Dear Readers:
I am excited to inform you about an upcoming interview on my radio show. On Sunday, August 2, I will air an interview I recorded with Naomi Klass Mauer, associate publisher of The Jewish Press and Olam Yehudi.
The focus of the show is the plight of the agunah and some ways of dealing with this horrific situation. Mrs. Mauer discusses cases the The Jewish Press has been involved in and the weekly Seruv listings in the paper’s Family Issues section where names of men and women who have refused to abide by a beis din’s psak are mentioned.
We also talked about Rabbi Mendel Epstein, his methods and trial. Many years ago, Rabbi Epstein wrote a column in The Jewish Press about the plight of the agunah. This was the first time an Orthodox publication directly addressed the issue of agunot in such a public way.
Mrs. Mauer and a number of women who had been agunot offered to testify on Rabbi Epstein’s behalf and explain what it’s like to be an agunah, but the judge would not permit it.
Is this fair and just to Rabbi Epstein? I don’t know, but it is a legitimate question.
How as a community can we help these women “get” free? First and foremost, by following halacha: if a seruv has been issued the man must be shunned and made to feel unwanted and uncomfortable. This was done in pre-war European shetel and we must do the same. He should not be allowed to daven in our shuls, buy in our stores. or have any social standing at all.
There are a number of organizations helping women obtain a get, among them Agunah and Her Get (agunahandherget.com) based in Canada. ORA (Organization for the Resolution of Agunot) has found that an effective means of helping women is picketing the husband’s place of business, which puts him in jeopardy of losing his job or customers.
Israeli law allows a beis din to freeze a man’s bank account or put him in jail if he refuses to give a get; he can also be prevented from leaving the country. In England, because there is one central beis din, it is easier to enforce a halachic decision.
Dear readers, I ask you to do more! If you know a man who is refusing to give his wife a get or a woman who is refusing to abide by beis din’s psak and is keeping her husband an agun, don’t ignore the situation. Do whatever you can to make him or her uncomfortable enough to do what is right.
Every one of us is responsible and cannot just sit by and allow evil to triumph. In that zechus may we merit the reuniting of all Klal Yisrael under the leadership of Moshiach.
Tune into to 102 FM in the Catskills at 10 p.m. (after Country Yossi) or listen online at Thunder102.com.