Have you ever wondered why the incidence of iggun, women or men unable to remarry due to the refusal of a spouse to give or receive a get (Jewish divorce document) is dramatically lower in some Orthodox communities than in others?
The answer is relatively simple. In those communities where the Binding Arbitration Agreement of the Beth Din of America (BDA) is used regularly, iggun is relatively rare. Indeed, as far as I am aware, not one couple that has signed the BDA’s prenuptial agreement has faced an iggun problem.
In 1993, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) endorsed the BDA’s prenuptial agreement, developed by Rav Mordechai Willig (of the BDA) and Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg (of the Jerusalem Bet Din). Eminent poskim such as Rav Yitzchak Liebes, zt”l, and, ybl”a, Rav Hershel Schachter, Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz (of the BDA), Rav Ovadia Yosef, and Rav Chaim Zimbalist (of the Tel Aviv Bet Din) have also endorsed it.
The agreement assigns halachic and legal jurisdiction regarding a get to the BDA, the bet din affiliated with the RCA and Orthodox Union. The agreement mandates that if a couple no longer lives together and the husband refuses to give a get when the BDA deems one necessary, he waives his halachic right to his wife’s earnings and pays her $150 per day in fulfillment of the halachic responsibility mandated by the ketubah.
These requirements are waived, of course, if the wife refuses to accept the get.
During the past fifteen years, thousands of couples – including my wife and me – have signed this agreement. Because the agreement is signed a few weeks before the chuppah, some feel it impinges on the romantic feelings between bride and groom. The truth is just the opposite: in signing the agreement, bride and groom express their loving commitment to one another – even should troubles arise between them – as well as their commitment to the Jewish people by doing their part to eliminate the scourge of iggun from the vineyard of Israel.
As a dayan who has administered nearly two thousand gittin, I have seen the devastation experienced by those who did not sign the prenuptial. Once I delivered a hazmanah (summons) to a recalcitrant spouse who proceeded to attack me with a baseball bat. Another husband who refused to give his wife a get simply took the hazmanah and threw it in the garbage as soon as I delivered it to him.
The sad fact of life in this country is that, due to the separation of religion and state, rabbanim have little power to help agunot. A bet din, however, is uniquely empowered by a signed (or executed) RCA prenuptial agreement, which enables dayanim to effectively assist agunot in receiving a properly executed get.
One might wonder about the need for introducing a document that was not signed by couples in prior generations. The answer lies in the diminished coercive authority enjoyed by batei din in our time. In earlier generations, a bet din had full coercive powers as Jews were granted judicial autonomy by the local authorities over internal religious matters. No one would dare challenge a bet din’s ruling in those bygone days.
Today, however, local authorities do not grant a bet din judicial authority unless both parties to a relationship assign the bet din jurisdiction in the event a dispute arises between the parties. And therein lies the need for our generation to sign a prenuptial agreement, a step that was not necessary in years gone by.
The RCA and the BDA are committed to disseminating information about this prenuptial agreement to ensure its use by every Jewish couple. The forms are readily available at www.bethdin.org and www.rabbis.org, and one can contact either the BDA or the RCA for further information regarding this essential document.
Since the summer of 2007, I have been assisting a woman whose husband refuses to give her a get even though they have been civilly divorced for more than five years. The chuppah took place in 1996 – long after the prenuptial was introduced but, sadly, she and her groom did not sign the agreement. Let us work together to avoid the occurrence of such tragedies by insuring that every couple signs a properly executed Beth Din of America agreement.