We applaud the Rabbinical Council of America’s adoption last week of a resolution requiring member rabbis to demand that the bride and groom in all weddings at which they officiate execute a rabbinically sanctioned prenuptial agreement – one that would require resort to a bet din process on the issue of a Get should the marriage collapse.
The resolution refers to “some unfortunate instances [in which] a husband or wife refuses to cooperate with the appropriate instructions of a beth din regarding the termination of their marriage …” as the impetus for the new measure.
It is a sad commentary on our times that a party to a failed marriage would, out of animus or financial greed, willfully attempt to deny a spouse the ability to get on with life under the auspices of Jewish law. But each occurrence is a compounded tragedy and numerous stories abound, making the RCA rule a timely development.
Interestingly, the RCA has been advocating since 1993 that its members use a prenuptial agreement, but it did not insist on compliance. However, the lack of a uniform mandate gave rise in certain cases to an unintended perception of a suspect marital commitment and lack of trust between the parties. As the RCA explained in a statement, “With the adoption of this new resolution, signing the prenup is now no longer about the couple and the expectations that its rabbi has of them, but is about the rabbi and the professional standards that he must maintain.”
While the RCA has developed its own version of a prenuptial agreement that has achieved important acceptance in halachic circles, it is not the only one available. The new RCA document notably permits its members to use those other versions.
It would also do well to note that the use of prenuptial agreements is not universally accepted in all corners of the Orthodox world. Nor is there one version of an agreement that is accepted by all. Thus, questions of the validity of divorces and subsequent remarriages might conceivably arise. But we are not aware of complaints of this nature having been raised in the years since RCA rabbis have been urging the use of prenuptial agreements.
The operative provision of the resolution reads:
Therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America declares that each of its members must utilize, in any wedding at which he is the officiant (mesader kiddushin), in addition to a ketubah, a rabbinically sanctioned prenuptial agreement, where available, that aids in our community’s efforts to ensure the timely and unconditional issuance of a get.
We note that according to Rabbi Mark Dratch, the RCA’s executive vice president, the “where available” language was included inasmuch as a small number of jurisdictions do not recognize the legality of the prenup.
The Rabbinical Council of America has provided an important tool by which our community can address a terrible problem going forward that, at the risk of hyperbole, puts fear in the hearts of many a parent.