During the course of the last few posts I was reminded of an incident that occurred quite a few years ago that involved an Agunah. (Although an Agunah is technically a woman who does not know if her husband is alive or dead, I use it here as it is generically used.)
It was the classic case. The recalcitrant husband refused to give his wife a Get. The wife was getting desperate and had no one to turn to. So went to a legitimate Posek who has an international reputation. He promised her his best effort. After numerous attempts at trying to convince the husband that there was nothing to be gained except being of being put in Nidui (a sort of semi Cherem), he still refused. He of course realized such public ostracizing rarely worked. There were always people who didn’t realize his status or simply didn’t care. Most people would deal with him as they always had, both socially and otherwise. He would still have his friends, his Shul, his job. In short the Nidui would basically be as ineffective as it usually is.
So, this Posek knowing the history of such cases decided he would get some “thugs” to physically threaten him if he didn’t willingly give his wife a Get. After having the living daylights scared out of him he agreed to give his wife a Get… “willingly”.
I put the word willingly in quotes because I have to ask, I this really a case of… willingly? Did this man really want to give his wife a Get or was he just afraid of having his legs broken? The Halacha clearly states that the Get must be willingly given. It cannot be forced.
Well, be that as it may, the Get was given and accepted. But the story does not end there. When another Posek of great stature found out about it he nullified the Get saying that it indeed was not given willingly despite what the husband said at the time of handing over the Get. Intimidating someone into giving a Get does not count as giving it willingly. I don’t know what the final disposition of that case was but I have to ask, “Which Posek was right?”
I have heard of intimidations like this occurring in other Agunah situations, especially in Israel where in one case I heard about, a husband would rather be indefinitely incarcerated rather than divorce his wife. He may be an idiot, but his wife is still an Agunah.
The Agunah situation is a very unfortunate one. There are far too many… evil… husbands who refuse to “free” their wives… for a whole host of reasons… most all of them illegitimate. And try as they might Rabbanim cannot change the Halacha.
There are horror stories about corrupt Batei Din who will not help and even hinder these Agunos. But hands of even the good Batei Din are tied by Halacha. There are, however, things which can be done and there has been some movement in that direction. Some of them have been legitimate, others questionable, still others totally illegitimate. But in all cases the intentions were good... to help the Agunah. The RCA requires its rabbis to stipulate a pre-nuptual condition requiring the husband not to with-hold a Get if at some point the marriage dissolves. And then there is the Rackman-Morgenstern Beis Din where they misapply Kedusei Taus. This has caused an almost universal outcry by nearly all Poskim from all segments of Orthodoxy because of the potential for Mamzerus.
It is very sad. My heart goes out to these “trapped” women. Something needs to be done. But it has to be done right. There is too much at stake. Women should not have be forced into lifetime “prisons”. But neither should there be any question about the legitimacy of offspring if a woman is given a faulty Get.
Perhaps a step in the right direction would be to standardize all Battei Din and put them under the jurisdiction of an umbrella Organization comprised of members of every segment of Orthodoxy. Strict universal guidelines would be established and in order to be certified. Failure to follow the guidleins would be cause for the removal of certification and no Get issued out of such a court would be recognized by anyone in any segment of Orthodoxy. All Rabbis involved with such courts would be vetted by the Poskim of the umbrella organization and only the most honorable rabbis would be allowed to serve.
This may not be the ultimate solution. But is would be a good start.
