Dr. Levmore hosted as scholar-in-residence
The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale hosted the director of the IYIM Agunah and Get-Refusal Prevention Project, Dr. Rachel Levmore, as scholar-in-residence, for a Shabbat of discovery and thoughtful study. While speaking from the pulpit after morning services, Dr. Levmore educated hundreds of congregants as to “Social sanctions employed through Jewish law” against a husband who is refusing to give his wife a get – both in the US, and as sanctions levied by the Israeli Rabbinical Courts. Following a communal lunch, the topic elucidated was “The Israeli Rabbinical Court system as part of the Jewish-democratic state”. Thirdly, the last hour before the end of Shabbat was spent in a description of “Judging the Judges” – elucidating the process in which Dr. Levmore participated as a member of the Israel Commission for Appointing Rabbinical Court Judges. The hundreds of participants in the three presentations were enthralled and inspired by their own accounts.
