Soccer Dad

Maryland's get law?

The case of the Orthodox Jewish husband who refused to give his wife a get - a divorce that conforms to Jewish law or Halacha - that was reported by CrabLaw back in September is back in the news. Del. Sandy Rosenberg is proposing that Maryland adopt a law similar to the one in New York to give an Orthodox woman stronger standing to force her recalcitrant husband to give her a get.

According to the Baltimore Sun Some Maryland legislators have revived the fight for a bill that would place Orthodox Jewish women on an equal footing with their husbands in divorce proceedings.

Under Jewish law, a man must grant his wife a divorce degree, or get, to end a marriage. Without it, a Jewish woman is unable to remarry within the faith, and she becomes known as an agunah, or "chained woman."

Advocates of the bill say husbands use this power to demand favorable custody or visitation schedules - or money from their wife's family - during divorce negotiations.

"We have to persuade people that the rabbis cannot address this problem on their own, that they cannot undo what the Torah commands," said Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat and the main sponsor of the House version of the bill.

Rosenberg first sponsored bills to address this issue in the late 1990s, but a September protest in front of the University of Baltimore School of Law to resolve the plight of a Park Heights woman renewed interest in a legislative solution.

The article quotes both Rabbi Michael Broyde and Marc Stern on the subject. Clearly the reporter did a little research because both have commented on the problem of empowering a wife within the bounds of Halacha at JLaw - the Jewish Law website.

Here are some of the relevant articles.

"A Legal Guide to the Prenuptial Agreement for Couples about to Be Married"
Marc D. Stern
Note: Please see the Halachic Forms section for the prenuptial agreement referenced in this article.
"A Suggested Antenuptial Agreement: A Proposal in Wake of Avitzur"
Rabbi J. David Bleich
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. VII
"The New York State Get Bill and its Halachic Ramifications"
Rabbi Chaim Malinowitz
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, Vol. XXVII
"The New York Get Law: An Exchange"
Rabbi Chaim Z. Malinowitz
Tradition Magazine (Summer 1997)
"The New York Get Law: An Exchange"
Michael J. Broyde
Tradition Magazine (Summer 1997)
"Comments on the New York State 'Get Law'"
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz

The main problem is that Halacha forbids a get to be forced. Rabbi Broyde argues that certain kinds of force are proper and that a legal mechanism instituted by the state would not invalidate a get. Rabbi Malinowitz considers coercion of the state to be problematic.

Marc Stern's article points to a different solution to the problem. Many in the Orthodox community are signing prenuptial agreements that would insitute a mechanism to force the husband to give a get or face severe financial penalties. According to many this gets around the problem of coercioin.

I wish I knew if Delegate Rosenberg was working with any Halachic authorities or if he's just doing this on his own.

UPDATE: I should be clear. The problem of women whose husbands won't give them a proper get is a serious one. The question is how to balance the need for justice with the need for conforming with halacha. I hope that Del. Rosenberg is less interested in making a big splash than he is in balancing these competing needs.

Blogdigger tags: Sandy Rosenberg, Get Law.