Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought

The problem of the modern-day agunah resulting from the refusal of the husband to cooperate in the execution of a religious divorce on behalf of his wife despite the irreversible breakdown of their marriage has long plagued, and continues to plague, rabbinic decisors. Over the years, a series of proposals for remedying the situation has been advanced, examined, debated and, for the most part, rejected because of compelling halakhic objections. Some few proposals involving antenuptual agreements of one form or another have been adopted in some circles but remain the subject of controversy. For reasons that are difficult to identify, proposals that have been advanced for antenuptual agreements to which no halakhic objections have been voiced have yet to gain universal endorsement and hence have not been implemented. Within recent years a small number of individuals have donned the mantle of authority and have assumed upon themselves responsibility for permitting wives of recalcitrant husbands to remarry on the basis of halakhic considerations rejected as spurious by recognized halakhic authorities. The expedient of kiddushei ta'ut, i.e., annulment of the marriage ab initio, was addressed in this column in the Fall, 1998 issue of Tradition. Some have also sought to resolve the problem by invoking the concept of get zikkuy, i.e., a get executed by the bet din on its own motion, contrary to the expressed desire of the husband, on the grounds that an act performed for the benefit of another does not require that party's consent.