Israel’s next chief rabbis hold the key to solving get-refusal

The election today of new chief rabbis presents a unique opportunity to address the crisis of women who are chained in marriage — mesuravot get — when their husbands refuse to furnish them with a bill of divorce (women who refuse to accept their divorces lock their husbands into their marriages too, but the greater proportion of stuck marriages by far are women awaiting their divorce — Jewish law weights the process of divorce in the husband’s favor. That is, they can make make halachic prenuptial agreements mandatory. These agreements establish that a spouse who refuses to give (or receive) a bill of divorce will incur financial penalties, to the extent that this kind of agreement has demonstrated its usefulness in preventing get-refusal in the Diaspora.

Imagine a woman trapped in a marriage she desperately wants to leave, but can’t — just because her husband refuses to grant her a religious divorce. This is the reality for hundreds of women in Israel today. So why is it that there are still so many mesuravot get in Israel? Simply because most couples never sign an agreement. And why don’t they sign? Because the rabbis who officiate at their weddings, even those who recommend it, do not make it obligatory.

As a rabbi who has witnessed this injustice first hand,  I believe we rabbis have a dual responsibility: to join couples in marriage and to protect women from becoming mesuravot get. One of the most effective tools to prevent mesuravot get is a halachic prenuptial agreement. This legal and religiously binding document obligates both husband and wife to work together in the case of divorce, providing a financial incentive to avoid delaying the granting of the get. Respected organizations, such as the Center for Women’s Justice, Yad LaIsha, and Tzohar, offer such agreements and recommend that young couples sign them before their marriages. The practice has proven highly effective in both Israel and across the world in preventing get-refusal.

The signing of the agreement cannot remain just a recommendation. A young couple embarking on their shared life cannot imagine a future where their relationship ends in divorce or, even worse, faces get-refusal. The officiating rabbi must therefore ensure that a prenup is signed. Indeed, the prenup is a moral and halachic obligation, and we must make it so across the world of rabbinic marriage and divorce — just as, thousands of years ago, the sages mandated the ketubah as part of every wedding.

Six years ago, the organization “Hashgacha Pratit” (established to provide alternative kosher certification) created an alternative to the chief rabbinate for Jewish Orthodox marriages: “Chuppot.” Normally, the chief rabbinate controls marriage and divorce in Israel, as well as conversion, burial, and kosher supervision. This legally mandated monopoly, which has been consistently upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court, has a profound impact on how Israelis experience traditional life cycle events. Weddings must conform to strict ultra-Orthodox practices, above and beyond what halacha requires. The rabbinic divorce courts are notoriously discriminatory against women, and the halachic prenup is not permitted. Chuppot taps rabbis to officiate at weddings in accord with Jewish law, for couples who choose to marry outside the chief rabbinate’s framework. In these weddings, a prenup agreement is mandatory. All 1,500 couples married through Chuppot thus far have signed the “Agreement for a Just and Fair Marriage” from the Center for Women’s Justice. When presented as a requirement, couples readily understand and accept its importance.

A Jewish prenup is not a new idea. In Morocco in 1953 the local rabbinic council wrote a prenup agreement that all couples were obligated to sign. In 1983, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Rav Mashash zt”l actively advocated for such a document, and also in the past two decades, the Rabbinical Council of America, in the United States, determined that the rabbis who are its members must require a halachic prenup as part of every wedding at which they officiate. Israeli rabbis must do the same.

To be sure, many respected rabbis already require prenuptial agreements, but there sadly are still others who continue to debate the issue. The right path, both halachically and morally, is clear. The time has come for the chief rabbinate to decisively rule in favor of this approach, following precedents set by rabbinic authorities worldwide.

Thus, the new chief rabbis can prevent future cases of this kind of get-refusal by requiring the halachic prenup. Doing so would be a profoundly Jewish act – protecting the vulnerable, upholding the sanctity of marriage, and ensuring our religious institutions serve all Jewish people. I call upon the candidates for chief rabbi to commit to this vital reform. Let’s make this the cornerstone of a new era in Jewish family life – one where no woman fears being trapped in an unwanted marriage. This is not just a halachic imperative; it’s a moral one, embodying the highest ideals of Jewish ethics and compassion.

As those responsible for tying the marriage knot, we rabbis must also take responsibility for the problems that arise when it needs to be untied. Every mesurevet or mesurav get can argue malpractice against the rabbi who married them according to halacha but did not make sure to provide a solution for the marriage’s peaceful dissolution. Each mesurevet get can make a case against all the rabbis in Israel who continue to keep silent and allow what should be an obligation to remain merely an option. I have no doubt that the day will come when marrying a couple without a prenup will be perceived as professional negligence. Let us work to ensure that that day is today.