Organization for the Resolution of Agunot explained

Organization for the Resolution of Agunot
Abbreviation:ORA
Founded:2002
Founder:students at Yeshiva University
Status:Charitable organization
Tax Id:81-0582070[1]
Methods:advocacy, support, education, subsidies
Location:New York, United States
Leader Title:Executive Director
Leader Name:Keshet Starr, Esq.

The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA) is a New York-based non-profit organization that advocates for the elimination of the infliction of abuse from the Jewish divorce process. The organization advocates on behalf of agunot and promotes the universal adoption of Jewish prenuptial agreements for the prevention of get-refusal (a get is a bill of Jewish divorce).[2] Although 98% of the people ORA helps are women, they also support men whose wives refuse to accept a get.[3] ORA views get-refusal as a form of domestic abuse.[4] Keshet Starr is the executive director of the organization.[5]

History

ORA was founded in 2002 by a group of Yeshiva University students.[6] Since then, the organization has resolved over 220 cases of get-refusal,[7] and at any given time is actively involved in approximately 50 open agunah cases.[8] In 2014, the Slingshot Guide named ORA as one of the most innovative non-profit organizations in North America for its success in "advocating for vulnerable women and changing the conversation about divorce in the Orthodox community".[9]

Advocacy efforts

ORA resolves cases of get-refusal by combining facilitation with advocacy.[10] Their strategies may include "staging protests in front of a husband's home and office, urging his community and synagogue to keep him out, raising awareness in the media and applying financial and legal pressure."

ORA's advocacy efforts on behalf of agunot have been covered by several major newspapers, including The New York Times,[11] [12] New York Post,[13] [14] Washington Post,[15] Newsweek,[16] The Daily Beast,[17] New York Daily News,[18] and The Huffington Post.[19]

Educational initiatives

ORA's Agunah Prevention Initiative raises awareness in the Jewish community about the importance of signing the Jewish prenuptial agreement for the prevention of get-refusal.[20] The tagline of their initiative is: "Friends don't let friends get married without the halachic prenup", and in November 2014, ORA released a video to promote that message.[21] While there is no way to know definitively if Jewish prenuptial agreements are becoming more popular in the Orthodox world, Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann, Director of the Beth Din of America, stated that, "Anecdotally, there appears to have been a big increase in awareness and usage in the last few years."[22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Organization for the Resolution of Agunot Inc. . CharityNavigator.org . November 9, 2019.
  2. Web site: Organization for the Resolution of Agunot . Our Mission . November 9, 2019.
  3. News: Can a woman refuse to give her husband a Jewish religious divorce? It just happened in Australia. . Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Josefin . Dolsten . June 28, 2017 . November 9, 2019.
  4. News: In Orthodox Jewish Divorce, Men Hold All the Cards . Jones . Abigail . April 8, 2015 . Newsweek . November 9, 2019.
  5. Web site: Keshet Starr . November 9, 2019 . LinkedIn.com.
  6. News: Congressman Pressed on Agunah Issue . Cohen . Debra Nussbaum . March 1, 2012 . Forward . November 9, 2019.
  7. News: Facebook, Unchain Me! . Janofsky . Adam . September 22, 2014 . Tablet. November 9, 2019.
  8. News: Will the 'Chained Wives' of Judaism Finally Be Released? . O'Neil . Lorena . January 24, 2014 . OZY . November 9, 2019.
  9. Web site: The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot . Slingshot Fund . November 9, 2019.
  10. News: From Darkness to Light: ORA's Mission of Hope . Miller . Rochelle Maruch . May 16, 2013 . The 5 Towns Jewish Times . November 9, 2019.
  11. News: Unwilling to Allow His Wife a Divorce, He Marries Another . The New York Times . March 21, 2014 . November 9, 2019 . Jennifer . Medina.
  12. News: Religious Divorce Dispute Leads to Secular Protest . The New York Times . January 3, 2011 . November 9, 2019 . Mark . Oppenheimer.
  13. News: Doree . Lewak . Doree Lewak . An orthodox woman's 3-year divorce fight . November 4, 2013 . New York Post . November 9, 2019.
  14. News: Orthodox Jewish woman finally gets her divorce after 3 years . Doree . Lewak . Doree Lewak . February 5, 2014 . New York Post . November 9, 2019.
  15. News: To get around Jewish law, some rabbis insist on prenups . The Washington Post . January 29, 2014 . November 9, 2019 . Lilly . Fowler.
  16. News: Divorce in the Orthodox Jewish Community Can Be Brutal, Degrading and Endless . Jones . Abigail . November 12, 2013 . Newsweek . November 9, 2019.
  17. News: For Orthodox Women, Getting the Get Can Take Years . Brenhouse . Hillary . November 4, 2013 . The Daily Beast . November 9, 2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170504124156/http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/11/04/for-orthodox-women-getting-the-get-can-take-years.html . May 4, 2017.
  18. News: Get lost! Women struggle to get Jewish divorce from their Orthodox husbands . Furman . Phyllis . May 28, 2012 . New York Daily News . November 9, 2019.
  19. News: Compelling Jewish Men to Grant a Divorce Through Social Media . Miller . Rabbi Jason . May 5, 2012 . The Huffington Post . November 9, 2019.
  20. News: Will the Halachic Prenup Catch On . Herz . Libby . April 28, 2015 . COLlive . November 9, 2019.
  21. Web site: Friends Don't Let Friends Get Married Without The Prenup! . November 20, 2014 . November 9, 2019 . YouTube.
  22. News: Sign on the Dotted Line . Siegel . Beverly . March 6, 2015 . Tablet . November 9, 2019.

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