As part of JOFA’s mission to engage, empower and energize Orthodox women to take proactive roles in the Jewish community within the bounds of Jewish law, JOFA has created the Agunah Task Force. The Task Force is focused on raising community awareness of the plight of women who are chained to untenable marriages, and working to alleviate the situation through contacts with rabbis, rabbinic courts, other agunah advocacy organizations, and individual agunot.
This year we sent 10,000 direct mail letters to women all over the world to raise communal awareness of the agunah issue and to publicize our Agunah Solidarity Pin which we hope will become a recognizable symbol of support for agunot, much like the pink ribbon for breast cancer. It is a pewter brooch with two links of a chain, one broken open to symbolize “breaking the chains” of untenable marriages.
Our ties with rabbis and rabbinic courts that support the right of Jewish women to receive gittin have resulted in a series of meetings at which rabbis share ideas on how to ease the get process. These meetings are slated to continue during the current year. Presently, we are conducting research in cooperation with other agunah advocates to explore the viability of certain halakhic solutions to the agunah crisis, such as kiddushei ta’ut.
In order to assist individual agunot, JOFA is developing a database including referrals to batei din, lawyers, social workers and support groups that agunot may contact for help. We are updating our website to include a wide range of materials for women seeking relief, including copies of prenuptial agreements and sources dealing with Jewish divorce law and mediation. In addition, we are organizing a cadre of women who will actively support enforcement of contempt of court citations issued by batei din against recalcitrant spouses.
As part of JOFA’s mission to prevent situations of agunah, we are dedicating JOFA resources to support premarital programs for young women to educate them about the commitment they will be making and the significance of prenuptial agreements as binding arbitration.
JOFA is strongly committed to eradicating situations of iggun in our community. It is our hope that one day there will no longer be a need for such efforts.
Rose Landowne, Chair
JOFA Agunah Task Force
Sarah Mendlovitz
Past JOFA Agunah Task Force Coordinator