The divorce statistics: What they don't show

This week, the rabbinical courts held their annual press conference which highlighted the growing divorce rate in Israel. Unlike 2007 when 9,765 couples ended their marriages with the issuance of a get [divorce decree] (down from 9,963), in 2008, more than 10,000 gets were given (the actual number is 10,225). In some of the younger cities in Israel like Shoham, divorces increased by more than 100%, while among cities with diverse populations such as Bet Shemesh, divorces were down by more than 22%. All in all, these statistics are worrying. Divorces increase of almost 5% over the past year.

But buried in the myriad of statistics are the more painful facts. Since Orthodox halacha [Jewish Law] - which sets the legal standard for divorce in Israel - insists that men deliver divorces willingly, the courts have little recourse when a man refuses to deliver a get to his wife. The courts have addressed this issue by instituting punitive measures for recalcitrant husbands. In 2008, 73 men were punished with "sanctions" for refusing to deliver gets to their wives. These included taking away their driver's licenses or passports (even though in at least one case, an ultra-orthodox man forged a passport and left Israel anyway), and preventing them from being appointed to public office. 36 private investigators were hired to help track down men who refuse to give their wives gets and another 20 men were punished with prison sentences for refusing to honor the court by delivering a get.  

According to the rabbinical court website, half a million Shekels were spent tracking down recalcitrant husbands in 2007. But worse than that, only a few were caught. The rabbinical court website on agunot ["refers to a woman whose husband disappeared while travelling or at war, or is physically unable to write her a binding get (i.e. he is in a coma or has a mental illness), but cannot be proven deceased", Mavoi Satum definition; literally 'chained' or 'anchored'] is sparse with detail, and unfortunately, my sense is that most men are, in one way or another, able to blackmail their wives by using the get as a tool. 

What is needed now is a social upheaval that challenges recalcitrant men at the most basic level. Similarly, a recommitment on the part of the rabbinical courts to making their agunah desk a professional institution would make a marked difference in the "get refusal" business. I have been involved in a number of cases of tracking down missing husbands, most recently in a case that involved a husband who was found in Indonesia a few months back, and who sent his wife a get last month.

But, as we say in Hebrew preventative action is always desirable. Groups like ICAR and Mavoi Satum have begun the public fight. But until the public is sufficiently outraged, men will continue to abuse the system of Jewish law, and their wives as well.