Seeking Local Jewish DV Organizations to Participate in a National Grassroots Action Plan on Behalf of Agunot 
Barbara J. Zakheim, Founder and Past President, JCADA

In recent months, several national, international and local Jewish organizations concerned have been discussing new approaches to addressing the plight of agunot around the United States. JWI has been involved in these discussions and has been joined, among others, by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA), The Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA), CHANA of Baltimore, and the Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel.

The mission of this ad hoc group of organizations is to develop a grassroots action plan which will bring (1) constant and focused attention on the plight of agunot and (2) pressure on the communal batei din (rabbinic courts) to affect positive action for and resolution of the status of agunot. The implementation goal is to have the support of each and every Jewish community in the United States, led by their respective DV victim- support organizations.

A draft Action Plan, developed to implement this mission, seeks to:

1. Run a coordinated ad campaign in the local Jewish newspapers around the country calling on the batei din to find a solution to the agunah problem and encouraging community members to lobby their batei din on an ongoing basis. These ads will be placed monthly, will list all participating organizations, and will include a copy of the final action plan, rather than just a general message about agunah support.

2. Provide a template for local Jewish DV organizations to regularly call, email and fax their communal orthodox Rabbis to find a solution to the agunah issue. It is important to remind rabbinate that they are paid employees of their congregations whose entire needs they serve.

3. Encourage local DV organizations to gather large groups (both male and female) to accompany agunot to the batei din for each din torah (judicial session) associated with their respective cases.

4. Coordinate rallies outside the bet din of each local community demanding immediate and compassionate action to resolve the plight of agunot. Any information sent to Rabbis or their organizations will include selected scholarly articles and books related to the halachic issues, as well as a list of action items that we would expect them to tackle.

5. Designate Ta'anit Esther (the Fast of Esther) as a day of solidarity with agunot with prayer vigils, additional PR and ads, nation-wide study-groups, and the giving of tzedaka (charity).

The action plan may also include provisions for community-sponsored financial compensation to agunot who are not receiving any or receiving inadequate financial support from recalcitrant husbands. The idea is to incorporate agunot into the mix of widows and orphans for whom the community is supposed to be responsible.

If your organization would be interested in supporting and implementing this action plan in your local community, please contact Barbara J. Zakheim, Founder and Past President, JCADA at bzakheim@comcast.net. It is our hope to start running the ad campaign in the next few months and the more communities that are involved, the more successful we are likely to be.

Let us all pray that in the New Year American agunot will no longer suffer from this final act of spousal abuse and will be able to continue their lives as free women.