiva in Jemsalem, become a ing out of New York City, that attempts to baal teshuva (a newly Orthodox follower), educate the broader Jewish public as to why and decided to extend his stay by 2 years. a Get is so essential even to the nonpractic- Returning to the United States at age 25, he ing Jew. If the professional is uncomfort­ was ready to settle down and start a family. able in direcdy addressing the issue, per­ He met a lovely woman from the same back­ haps a referral to Kayama would be appro­ ground as himself However, he discovered priate.

WINTER/SPRING 1994 Journal of Jewish Communal Service / 150

TheAgunah Problem (The Anchored Wife) woman who has been unable to many for over 20 years. Often, a woman's only re­ Since obtaining a Get is a matter of such course has been to capitulate to whatever overriding importance, it is not surprising demands the husband might be making con­ that it afifords ample opportunity for victim­ ceming alimony, child support, custo^, ization. Husbands, whether nominally ob­ and the like or to mobilize community sup­ servant or not, may simply refiise to grant port in calling for sanctions, such as boy­ their wives a religious divorce. They may cotts, posting the husband's picture in pub­ be acting out of pure spite or malice or in an lic places, or depriving him of synagogue attempt to wrest favorable concessions in honors. Unfortunately, women have often the areas of custody, visitation, or alimony. had to organize this pressure by themselves, Sometimes, the husband may blatantly re­ with the rabbinical court simply not getting quest a large sum of money as a condition involved. There have been, and continue to for his cooperation. Although the number be, many calls for greater rabbinic and com­ of women in this unfortunate status is prob­ munity activism in this area. ably smaller than is often assumed,^ each case is a tragedy. A not insignificant num­ A welcome development in this area is ber of women have remained in this limbo the adoption of a recent resolution by rabbis status for decades. Although there may be whose synagogues are affiliated with the little the professional worker can do di­ Agudath Israel movement to the effect that rectly, sensitivity to the great stress the a person who refiises to respond to the sum­ woman is undergoing may enable the mons of a rabbinic court or violates its order implementation of appropriate auxiliary (1) forfeits his/her rights to synagogue therapies. membership; (2) may not serve as a prayer leader or be called to the Torah; (3) may not For women who are religiously obser­ use synagogue facilities for family celebra­ vant, the lack of a Get is a true chain and a tions; and (4) will be informed that he/she source of anguish. As one woman, who had is generally not welcome to attend services. to wait 3 years for a Get, remarked: "Your Although this resolution technically binds life is in limbo. You cannot begin to date, only a small number of Orthodox syna­ let alone think of marrying. You are at the gogues (those affiliated with Agudath Is­ mercy of another person who can resort to rael), the influence of its sponsors may con­ blackmail and other pressures, and your vince other rabbis and synagogues to follow children are privy to the tension. Many suit. women in this legal entanglement speak of feeling like hostages" {New York Times, Moreover, women themselves have orga­ 1982). Indeed, this author knows of one nized support groups to exert pressure on

*An article in the New York Times (July 5, 1982) well include all Jewish married couples who have di­ quoted an astounding figure of 150,000. Nat Hentoff vorced without a Get, but only a tiny fraction of them per­ quoted a figure "of at least 15,000," in the Village Voice ceive their status as problematical. Although the HentoflF (September 13, 1983), which leads one to suspect that the figure claims to comprise "religiously observant Jewish ten-fold increase in the Times report may have been a ty­ women who have been civilly divorced" without a Jew­ pographical error. Al the other extreme. Rabbi Mendel ish divorce, Epstein is correct that many of these women Epstein (1989), a long-time activist in the area of have not yet invoked the conventional channels and pro­ "agunah-rights," claims that at any one time there are no cedures. However, Epstein's own number ignores the more than 50 women who meet the basic definition of very great obstacles that women face in securing a ralv agunah, which he defmes as a woman unable to obtain a binical court order and is therefore much too low. Ulti­ Get after exhausting all rabbinical procedures and obtain­ mately, whether a woman is or is not called an agunah is ing a rabbinical order directing the husband to give a Get, largely irrelevant. Nothing substantive turns on the no­ which he then refuses to do. If neither party knows or menclature. Ifher marriage is in fact ended and she does cares about a Get, then the absence of a Get creates no not have the freedom to remarry, she has a problem wor­ individual hardship. The Times figure of 150,000 may thy of consideration.

