International Agunah Day 5776

International Agunah Day is marked yearly on Tan’anit Esther, which falls out on March 9,2017. Through the work Dr. Levmore does in the IYIM Agunah and Get- Refusal Prevention Project it is clear that the the best possible solution to the Agunah Problem at this time in history is to prevent the very possibilty of Get-Refusal. To this end every marrying couple should sign an agreement for the prevent of get-refusal.

Agunah Day at the Knesset

Dr. Rachel Levmore, director of the IYIM Agunah and Get Refusal Program spoke at the Knesset at a meeting for the Advancement of Women, marking Agunah Day. The focus of this year’s meeting was the creation of the “mamzer” status for children born to mothers who are victims of get-refusal. There was an in-depth discussion of the mamzer status in general with its “blacklist” preventing marriage in Israel, as well as women who are suffering for years as agunot either aborting babies so as not to bring a “mamzer” into the world, or nonetheless bearing children born into that tragic status. Dr. Levmore clarified for the committee, the halakhic policy connection between the two tragedies—agunot and “mamzer” and uncovered a new category of women making the problem more widespread than previously thought. Chair of the meeting, MK Aliza Lavie, summed up the intense, yet fruitful meeting, with practical steps to take.

Lectures

An Agunah Day Event was held in the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University by IYIM’s Agunah and Get-Refusal Prevention Project. Students attending the event “The Agreement for Mutual Respect for the Prevention of Get-Refusal: A Halakhic Tool for Leading Social Change” learned about the prenuptial agreement, its workings and were trained to present it to their peers—young men and women of marriageable age.

Dr. Rachel Levmore, will be presenting in an International Conference at Westen Galilee College whose is: The Jewish Family Confronting Crisis in Modern Times (1800-2017): Divorce, Agunot and Inter-Marriage – International Conference. She will present “Pre-empting the Agunah Problem: Prenuptial Agreements for the Prevention of Get-Refusal”

As in previous years, Dr. Rachel Levmore, director of the IYIM Agunah and Get-Refusal Prevention Project gave a presentation to the entire student body of the Pardes Institute for Judaic Studies. The students who study there hail from various countries around the world, from all religious streams, with the majority from English speaking countries. As part of their mission upon returning home, the Pardes Institute sees it to be of vital importance that the students understand the agunah problem thoroughly and take upon themselves to promote prenuptial agreements in their society. The presentation was entitled “Prenuptial agreements for the Prevention of Get-Refusal: One solution to the Worldwide Problem”.