What the Agunah Crisis Means to Me
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Agunah Crisis
Agunot have often had little recourse within the Jewish legal system, leaving them without the capability to remarry. While there has been social pressure in the past upon recalcitrant husbands—whose actions constitute a form of domestic abuse—in recent months we have seen a wide scale movement to free agunot.
- Essays
- Essays
18Forty in Review: Birthday Edition
One year ago today, 18Forty revealed itself to the world, in a flash…
- Essays
The Learned and the Lived: An Agunah Timeline
If a society is only as strong as its most vulnerable population, then…
Agunah Crisis
Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann: The Rabbinic Will and Agunot
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Shlomo Weissman – head of Beth Din of America, YU Professor, and former lawyer – about the halakhic complexities of, and attempted solutions for, the agunah crisis.
podcast
Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann: The Rabbinic Will and Agunot
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Shlomo Weissman – head of Beth Din…
podcast
Keshet Starr: How Should We Advocate for Agunot?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Keshet Starr – CEO of ORA – about…
podcast
Bari Mitzmann: Social Media and Agunah Advocacy
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Bari Mitzmann – Instagram content creator and host…
podcast
Protecting Us From Ourselves: An Anonymous Perspective on Divorce
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to an anonymous divorced man who gives us his…
book
The Agunah
The Agunah, by Chaim Grade, is a classic of Yiddish literature by one of its finest practitioners. Grade is a masterful storyteller and in this novel, he tells the tale of a woman whose husband is lost in the first World War. A powerful portrayal of the emotional tones and conflicts that agunot experience. In the review of this novel for the New York Times, Elie Wiesel writes: “If we take as premise that for the contemporary Jewish writer to write means to testify, then we may affirm that Chaim Grade fulfills his mission with much talent and devotion.” This book is a work of testimony. In a world that has too many agunot with their own agonizing stories, this literary portrayal offers a painful, heartfelt reflection of our own world.
book
Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest
As the world as we know it has fundamentally changed through the paradigm shift of social media, social change has also adapted. From Occupy Wall Street to Tahrir Square, to understand the power and weaknesses of social change through social media, Zeynep Tufekci looks at the trajectories of modern protests, with a particular eye to what is necessary for long-term change. While we might not think to put agunot and Orthodox influencers in conversation with Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, the recent conversation around the agunah crisis has largely been led by social media advocates, reflecting the changing face of change in our time. Twitter and Tear Gas offers a fascinating set of parallels to the dynamics of the Jewish community and provides insights into how our own world may be changing in coming years.
book
Gray Matter (volume 1): Discourses in Contemporary Halacha
Jewish law is famously complicated, particularly in areas of marriage and divorce. For those interested in exploring the challenges, complexities, and potential solutions to the agunah crisis, Gray Matter is essential reading, presenting a clear and lucid exploration of the sources on this important topic. John Perry Barlow, the Grateful Dead lyricist and poet, famously said that reading the Internet is like “drinking from a firehose;” sometimes trying to stay up on the conversation around halachic change can feel the same way. We’ve got you covered: from the Torah, to the Talmud, to the contemporary solutions proposed by recent thinkers, Rabbi Chaim Jachter offers a learned entry point to those seeking understanding, in a way that can help novices and lifelong learners alike.