The International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW) announced that Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has cancelled Thursday the international conference on the subject of Agunot and mesuravot get (women who are denied divorce), which was due to take place in Jerusalem on November 7 and 8, 2006.
The ICJW said in a statement that the conference was convened by Israel’s Rabbinical High Court, of which Rabbi Amar is president, to discuss how halacha (Jewish law) deals with agunot, and the “various financial, religious and economic sanctions that can be imposed on recalcitrant husbands, including international cooperation between the various rabbinical courts around the world to enforce judgments against them.”
According to ICJW, Rabbi Amar has given no reason for canceling the event with just 5 days notice, “but we understand that his office has come under considerable pressure from the haredi leadership in Israel.
“Notwithstanding the fact that Chief Rabbis and leading Dayanim from South America, Australia, Europe, Canada and the US were planning to attend next week, together with their Israeli counterparts, representing a cross-section of the Orthodox world, Rav Amar has bowed to pressure from Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv,” the statement said.
Rabbi Yosef Blau, of Yeshiva University, New York, said, “The calling of the conference by Chief Rabbi Amar is in itself significant. Cooperation between different courts can at least lead to (agunot) cases being heard and will make a seruv (injunction against a recalcitrant husband) more effective. Unfulfilled expectations can lead to people became discouraged.”
President of the ICJW, Leah Aharonov, said: “The ICJW has worked with Chief Rabbi Amar for over two years in planning this conference.
We have applauded his concern for the plight of agunot and his courage in calling for an international conference of leading rabbis and dayanim to discuss this shameful problem, which affects Jewish communities worldwide. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by this cowardly last minute cancellation, which will disappoint not only Agunot worldwide and their families, but all Jews who believe in justice.”
Sharon Shenhav, who leads ICJW’s International Jewish Women’s Rights Project, works closely with Israel’s Chief Rabbi and was instrumental in helping to convene this Conference. She has decided to go forward with the event as planned on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
“We will follow the Conference program drawn up by Rabbi Amar and expect the various speakers to participate and discuss the serious problem of Agunot and Mesarvei Get in his absence,” she said.
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