In the past, it was not uncommon, due to the danger of travel and primitive means of communication, for people to leave home and never be heard from again; consequently, rabbis often had to deal with this issue.
Many efforts have been made to resolve this problem following halakhic principles, including issuing a provisional get that only goes into effect if the husband does not return by a specified date.
[3] During World War II, some American Jewish and other chaplains provided combat soldiers with a "provisional get", which only goes into effect if the husband is missing in action, leaving his wife an aguna.
Since they are forbidden from marrying divorcees, were they to end up returning safely after the date the provisional get went into effect they would be unable to remarry their wives.
This can be done in three ways: According to most rabbis, reasonable circumstantial evidence is sufficient to prove the death of the husband, and no direct testimony is required.
[5] In other words, if it is known that the man fell into a ditch of snakes and scorpions and did not come out, it can be assumed that he is dead, and there is no need for further evidence (unlike falling into a lion's den where there is still a slight chance of survival).
It is felt that the purpose of this endeavor is solely or primarily to retroactively delegitimize a marriage that was performed and accepted often many years previously.
However, since it is not a generally accepted mechanism, it may leave the wife susceptible to a halakhic ruling that she was still married, and any subsequent relations with another man to be adultery.
Named for Talmudic scholar and Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) professor Saul Lieberman, the clause requires that a get be granted if a civil divorce is ever issued.
[6] There is a long history of concern for the agunah on the part of Orthodox rabbis, and a number of proposals have been put forth for consideration by religious leaders.
[15][16][17] Other approaches that have been discussed by religious leaders, including leading Orthodox rabbis, have included the possibility of prenuptial agreements, not incorporated into the ketubah or mentioned in the words recited by the groom during the ceremony, through which the husband and wife agree to abide by orders of a designated Beth Din, regarding the giving or acceptance of a get.
If the brother is missing, or if he is still a child, the woman is required to wait until he is located or has reached adolescence so that he can perform the halizah ceremony.
There have been recorded cases of the husband's brother trying to blackmail the widow by delaying the halizah ceremony, effectively leaving her as an aguna.
[27] Nevertheless, "A woman suffers more in this situation, as she is Biblically forbidden to marry again; and children she might bear to another man would be considered mamzerim according to halakha.
A man is similarly not permitted to marry before being divorced, but the ban is much less severe (because monogamy was instituted by one single overreaching authority in Europe in around the year 1000 CE, and was accepted in Europe among the (Ashkenazim), whereas Sefardic and Mizrahi (Eastern) Jewish communities did not formally accept monogamy only until very recently, after aliyah to Israel in 1950's onward.)
"[27] In 2015 Tzohar (a religious Zionist rabbinic organization in Israel), along with the Israeli Bar Association, introduced a prenuptial agreement meant to help ensure divorcing wives will receive a get; under the agreement the husband commits to paying a high sum of money daily to his spouse in the event of a separation.
[31][32][33] Where a woman has proven one or more of a list of particular grounds for divorce, the beth din (rabbinical court) may apply pressure on the husband in these situations.
As ruled by Rabbeinu Tam,[38] pressures that can be exerted against the man include shunning, denying him communal benefits and honors, and in extreme cases even imprisonment.
Starting in the mid-1980s, the New York divorce coercion gang employed violent tactics such as kidnapping, beating and torture to extort gittin and money from husbands in troubled marriages.
[45] Many women's groups assert that rabbinical courts fail to use all the measures at their disposal to force men to grant their wives a get, thereby allowing a vengeful husband to blackmail his wife for years.
Several solutions have been proposed to help women who are denied a get: In 1995 the Israeli parliament gave the rabbinical court expanded legal power to sanction men who refuse to give their wives a get by suspending their driver's licenses, seizing their bank accounts, preventing travel abroad and even imprisoning those who do not comply with an order to grant a divorce; however, women's groups say the 1995 law is not very effective because the court uses sanctions in less than 2% of cases.
[48] In 2004, Justice Menachem HaCohen of the Jerusalem Family Court offered new hope to agunot when he ruled that a man refusing his wife a get must pay her NIS 425,000 in punitive damages, because "[R]efusal to grant a get constitutes a severe infringement on her ability to lead a reasonable, normal life, and can be considered emotional abuse lasting several years."
This ruling stemmed from the Public Litigation Project initiated by the advocacy organization Center for Women's Justice as one of a number of successful lawsuits filed in Israeli civil courts claiming financial damages against recalcitrant husbands.
[51] In a 2020 landmark case in London, a woman obtained a get after launching a private criminal prosecution against her husband for "controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate of family relationship" contrary to section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.
[53] Subsequently, in 2022, another suit was successfully pursued resulting in a Manchester businessman pleading guilty to coercive behavior for refusing to give his wife a get.
[60] However, due to complexities, costs and other reasons, many husbands do not succeed in obtaining a heter meah rabbanim, and thus remain chained to their wives.
[62] Karaite Judaism, which does not recognize the authority of the Talmud, bases its divorce law entirely on the Torah: "A man takes a wife and possesses her.
(Deuteronomy 24:1)[63] Therefore, under Karaite law, it is difficult for a woman to obtain a divorce unless it is explicitly written and delivered by her husband (or an appointed agent) whereas in Rabbinic Judaism there are several rare exceptions and cases where alternatives are available (annulments, forcing the husband to participate) Section 18 of Mikdash Me'at (an English translation of the Karaite halakhic work Adderet Eliyahu) states:[64] A writ of divorce is called a sefer keritut.
Some Sages held that the beit din may grant a woman a divorce even without a sefer keritut [the equivalent of the Rabbinic Jewish get] from her (ex-)husband.
This coercion may be done through gentile authorities.This text clearly refers to known cases where a sefer keritut was denied, though it has been apparently uncommon: Today, Karaite batei-din may grant women divorces even should the husband refuse to provide a writ.