Taking it to the streets….doing it old school with the Doobie Brothers, but I digress…..
There have long been grumblings in 20th and 21st century America that beth dins (Jewish courts made up of three rabbis who decide on halachic and civil disputes) have no teeth to back up their rulings. In the past, Jewish communities relied heavily on Jewish courts to settle all manner of disputes. There was the very real fear that Jews would never get a fair hearing in non-Jewish courts, and therefore, it was wise for all parties involved to have legal matters settled within the community. Any Jew who went to the secular courts over the beth din, was labeled as a moser (informant), because they put not only themselves, but potentially the entire community, at risk by airing their dirty laundry in public. Throughout history, the punishment of a moser would be at worst death and at best, excommunication.
Punishments, fines, or sanctions handed down by a beth din were enforceable during those times when Jews lived in small tight knit communities. With enemies all around, Jews needed the protection of their community and couldn’t afford to be alientated. When Jews were almost entirely dependent on their own small kehilla, the beth din could make a non compliant convict’s life untenable. Shunning a person meant that they could no longer daven in shul, do business with other Jews, or socialize with their friends and family. Being excommunicated (called being put in cherim), was a punishment to be avoided at all costs.
Nowadays, we live in a much different society. Jewish communities are scattered across the the country and the globe. In America, we are fortunate to live in a society that has strict rules regarding discrimination and anti-Semitism. It is reasonable to assume a Jew will get a fair trial if they bring a complaint to secular court. This compels more people to take their cases to civil courts, rather than Jewish courts, where the punishments are often unenforceable. This defection happens despite the exhortation of Jewish leaders to bring legal disputes to the beth din before approaching the non-Jewish legal system for assistance.
Additionally, as the orthodox Jewish community grows and expands, beth dins are popping up everywhere to serve them. As such, there are many options to choose from when bringing a case to a Jewish court. Ironically, this weakens the power of the Jewish court system, because one party can refuse to abide by the decision of a beth din not of their choosing. Situations occur where two parties in the same dispute are trying their cases independently between two different Jewish courts, and getting two different rulings – each side refusing to accept the decision of the other beth din.
Today, if a beth din tries to enforce cherim on an uncooperative convict, it’s almost laughable. Someone put in cherim can most likely continue to live in their current community without repercussion. If the people of the community do follow the beth din ruling and shun the convict, the offender can simply move to a different community where they are unknown and start life anew. There is not much a beth din can do (particularly outside of Israel) to effectively enforce punishments anymore.
More importantly, people are starting to use secular courts in instances where they have found Jewish courts to be unwilling or unable to press charges. I won’t go into the notable cases of child abuse and sexual abuse that were taken to Jewish authorities, only to be swept under the rug - leaving victims no choice but to seek justice from the secular court system. However, I believe that it is these survivors of abuse that began the revolutionary approach of using social media to speak out about their abuse and the lack of response within the rabbinical system.
By taking their stories to the “virtual street,” these survivors have brought awareness to the community at large. The huge response to their stories of abuse have reinforced that the dynamics of the Jewish community have changed. We are now not only members of our own individual local kehillas, but Jews from all walks of life who are connected together through online networks regardless of geography or hashkafa. True, there may be different reactions to these stories based individual perspectives, however, the stories would never even have been brought to light if not for the power of the internet. As such, many Jewish leaders have been forced to change their stance regarding reporting sexual abuse to the secular police and courts. Whether through education or shaming, the chillul hashem caused by rabbinic courts stifling these accusations has caused a shift in the way sexual abuse is treated within the frum world.
The next wave of Jewish social media activism is happening in the arena of Jewish divorce, or the get. Obtaining a Jewish divorce is one situation that, in most cases, can’t be remedied by the secular courts. In some states, the civil courts can impose fines on stubborn husbands who refuse to grant their wives a religious divorce. However, the husband can always choose to take the financial hit or even jail time, yet still not grant the get. Women, powerless to petition for a divorce on their own, are completely beholden to their husband and beth din to escape an unhappy marriage.
Without a Jewish divorce, women can never remarry (this is not true for a man, although it isn’t encouraged due to the edict of Rabbenu Gershom). Any future relationship they engage in will be considered adultery and any future children they have will be mamzerim. As such, without a willingly given get, religious women are forced to remain alone for the rest of their lives. When a beth din can’t or won’t push a man into granting a get, some women grow desperate enough to enlist the help of dubious characters. I liken it to the days before legalized abortions, when women were forced to go to back alley butcher shops to rid themselves of unwanted pregnancies. Where there is desperation, a solution will be found, even if it kills the one seeking respite.
This past week, a heartrending plea from a young agunah (a woman chained in an unhappy marriage, whose husband refuses to grant her a divorce), Gital Dodelson, appeared in the New York Post. Her story comes on the heels of other women, like Tamar Epstein or Ariella Dadon, who, in their desperation for freedom, have taken their plights to the virtual streets of the online world.
Their online platforms are becoming more publicized, formalized and organized, as social media savvy organizations are starting to take up their cause. There is an organization that fights on behalf of agunot, ORA (Organization for the Resolution of Agunot) that publicizes the names and photos of recalcitrant husbands in the hopes of shaming them into granting their wives divorces. Social coercion to free agunot is also becoming a professional public relations niche. PR specialist, Shira Dicker, who calls herself “an innovative social agitator,” has taken Dodelson’s case to the virtual streets. She specializes in using technology such as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to bring attention to women struggling to halachically end marriages. Dicker claims that “Free Gital: Tell Avrohom Meir Weiss to Give His Wife a Get” is the first Facebook page set up for an agunah.
Obviously, publicizing one side to any story can lead to slander and falsehoods. That’s a risk that anyone using social media as a platform to air their grievances has to weigh. However, the power of social media as a uniting force within the orthodox world can’t be ignored. When private matters were kept private – when a dispute between to divorcing parties was between husband, wife, close family, and a beth din – a woman might be an agunah and no one would be aware of her plight. There are women who have suffered in silence for years, assuming that there was no way out of their situation and that no one cared. The viral reaction to Gital Dodelson’s story reflects the visceral response that people have to those who have been victimized not only by an individual, but by a divorce system that is intrinsically unfair to women, and impotent in its power to change things in that regard.
People are gathering power in online numbers. Chassidish, haredi, sefardic, yeshivish, modern othodox – all walks of orthodox Jewry who have an online presence are coming together. They might be vehemently opposed on certain issues, but when they agree, they are a force that Jewish leadership must reckon with. How this online activism will translate into halachic reinterpretations is anyone’s guess, but certainly, the societal impact of this online solidarity is changing the fabric of 21st century orthodox Judaism.
