Rabbis, follow the yellow brick road and free Agunot to love again on Tu B’av

MISHNA TA’ANIT, CHAPTER 4 – There were no days as joyous for the Jewish People as the fifteenth of Av (Tu B’Av) and as Yom Kippur, as on them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? Young man, please lift up your eyes and see what you choose for a wife, “Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears God, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

Dorothy was disoriented. The world looked familiar and completely different at the same time. Her soul still throbbing from the emotional abuse she barely survived, she knew she had to keep moving. But which way? After Dorothy and her husband divorced, he inflicted the deepest cut as his gravest insult; he left her without a get.  Simply withholding that document had the same halachic effect upon her as a vicious assault. She was powerless to fight, and summoned what strength she had to move on, to free herself from the indestructible chain that shackled her to him.

Dorothy noticed a Yellow Brick Road. It seemed to extend to eternity and she was unsure if that was good. It might lead to a boundless future of freedom or to endless wandering. Determined to take a step in some direction, any direction, she took to the path.

She met a rabbi.

“Rabbi!” she exclaimed. “Am I happy to see you! I am an agunah and I am looking for a Beit Din with the wisdom to free me from my husband. Our marriage is dead.  He is gone, but he won’t let me go. Can you help me?”

“I wish I could help you, truly, I do,” said the rabbi. “Other agunot have passed by before while I have been stuck here just trying to … think. But I cannot. I honestly don’t know where to go or how to get there to help you.”

“But you’re a rabbi!” Dorothy observed. “People trust you to guide them.”

The rabbi blushed. “Yes, I am a rabbi,” he admitted, “But perhaps you’ve also noticed that I am a scarecrow. I don’t know which way to go because I don’t have the kind of mind that can navigate challenges and provide clear direction.”

Dorothy was embarrassed that she had not seen this before. She broke the awkward silence. “I am following this Yellow Brick Road because I have no choice; I have nowhere else to go. Come with me. If we find someone who can grant you a mind that allows you to think creatively and clearly, maybe you can help me.”

The two of them continued together.

They met a rabbi.

Dorothy spoke first. “Rabbi! I am so happy to see you! I am an agunah and I am looking for a Beit Din with the compassion to free me from my husband. Our marriage is dead. He is gone, but he won’t let me go. Can you help me?”

He did not answer her, “And who is your scarecrow friend?”

The first rabbi spoke up, “I look like a scarecrow, but, like you, I’m a rabbi. And I’m lost because I don’t have the clarity of mind to imagine new ways to get where I want to go.”

The second rabbi focused on Dorothy’s eyes and, without affect, said, “I am a rabbi, true. But I’m also a tin man. My mind is sharp. I discover new ideas where others get lost. I’ve seen women like you, Dorothy, passing this way. They have asked for my help, but there is nothing I can do. You want compassion? Even if I tried, I can’t help you because I am missing my heart.”

Dorothy returned his gaze and spoke gently, “I am following this Yellow Brick Road because I have no choice; I have nowhere else to go. The scarecrow is searching for an incisive mind. Come with us. If we find someone who can help him, maybe he can grant you compassion, and the two of you can help me.”

The three of them continued together.

They saw a lion at the side of the Yellow Brick Road who was peeking out from behind a large, well-worn, but still-impressive tallit that he was holding up.

“Um. Hello?” Dorothy ventured. “Mr. Lion? Why are you hiding?”

The lion spoke from behind the tallit. “Who are you talking to? There is no one here.”

“I’m talking to you,” Dorothy said kindly. “Don’t pretend that you can’t hear me.”

The lion put the tallit down and held it gingerly in his paws. He was large and powerful, yet he caressed the tallit lovingly and looked around while speaking softly, “This is going to sound funny. I look like a lion, but I’m really a rabbi. It’s kind of hard to explain; it’s easier to hide.”

Dorothy stepped closer to him. “I am an agunah and I am looking for a Beit Din with the courage to free me from my husband. Our marriage is dead. He is gone, but he won’t let me go. Can you help me?”

The lion looked at the characters accompanying Dorothy, still not making eye contact with her. Nodding towards them, he asked, “And who are they?”

The first rabbi stepped forward slowly, so as not to startle their new acquaintance.  “I look like a rabbi, but I’m also a scarecrow. I am blessed with a good heart and I am not afraid, but I lack the intellect to reach difficult decisions.”

