One out of every seven Jewish women in Israel is at risk of becoming inextricably stuck in an unwanted marriage. Israeli law, which gives absolute authority over marriage and divorce to the religious courts and empowers men as the sole executors of the divorce process, systematically leaves women vulnerable to extortion, manipulation and abuse as they try to exit marriage. Thousands of women, mesoravot get, are living through this nightmare, neither married nor divorced, stuck for years or even decades in a state of limbo, prevented from leaving their unwanted marriages and unable to build new lives for themselves.

Mavoi Satum, a not-for-profit organization established in 1996, takes a unique approach to helping mesoravot get by working simultaneously on the micro and the macro – that is, by helping individual women while advocating for broader reform. In the personal realm, Mavoi Satum offers a range of legal and social support services, including legal counseling, legal aid, social support, empowerment programs, therapy, and more. On the systemic level, Mavoi Satum advocates for reform of the marriage and divorce system in Israel through strategic advocacy, networking, campaigns for public awareness, and most recently, a groundbreaking initiative to create a viable alternative to the Beit Din. Mavoi Satum strives to alleviate the suffering of mesoravot get by helping them achieve freedom, and hopes to build a society in which this terrible problem ceases to exist.

Helping Individual Women
Mavoi Satum is the only organization in Israel that offers women an integrated service of legal aid, social services and emotional support. By helping women receive their freedom while concurrently helping them through the emotional and life adjustments, Mavoi Satum offers women the greatest chance at success in rebuilding their lives. Mavoi Satum offers a range of services for individual mesuravot get in order to help facilitate the process of obtaining a get. These services include:

• Legal representation. The Targum Shlishi Legal Aid Program for Women offers comprehensive, highly subsidized representation in both the state court (Beit Mishpat) and the rabbinical court (Beit Din).

•  Social services. Women receive emotional support from a trained social worker,  especially around court hearings. Women may also receive, counseling, therapy, and case management, according to each woman's needs.

• Empowerment programs. Women are offered a range of empowerment programs, such as “Speak up!” communication seminars, job retraining, alternative therapies, and support groups, according to their needs.

Challenging the System
In parallel, Mavoi Satum also works on broader reform by pressuring the legal and political establishments into recognizing the issue and working on a solution:

• Public pressure. With some women, the best recourse to help her achieve freedom is to apply public pressure in the form of demonstrations and email campaigns. Mavoi Satum periodically conducts protests outside the courthouse and in places of interest to recalcitrant husbands in efforts to pressure men to give the get. The rabbinic court has recently begun cooperating in this effort, and on their website they have posted faces of men who have disappeared.

• Legislation. Mavoi Satum works with Knesset members from many different parties in an effort to advance legislation benefiting mesoravot get, and is regularly called upon to report in Knesset committees and help draft legislation. In 2008, was most notably active in legislation reversing the law of division of property and the civil marriage law. In addition, there is a major effort underway to challenge the “race to the courts”.  In this work, Mavoi Satum works in partnership with many other organizations, including ICAR,  Zohar Rabbis, Kolech, and others.

• Campaign for an Independent Beit Din. This is a far-reaching, multi-year project to create a real, viable alternative to the state-backed Beit Din, supported by Israeli law and put into place with the help of wide-spread public pressure.  The first stages of this project are already underway, with the creation of a Forum for Family Matters, a broad coalition of rabbinic and NGO groups.  The next stage is to create an Arbitration Body that will rule on matters of divorce. That will be accompanied by systemic advocacy, public pressure, and a bagatz if need be.  The goal is to create a body that will be backed by law and will have the authority to rule on the same matters as the current state-backed Beit Din. We believe that this project has the potential to resolve the problem of agunot in Israel once and for all, while simultaneously addressing the need of a huge portion of the Israeli public to change the way marriage and divorce are done in Israel.  It is no exaggeration to say that this project is not only important for agunot, but it is vital for Israel’s identity and future. 

For more information, or for a more detailed report, contact Mavoi Satum