“You destroy families!” a man yelled at Yael, a happily-married Orthodox Jewish woman, who was in the rabbinical court that day representing a woman seeking deliverance from a dysfunctional marriage, whose husband was unwilling to grant her a get (Jewish legal divorce). Yael wasn’t fazed. She even laughed to herself, thinking “I know I don't ruin families.”

Jewish law requires that a man grant his wife a get of his own free will. Without a get, no new marriage will be recognized and children born from the woman by a different partner are considered as the products of an adulterous relationship. Thus, a man may abuse his power by refusing to give a get unless his wife agrees to certain demands (custody of their children, money, etc.), thereby preventing her from moving on with her life.

Tanya Zion-Waldoks (2022) introduces her article, Rescuing the Jewish Family, One Divorce at a Time: An Israeli Take on the "Jewish Continuity Crisis" Debates, with the above story about Yael – who, as it turns out, is an experienced agunah activist with extensive knowledge of Jewish marriage and divorce law. Like Yael, there are other Jewish feminist activists who fight gender inequality and seek a better balance between men and women in general, and in Jewish divorce in particular.

Zion-Waldoks holds a PhD in Gender Studies from Bar Ilan University and was a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University, teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She specializes in topics related to religion, education, politics, and gender, and their points of connection. In the above-mentioned article she investigates and presents the aims and actions of Jewish feminist activists in relation to marriage under Jewish law, from the perspective of the struggle for Jewish continuity. She also examines the perspective of the rabbinical courts, which, at first glance, would seem to be diametrically opposed to that of the feminists.

The question of Jewish continuity has been a pressing issue for years, and is often considered an acute "crisis". Many scholars and Jewish organizations have generated theories, ideas and actions that point a finger at women's reproductive and marital choices as a way of reversing negative trends and ensuring continued Jewish existence into the future. Yet Dr. Zion-Waldoks finds that the Israeli discourse of activism for agunot reflects the fact that the community faces challenges, partly as a result of the rigid stance presented by rabbinic authorities appointed by the State of Israel, who enforces gender injustice under the guise of Jewish continuity. The institution of the Israeli Rabbinic Courts upholds the importance of "the Jewish family", but is apparently failing many Jewish families. Although agunah activists support the traditional idea that Jewish families are the foundation of the Jewish people, they regard the traditional interpretation and application of religious law as problematic, and maintain that fighting for women’s divorce rights is one of the ways of combatting the aforementioned crisis.

The author asks, "How is the care of the Jewish community and its continuity aligned with the guarantee of women's rights through the dissolution of Jewish marriages?" (Zion‐Waldoks, 2022, p. 2). In her exploration of this question, she presents ideas from authors who criticize the notion that the continuity of the Jewish people is guaranteed through endogamous marriages and high reproduction rates, since these solutions obligate women and place them in a disadvantaged position. Dr. Zion-Waldoks explores how this view supports the unequal and heteronormative construction of the “Jewish family" which is historically reflected in marriage rituals, the legal and financial realms, rights within marriage, and the conditions for divorce.

One of the interesting points arising from the article is the idea that divorce "rescues" families, while in our minds it is usually associated with the opposite. The author presents empirical qualitative evidence supporting this idea. Strikingly, she finds that in what would seem to be a binary struggle between Orthodox feminist agunah activists and conservative rabbinic judges, the two sides share a narrative. They are both mobilized by the crisis of Jewish continuity and believe that it is of the utmost urgency to do something about it. The feminist perspective is not necessarily incompatible with the family values perspective. The conflict between them is about whether strengthening gendered hierarchies is the problem or the solution.

Tanya Zion-Waldoks manages to incorporate the feminist perspective into a problem that is a real and immediate challenge within Judaism. In this way she is also working towards having the feminist perspective incorporated in Jewish education.

In a series of online talks offered by the Melton Center about education today and tomorrow, Tanya will be giving a lecture on March 12 at 7:30 p.m. (Israel time) about how to incorporate a feminist perspective into Jewish education. It is a great opportunity to learn more about her ideas and get involved in the subject, learning how to implement a perspective that affects all of us, especially educators.

To register and participate in the talk, click here.

References:

Zion-Waldoks, T. (2022). Rescuing the Jewish Family, One Divorce at a Time: An Israeli Take on the “Jewish Continuity Crisis” Debates. Contemporary Jewry, 42(1), 61-84.