Is a world without agunot where Jewish marriage and divorce is just and fair. We work tirelessly to hear cases and free agunot according to tradition and Jewish law.
The initial idea for the International Beit Din emerged when, at a 2013 Conference hosted by NYU Law School’s Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish Civilization on the “Resolution of the Agunah Problem,” rabbis and scholars in attendance voiced strong support for the creation of a Beit Din (Jewish Court of Law) that would feature world-renowned experts as dayanim with the scholarship, broad shoulders, and courage to use all legitimate halachic tools to free women chained as agunot, suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of recalcitrant husbands.
Crucially, this “International Beit Din” would not shy away from using legitimate, accepted halachic approaches to nullify marriages, such as those used repeatedly by Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l and other prominent achronim (legal authorities from the last several hundred years). While other methods such as social pressure and halachic prenuptial agreements are laudable and effective, they often fail to achieve the desired result, especially in the most difficult cases. The IBD was founded as a backstop to present halachic solutions that did not depend on or empower recalcitrant husbands further.
oday, the IBD stand is building on its successes with an expanded mission to end gett extortion and inhibit the systems which are the root causes of iggun. We hope you’ll join us in this holy work.
Rabbi Simcha Krauss zt”l, a beloved Rosh Yeshiva, community Rabbi, and a gentle giant of scholarship and yiras shamayim (fear of heaven) served as Founding Av Beit Din (Chief Rabbinic Justice), passionately imploring the community not to turn a blind eye to the fate of women in Jewish divorce. “We’re standing up for these women, and if we win, the whole community wins, and if we lose, the whole community loses.” Read more
