I was excited to read that Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Mark Angel are starting an alternative body to the RCA- The Rabbinical Counsel of America. It will be a coalition and network of Rabbis who are actually Modern Orthodox and eventually will include an alternate Beit Din system as well.
I don’t think the RCA or their Beit Din is all that terrible, it’s not even all that right wing. However, the established Jewish community has consistently stymied the growth of more modern Rabbis. The graduates of Yeshivah Choveveh Torah, the “Open Orthodox Yeshiva,” started by Ai Weiss, have not been allowed to join the RCA, and National Young Israel has even made moves to keep more liberal Rabbis out of their shuls despite the fact that many individual Young Israel’s may be seeking exactly this kind of leadership.
I studied for few years at Choveveh Torah (YCT), in a Talmud class for undergraduates at nearby Barnard and Columbia. So I feel comfortable saying that YCT is refreshingly open and thoughtful about the challenges of modernity, while still being strongly Orthodox and rather traditional in the grand scheme of things.
If RCA and Young Israel, and other institutions of the like, had allowed their Rabbis to quietly join the ranks of the official Orthodox Rabbinical establishment, they probably would have been a minor voice, which slowly widened the spectrum of opinions. Now that the Orthodox world excluded these voices, they have a full out rebellion on their hands and competing institutions.
I only hope that this new Rabbinic Fellowship can find a way to include female leaders as well. I know that YCT is not ready to ordain women, but Modern Orthodox women are studying more, women teachers’ scholarship is approaching the level of Rabbis, and many shuls have opened up communal roles such as Madricha Ruchanit. It would be disappointing if the new Rabbinic Fellowship recreates the atmosphere of the exclusionary old boys club.
This article, which outlines the current political battle between civil and Rabbinic courts in Israel for adjudicating monetary issue of divorce, doesn't per say blame the Rabbinic courts any more than the system as a whole. (Though the article does describe the mad dash to file for divorce: the women in civil court - where she'll get a fair hearing, and the man to the Rabbinic court, where he'll get favorable treatment.) We are a schizophrenic country with competing courts and confusion and injustice abounds.
Some important legal protests to the current state of the Rabbinical Courts have appeared in the papers this week.
Mavoi Satum and several other groups sued the Minister of Justice in the Supreme Court of Equity. The supreme court actually moved to open the protocols of the committee that chose the latest batch of nepotistically appointed judges. This is a wonderful sign that perhaps people/politicians are becoming aware of the problem of selection of Charedi judges
Also in recent news, Rachel Avraham, backed by the Center for Women's Justice, is suing the Ministry of Justice for the negligence and malice of the Rabbinical courts which kept her waiting 18 years for a divorce from an abusive husband. If you want to know how problematic these judges are and how terrible it is that men can manipulate the system while women can barely use the system- read this article.
I guess sometimes we get bored of standing outside of the Misrad Hamishpatim demonstrating on behalf of agunot, especially when the Rabbis don’t seem to notice. Recently some fashion designers in Tel Aviv made a visual statement in support of agunot, designing dresses that embody the individual pain experienced by agunot.
Mavoi Satum has also experimented with some guerilla theatre- how can one forget the grotesque effigy of a chained bride that hung above their conference in February 2006 and the photo below taken at a protest held in March 2006, which did manage to ascertain a get for one woman, who was married to a son of a Rabbinic judge.
But do these creative shows make a difference on the large scale? The Rabbanut doesn’t seem to hang out at guerrilla protests nor are they sitting next to the Tel Aviv catwalk. Education is very important, don’t get me wrong. But what strategy will really make the Rabbanut notice, what campaign will make them hurt or actually manage to embarrass them into doing what’s right?
Last Wednesday I attended a demonstration outside of the Misrad Hamishpatim, the Ministry of Justice. Inside they were appointing yet more Charedi (ultra Orthodox) judges to sit on the Rabbinic Court. The court serves all segments of the population of Israel (Modern Orthodox to Chiloni or secular) except surprisingly the Charedi community itself, on issues of marriage and divorce. The judges are political appointments, often chosen not for their knowledge, ability, or empathy but to pay back favors and soothe political relationships.
Unfortunately the mood was calm, almost chatty. The groups assembled (Icar, Mavoi Satum, and Neemani Torah V'Avodah) who are concerned with helping the cause of agunot, seemed to know that the decision was already sewn up, despite the 20-some who had shown to protest.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898255.html
