Beit Din Jurisdiction in Cases of Divorce:
Where Must a Couple Go to Have Their Case Adjudicated? At first glance, common sense would suggest that a dispute between two parties should be adjudicated locally, before the beit din of their community. This arrangement is beneficial for multiple reasons. It minimizes the financial and logistical burdens of travel, reduces the likelihood of disruption […]
When Exactly is a Marriage Over?
One of the most common and dangerous misconceptions regarding Jewish divorce is that the husband alone has the power to decide when a marriage is over. In actuality, nothing could be farther from the truth, at least in the eyes of halacha. The rabbis had a profound grasp of human nature and understood that a […]
The Broken Beit Din System: A Reflection on Powerlessness
Without the power of real enforcement, a judge’s ruling is little more than advice to be accepted or dismissed as one chooses.
Ruth: Who is an Agunah?
Perhaps the most well-known definition of an agunah is a woman whose husband has disappeared and is presumed dead. As a result, his wife finds herself in a limbo-like status. Without clear proof of his death, she cannot remarry or move on with her life. To address this, the Talmudic rabbis enacted important leniences regarding […]
What Esther Can Teach Us About Domestic Abuse
While there are many things we can learn from the megillah, one of its unlikely lessons is that much of how we think about domestic abuse is wrong. Typically, abuse is conceived of as something physical, along the lines of cuts and broken bones, sexual violence, and even murder. However, the emphasis on physical violence […]