WINTER/SPRING 1994 A Primer on Jewish Divorce / 151

unwilling husbands. One organization and talmudic law, each commuiuty had its known as GET (Getting Equitable Treat­ own official bet din that would be empow­ ment) uses volunteer ' 'caseworkers.'' The ered to rule on matters of Jewish law and to president of GET, Gloria Greenman, was compel obedience to its ruling. quoted in the New York Times (1982) as Most communities today do not have a saying, "We will do whatever we can with­ standing bet din. In the absence of such an out force — we do not use brute strength — institution, the Shulchan Aruch rules that to convince the recalcitrant spouse." A each party chooses one judge of their choice more recentiy established organization is and the two chosen judges choose a third. Agunah, Inc., a women's advocacy group The vast majority of disputes submitted to a headquartered in New York City (Aronoflf bet din are decided under the procediu-e that et al., 1992). is commonly referred to as ZABLA (acro­ Occasionally, this pressure takes a more nym for "Ze Boreir Lo Achad" — "Each drastic form (Greenberg, 1984). A group of chooses one"). women in a Canadian city announced that In the area of divorce, a bet din may be none of them would cohabit with their hus­ involved at two different points. First, in bands until a friend of theirs received a free the event both parties have agreed to a di­ Get from an ex-husband who was holding vorce, the actual execution and delivery of a out for $25,000. She received her Get in Get will be under the supervision and in the short order (New York Times, 1982). Some­ presence of a bet din. Here, in universal times, mass demonstrations or picketing ei­ acknowledgement ofthe fact that the laws ther against the recalcitrant spouse or what of writing a Get are extremely complex, is perceived as an overly passive rabbinical ZABLA is invariably not used. Rather, leadership are organized with moderate suc­ communities tend to have individual rabbis cess ( Farber, a self-styled "agunah who are experts in the area. These rabbis organizer," personal communication, handle all Gittin in the community and 1990). choose two other people who will assist A word of caution, however, may be in them in their task. As noted earlier, the ac­ order. Strong-arm tactics sometimes back­ tual execution of a Get is a short, almost fire, with spitefiil husbands simply digging perfiinctory ceremony that can be completed in their heels even deeper. Social workers in less than an hour. To the extent nonob- and psychologists may provide valuable in­ servant Jews seeking divorce use a bet din sights into family dynamics that may allevi­ at all, their involvement is likely to be lim­ ate tension and facilitate at least enough of ited to the basic procurement of a Get, often a reconciliation that a Get will be forthcom­ at the advice of their own spiritual advisor. ing. Such persons should make their ser­ Even here, there are certain communica­ vices known to rabbis who are involved in tion barriers that create unnecessary strains. the Get process. Many women, particularly those less knowl­ edgeable about Jewish ritual, may expect The Role of the Bet Din more of this ceremony than it is prepared to give and as a result leave with a sense of A fiill imderstanding of both the Get pro­ humiliation, fiiistration, and rage. Because cess and the various pressures Jewish divorce is a traumatic experience, women woman may face requires at least a cursory often naturally assume that the Get cer­ discussion of the bet din. A bet din [' 'house emony is designed to provide spiritual heal­ of law"] is the term for a rabbiiucal tribunal ing, comfort, reassurance, or hope. // is commonly comprised of three rabbis or even not. Rightly or wrongly, the Get ceremony one rabbi and two lay persons that is as­ as structured is a mechanical, bureaucratic sembled to decide matters of Jewish law or act that does not address the individual feel- resolve disputes. Under classical biblical

