Jewish Law Responds to American Law 171
32. 33. 34. 35. 36.
/.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
Baba Metziah, 12a-12b.
Encyclopaedia Judaica , vol. 16, p. 586.
Kid. 50b.
See Elon, op. cit., note 22.
“There is no common-law right of divorce. Divorce is purely a matter of statute.” Jelm v. Jelm, 155 Ohio St. 226(1951). See also Larsen v. Ericson, 222 Minn 363(1946)(stating that“[in the United States , all divorce jurisdiction is statutory”). People ex rel. Doty v. Connell, 9 I11.2d 390(1956); Bernatavicius v. Bernatavicius, 259 Mass. 486(1927).
Coleman v. Coleman, 32 Ohio St.2d 155, 161(1970).
The Get is considered to be a bill of divorcement but it is, more properly, an authorization to remarry.“Thus do I see free, release thee, and put thee aside, in order that thou may have permission and the authority over thyself to go and marry man though may desire. No person may hinder thee from this day onward, and thou art permitted to every man.” Encyclopaedia Judaica , vol. 6, p. 131.
“Reform congregations recognize civil divorce as completely dissolving the marriage, and permit remarriage of the divorced persons.” Freehof , Reform Jewish Practice, vol. 1, p- 99.
A major difficulty is the Agunah, a“married woman who for whatsoever reason is separated from her husband and cannot remarry, either because she cannot obtain a divorce from him or because it is unknown whether he is still alive.” Encyclopaedia Judaica , vol. 2, p. 429. Rabbi Emanuel Rackman , an eminent leader in the orthodox community, has attempted to ameliorate this difficulty by establishing a unique Bet Din which convenes only for the purpose of granting women whose husbands refuse to grant them a religious divorce an annulment in lieu of a Get. This action has him“embroiled in a bitter dispute that has pitted him against virtually the entire spectrum of the Ortho dox rabbinate.” Nadine Brozan,“Annulling a Tradition: Rabbis Stir Furor by Helping‘Chained Women’ to Leave Husbands,” N.Y. Times, Aug. 13, 1998. A most unusual example of a traditional halakhic method for dealing with a recalcitrant woman who refuses to accept a get was recently reported in the news.“Mrs.[Chayie Singer... filed suit last month in Supreme Court in Man hattan against the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada ; the Bed Din Zedek of America, a rabbinical court, and five individual rabbis... She is seeking$13 million in damages...[Mrs. Sieger said,] I got a letter from Chaim'’s attorney, Abe Konstam, stating,‘As you are aware, a rabbinical divorce has already been granted.” Without informing her, the rabbis had used the Heter Meah Rabonim, which was introduced centuries ago to give men whose wives are mentally incapacitated, unconscious or unwilling to accept a get the right to take a second wife. It is not technically a ow ish divorce but is a way of releasing a man in an untenable situation from e bonds of marriage. It requires the signatures of 100 rabbis in three countries attesting to the woman's inability to accept the get” Nadine Bros Women Sue Rabbis, Alleging Betrayal in Divorce Cases,” N.Y. Times, Dece
ber 14, 1998.
/ i he dis“Hatan and kallah agreed that should there be any contemplation of ¢: ts dissolution in the civil courts,
solution of this marriage, or in the event of i h to the other to appear
they will respond to the summons each may make