The second rabbi followed his lead, “I’m a rabbi, too. Also, a tin man, as you can see.  Unlike my friend here, I possess a great mind, and unlike you, I am fearless. What I am missing is compassion, because I lack a heart.”

The lion lifted his eyes to theirs and spoke. “God blessed me with a brilliant mind. I am a rabbi who possesses the accumulated wisdom of generations of Torah scholars who passed their vast knowledge and authority from one to another, down to me. I am also thankful that my generous heart beats not only for me. I have been hiding behind this tallit for a very long time hearing the cries of agunot like you, Dorothy, who are searching for help. How can I not feel compassion for them?”

Dorothy said, “Baruch Hashem, indeed you are blessed. So why do you hide?”

The lion, somewhat embarrassed, confessed, “This is the tallit of my rebbe, peace be upon him. I hide behind it because I am afraid to act on my own. I want to help agunot, but I agonize, wondering endlessly, what would my rebbe say?  And if I employ the wisdom entrusted to me and the compassion embedded within me to help you, Dorothy, I am fearful of what others who may disagree with me will say. I want to be an honorable rabbi, but I guess I’m just a cowardly lion.”

Dorothy reached out and held the tallit with him. “I am following this Yellow Brick Road because I have no choice; I have nowhere else to go. The scarecrow is searching for an insightful mind. The tin man is looking for a heart. Come with us.  If we find someone who can grant them intelligence and compassion, maybe he can grant you courage, and the three of you can help me.”

The four of them continued together.

After walking a short while, they noticed that the Yellow Brick Road began to change. With every step they took, the color of the bricks faded. More steps, and the golden hue disappeared altogether, replaced by a pale white glimmer beneath them.  More steps, and the white bricks grew brighter, illuminating their path from below.  The road was still sturdy, still headed towards some infinite point ahead, so they continued on.

Walking further down the now glossy white trail, the pale grey mortar that bordered the white bricks deepened into a rich, bright black. The black rectangles around the bricks morphed into Hebrew letters that rose up and danced around them. The letters continued to float upwards, surrounding them, forming words. Sentences.  The foursome continued to move upon what was no longer a road, but something brilliantly translucent, at once firm and flexible. A scroll. As fragile as the scroll appeared, it not only supported them but contained a power that buoyed them so that they were no longer walking, but gliding. They felt safe.

The scroll now followed the letters that had risen, swirling up, enveloping them, the words finding their places upon the scroll. Each of the four of them felt warm, embraced by eternal ideas enlightening their new world. They sensed a new presence joining them.

“I am Torah,” she said. I am aware of your troubles, dear Dorothy. With your every step you prayed to find peace. You have taken my path to reach me, and I am grateful that you have brought your friends along on this journey.”

Now addressing the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion, Torah continued, “And you, dear rabbis. You are good to accompany Dorothy on this unfamiliar path. I have been awaiting you. Your desire to help her shall be rewarded.

Scarecrow, you have compassion and courage; to you I grant a keen intellect so that you may resolve seemingly intractable issues for others to follow you with confidence. Tin man, you have an incisive mind and you are brave; to you I grant a compassionate heart so that you may imbue in others the passion that is necessary to inspire action. Lion, you carry a profound legacy of wisdom and an empathetic essence; to you I grant the courage to act as your head and your heart compel you, and to rouse others to follow you fearlessly.”

Dorothy spoke. “I am an agunah in search of a Beit Din with the wisdom, the compassion, and the courage to free me from my husband. The Yellow Brick Road led us to you, to Torah. Do you have a blessing for me?”

“Dorothy dear,” Torah replied, “the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion are no more. They are now their complete selves, the people they were destined to be.  Each one is a Rav b’Yisrael who commands the wisdom, the compassion and the courage that will enable justice to bloom, and bring peace to families and to the world. They comprise the Beit Din you are seeking. A Beit Din that will intervene for you and release the unholy grip your husband has on you. They will assert their rightful power to grant you the get that you have been denied. Go with them, for as Torah I am abounding with Oze, and to each of you I grant your share of Oze – the strength to sustain you on a treacherous road to challenge entrenched ideas, to awaken the life-force that courses through halacha to reach a resolution that may be decried as dangerous, but, in truth, is just and overdue. A resolution that will grant you, Dorothy, and all others like you, a renewed life of blessings and peace.”

Dorothy allowed herself to smile at them all, and then at each one of them. “Thank you,” she said.