The Effects of Ruling a Modern Society Through Ancient Traditional Law: Israel’s Experiences First-Hand

There is a great deal of tension in Israeli society between those who adhere to a secular position (in other words asserting the need for total separation of state and religion, with civil law governing all aspects of life) and those who maintain that as a Jewish State, the country should be governed by Jewish law and reflect the traditional and religious culture of the Jewish people. Since the time of its creation in 1948, the State of Israel has always had to mediate controversial issues regarding mixtures of old and new, and religious and secular values and ideals. Over the years, various degrees of compromise have been achieved in efforts to resolve these conflicting positions, but, in the end tension still seem to exist against the status quo. One such compromise is that all matters pertaining to marriage and divorce are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. With that said, for the Jewish population, therefore, divorce is handled by the rabbinical authorities.

While the civil courts do hold some power over matters stemming from separation and the dissolution of marriage such as child support, custody, and division of property; the final act of legal divorce in Israel does still seem to rest upon rabbinical authority. With this unfair monopoly over marriage and divorce, much concern has arisen over its indirect provocation of women inequality and mistreatment. From newspaper articles to online news posts, various individuals have expressed their frustration over the Jewish law which supposedly states that “a man has to agree to grant the divorce of his own free will before the legal separation can proceed”. They argue that this system ultimately unfairly discriminates against women.

Stories have been published and personal experiences shared presenting certain scenarios where unfortunate wives have been unable to gain their freedom or right to remarry because their estranged husbands have refused to grant them their "get". Or even worse, there have even been some extreme cases where the wife have been bribed in only being granted their "get" by their husband if, and only if, she were to give up her claim on joint property or give up her right on child support.

According to Donna Rosenthal, in her book titled, The Israelis, this whole dilemma originates from the implementation of the Torah teachings into Israeli law. In the book of Deuteronomy 24:1 it states, “He [God] writes a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand”, which many Orthodox Jewish Rabbis have interpreted as meaning no woman can divorce without her husband consent. As a way to relieve their frustration, many have blamed this problem based on the overly-dominant influence that this fossilized, outdated, Torah-based system is having when enforced on a modern 21rst-century society.

While this issue does seem to be a relevant, sensitive crisis currently occurring in Israel, there has been some who counter pose this argument, reinforcing the belief that Jewish Torah-based law, such as Israel’s divorce system, promotes equality and a sense of fairness. Rueven P. Bulka, a noted author, is one of those advocates. In his online post, Jewish Divorce Ethics, he claims that “the right of the wife to demand a divorce is as legally entrenched as is the right of the husband to demand a divorce”. By examining the Torah’s forewarning against taking advantage of orphans and widows, he views this ancient religious book as well as Jewish traditional law as being virtually impossible to “entrench vulnerability of the wife within the marriage”. He continues in asserting that if anything, the sense of fairness and concern for all individuals no matter what their position or station in life, is a central feature of the Torah. Although he does admit that certain inequities does currently exist in the Israeli divorce system, he goes on to add the following: “No one can deny that there are inequities in the system, but these inequities emanate more from abuse of the system rather than from its basic weaknesses”. All in all, he claims the man is the one to condemn and eventually fix, not the system.

While respecting Bulka's positioning on this issue, I still, however, continue to side with the former argument believing strongly that the root of the divorce crisis is based on the outdated theocratic system being implemented on a modern democratic nation. Yet, to be fair and credible in my assessment, it would only be proper to portray the authorial viewpoint of the various authors used in this blog.

The authors and bloggers responsible for writing and publishing the argument in opposition to the Israeli divorce system and its perceived negative consequences all hold solid credibility for their information presented and frustration expressed. Many are accredited journalist and news staff writers who have relocated themselves to Israel several times to portray reliable correspondents based in the Holy Land. For example, Lourdes Garcia-Navarro spent three years as NPR's foreign correspondent in Jerusalem, reporting from that region as well as on special assignments abroad.

However, one must always take every factor into consideration when analyzing reliability and credibility. For instance, it should also be noteworthy to point out that Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is a foreign correspondent for the media organization, NPR, which has been criticized consistently for its liberal bias. In addition, other journalists who have expressed outrage against this divorce system have participated in many feminist sponsored events, and have spoken to many audiences in Israel and America on Jewish Women’s and Spiritual topics. For instance, Barbara Sofer, alone served as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Young Women’s Voices Conference in January 2001, the MAC Young Women’s Institute, Detroit February 2004, and the Women of the West Conference in Dallas in May 2005.

On the other hand, as powerful and persuasive Bulka’s argument may have been, it should be noted that more than being an accomplished author, a profound lecturer, and a Jewish activist, Rabbi Rueven P. Bulka is a rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ontario, Canada, and is the co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Representing such a powerful religious position in the Jewish sector, it would only seem obvious for him to stand firm upholding the importance and prominence of traditional Jewish laws, including the Israeli divorce system.

Other Additional Sources:

Rosenthal, Donna. The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land. New York: Free Press, 2003.

http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.111/j.174-1617.1990.tb01235.x/pdf.