WINTER/SPRING 1994 Joumal of Jewish Communal Service / 152 ings of its protagonists. Often, the rabbis the general procedure is relatively simple who preside have never met the husband or and informal. The use of attomeys as advo­ wife before (all contact being through the cates is normally discouraged, although not phone) and are not in a position to provide precluded; the litigants and witness are much advice or help. Although few rabbis questioned directiy by the judges. All evi­ are intentionally insensitive to women's dence including hearsay may be admissible, pain, the relative impersonality of the pro­ although its weight may be appropriately ceedings often leave women with that im­ discounted. The bet din would want to in­ pression. This in tum may cany over into a quire into details of physical, mental, and negative feeling for rabbis in general and emotional abuse and all other relevant as­ indeed toward the entire organized Jewish pects of marital and family life. Medical community. and psychiatric testimony, including reports Social workers can help address this and evaluations, would be welcome to aid problem in several ways: (1) by steering the bet din in its determination. When the clients to the rabbis who are not only profi­ system works well, the bet din can complete cient in the technicalities of Jewish divorce its hearings in a relatively short amoimt of law but who also possess qualities of empa­ time and issue a written opinion forthwith. thy and compassion, enabling them to make Often, however, whichever party is unhappy a diOicult experience somewhat easier (in with the decision will simply disregard it, a many communities, though not all, there clear violation of Jewish law but one that is may be several rabbis able to execute a not actionable in secular court. Most batei Get); (2) by educating the rabbinate about din will require litigants to sign an arbitra­ some of the pain and fliistration women feel tion agreement before the case is heard to and about the various ways the Get cer­ ensure the civil enforceability of the bet din emony can be humanized without compro­ award, but even the most iron-clad arbitra­ mising its halachic effectiveness; and (3) by tion agreement will not protect the bet din's informing the client what to expect so that decision from judicial reversal on issues expectations will not be artificially height­ pertaining to child support, custody, and ened. If one does not expect the Get cer­ visitation (Epstein, 1989). Conmiunity emony to be a "rite of passage," one will pressure is often the oitiy assurance that the not be disappointed if it is not. bet din's decision will be obeyed and that is The second aspect of bet din involvement unfortunately a slim reed to rely on. is more complex and long term, although likely to be applicable only to cases where CONCLUSION both parties to the marriage are Orthodox. This article presents some basic information When a bet din is used to resolve contested issues conceming the divorce, alimony, with which Jewish communal professionals child support, child custody, visitation, and should be familiar: the Get, the problem of property rights, ZABLA is commonly em­ mamzer and the agunah, and the bet din ployed. In the absence of an officially rec­ process. It is hoped that it will sensitize the ognized standing bet din, however, it is of­ professional to some ofthe imique concems ten surprisingly difficult to find a rabbi will­ that Jewish women face during the divorce ing to serve on one. Moreover, there can be process. considerable delay until the other side chooses their representative (and even more REFERENCES delay as the two try to find a willing third). Amram, Jewish law of divorce. Finally, working out scheduling may be AronofiF, Haut, and Alter. (1992, October). quite cumbersome. Assuming, that both Agunot: Is the system working? Jewish parties eventually do come before a bet din. Homemaker, p. 6.

WINTER/SPRING 1994 A Primer on Jewish Divorce / 153

Engel. (1987). Marital property rights in Jew­ lemma. (1982, July 5). New York Times, ish law: A survey and comparison. Na­ p. 40. tional Jewish Law Review, 2, 97. Schaffer. (1984). Child custody: Halacha and Epstein. (1989). A woman's guide to the get the secular approach. Joumal of Halacha process. and Contemporary Society, 5, 33. Greenberg, B. (1984). Jewish attitudes toward Shareshevsky. (1967). Dinai Mishpacha, 2nd divorce. In Jewish directory and almanac. ed. Haut,IrvinH. (1983). Divorce in Jewish law Warburg, Herman. (1981). Child custody: A and life. New York: Hermon. comparative analysis. Israel Law Review, Hentofr,Nat. (1985, September 13). The Vil­ 14,480. lage Voice. Wikler, Meir. (1991, April). Rabbommand Maidment, L. (1974). The legal efTect of reli­ psychotherapists: Alhes or adversaries? gious divorces. Modem Law Review, 611. Jewish Observer. Orthodox Jewish divorce: The religious di­ Wikler, Meir. (1993, March). TwoX'sand why? The Jewish Observer.

WINTER/SPRING 1994