Justice Unbound: Women, Religion and the State of Israel

After 15 episodes behind the closed doors of Israel's rabbinic courts, we step back to reflect. In this final chapter of Justice Unbound, Rivkah revisits the stories, legal battles, and feminist resistance that shaped the series. From agunot and mamzerut to chalitza and civil justice, she discusses what has changed, what hasn't, and what still must be done to secure true equality for Jewish women in Israel. A look back — and a call forward. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation.

Can civil courts succeed where religious courts have failed? Rivkah Lubitch interviews Susan Weiss, founder of the Center for Women's Justice, about a bold legal strategy she pioneered in Israel: suing recalcitrant husbands for damages in civil court when they refuse to grant their wives a get. With personal stories, legal insight, and hard-won victories, Susan reveals how her feminist legal strategy has shifted the power dynamic between women, men, and religious authority in Israel—and why the solution to get refusal may never come from within the system. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Mentioned in this episode: (2019) Susan Weiss, "How to Make a Tort of Marital Capitivity, the Israeli Experience," in Marital Captivity, Divorce, Religion, and Human Rights, Susan Rutten, Benedicta Deogratias, and Pauline Kruiniger, eds. (Eleven, international publishing) pp. 283-308. (2012) Susan Weiss "From Religious 'Right' to Civil 'Wrong': Using Israeli Tort Law to Unravel the Knots of Gender, Equality and Jewish Divorce," in Gender, Religion, and Family Law: Theorizing Conflicts Between Women's Rights and Cultural Traditions, Lisa Fisbayn and Sylvia Neil, ed., (Brandeis University Press: Waltham, Mass) pp. 119-136. (2011) "The Tort of Get Abuse: How damage litigation has changed the course of family law in Israel," Susan Weiss with Elana Maryles Sztokman, with funding generously provided by The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. https://bit.ly/TortGetAbuse (2009) Susan Weiss "The Tort of Get Refusal: Why Tort and Why Not?," IDEAS, Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, Conversations: Orthodoxy: Family and Gender Issues, Autumn 2009; pp. 83-90.

In this follow-up episode, Rivkah unpacks the legal system that enforces mamzerut in Israel—how laws and state policies conspire to erase biological fathers, deny children their rights, and deepen the pain of already vulnerable families. Through real stories, she exposes the hidden costs of preserving religious fictions at the expense of justice. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Mentioned in this episode: Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, "'That which is crooked cannot be made straight': Mamzerim in the Israeli Legal System" in Mamzerim: Labeled and Erased, edited by Emily D. Bilski and Nurit Jacobs-Yinon

Through a powerful story, Rivkah unpacks the painful and often hidden issue of mamzerut—a halachic status branding children as illegitimate and barring them from marrying within the Jewish community. Rivkah outlines the religious and social roots of this stigmatizing label, its devastating impact on families, and its dangerous entanglement with Israel's divorce system. This is the first of a two-part series on one of Judaism's most painful and morally fraught challenges. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Mentioned in this episode: Mamzerim, Labeled and Erased, edited by Emily D. Bilski and Nurit Jacobs-Yinon. A catalog of articles and pictures of an art exhibition at the Third Jerusalem Biennale for Contemporary Jewish Art, 2017.

Rivkah takes us deep into the shadows of Israel's marriage system to explore the "blacklist"—a secret registry maintained by the Chief Rabbinate that tracks thousands of people prohibited from legally marrying in Israel. From accusations of adultery to the status of mamzerim, we explore who gets listed, how, and why it's nearly impossible to clear one's name. Behind closed doors, a quiet bureaucracy decides who may love—and who loses a fundamental right. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation.

Too many women find themselves powerless in the face of get refusal or being trapped as an agunah. But halachic prenuptial agreements can change that. Rivkah explains how these agreements use legal and halachic tools to prevent injustice and why every couple--engaged and married--should consider signing one. Find the agreements here. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation.

Susan reveals how Israel's rabbinic courts concoct an unholy trifecta of rigid formalism, extortion, and violence to deal with women trapped in unwanted marriages. Who really holds the power—the husbands or the dayanim (rabbinic judges)? Should the ends justify the means when punishing get refusers? Susan and Rivkah discuss why change remains elusive when justice, religion, and human rights collide. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Mentioned in this episode: Article: "A Woman Acquires [Freedom for] Herself in 3 Ways…" by Susan Weiss Book: Marriage and Divorce in the Jewish State: Israel's Civil War by Susan Weiss and Netty Gross-Horowitz

What must a woman prove to be divorced in a rabbinic court? Susan shares a shocking case where she learned firsthand that, no matter what a husband does—whether he rapes, beats, cheats, takes another wife, withholds intimacy, or even if his wife is utterly repulsed by him—none of it grants her the right to leave. No fault of his is considered grounds for divorce. How is this possible? What does this mean for women trapped in these marriages? Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation.

According to Jewish tradition, a woman who outlives two husbands is labeled a "killer wife," believed to bring misfortune to any future spouse. In Israel, a woman suspected of being a killer wife needs special permission to legally remarry. Susan and Rivkah dive into a fascinating 2014 rabbinic court ruling that allows one such woman to escape the stigma—while paradoxically reinforcing the very law that condemned her. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Book mentioned in this podcast: Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe by Avraham Grossman

As the war in Israel leaves countless families shattered, the issue of chalitza resurfaces with complicated consequences for widows. In this second episode on chalitza, Susan and Rivkah discuss halachic solutions--past and present--and why the current crisis makes it more urgent than ever to address. Learn about what the Center for Women's Justice is doing to ensure women's freedom and dignity in their most vulnerable moments. Justice Unbound is made possible by the generous support of the Gimprich Family Foundation. Check out CWJ's halachic document that addresses chalitza, as well as CWJ's full halachic prenuptial agreement, here: https://www.shtar-eng.cwj.org.il/