Saturday, September 24, 2016

US Orth. Rabbis' Group Orders Prenup Agreement; Ends Need for a "Get" for Orth. Women to Divorce

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) will mandate its member rabbis to require couples to sign a prenuptial agreement ensuring that husbands will not withhold a "get" ( a Jewish writ of divorce) from their wives, the Times of Israel website reports today (September 24, 2016).

The agreement -- commonly referred to as a "halachic prenup" -- generally penalizes the husband financially for refusing to give his wife a get.

Rabbi Mark Dratch -- executive vice president of the RCA, a centrist Orthodox rabbis' organization -- said the organization is mandating the longstanding fix to an intractable problem now because the Orthodox community is largely aware of and comfortable with its use.

According to halacha -- or traditional Orthodox Jewish law -- a husband must give his wife the get in order for the couple to divorce. Women whose husbands refuse to divorce them -- thus preventing them from remarrying under Jewish law -- are referred to as "agunot," Hebrew for "chained women."

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