Organization for the Resolution of Agunot

The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA) is a New York-based non-profit organization that advocates for the elimination of the infliction of abuse from the Jewish divorce process. The organization advocates on behalf of agunot and promotes the universal adoption of Jewish prenuptial agreements for the prevention of get-refusal (a get is a bill of Jewish divorce).[2] Although 98% of the people ORA helps are women, they also support men whose wives refuse to accept a get.[3] ORA views get-refusal as a form of domestic abuse.[4] Keshet Starr is the Executive Director of the organization.[5]

Organization for the Resolution of Agunot
AbbreviationORA
MottoFreeing Aginot. Preventing Abuse.
Founded2002
Founderstudents at Yeshiva University
81-0582070[1]
Legal statusCharitable organization
Location
  • New York, United States
Methodsadvocacy, support, education, subsidies
Executive Director
Keshet Starr, Esq.
Websitegetora.org

History

ORA was founded in 2002 by a group of Yeshiva University students.[6] Since then, the organization has resolved over 220 cases of get-refusal,[7] and at any given time is actively involved in approximately 50 open agunah cases.[8] In 2014, the Slingshot Guide named ORA as one of the most innovative non-profit organizations in North America for its success in "advocating for vulnerable women and changing the conversation about divorce in the Orthodox community".[9]

Advocacy efforts

ORA resolves cases of get-refusal by combining facilitation with advocacy.[10] Their strategies may include "staging protests in front of a husband's home and office, urging his community and synagogue to keep him out, raising awareness in the media and applying financial and legal pressure."[4]

ORA's advocacy efforts on behalf of agunot have been covered by several major newspapers, including The New York Times,[11][12] New York Post,[13][14] Washington Post,[15] Newsweek,[4][16] The Daily Beast,[17] New York Daily News,[18] and The Huffington Post.[19]

Educational initiatives

ORA's Agunah Prevention Initiative raises awareness in the Jewish community about the importance of signing the Jewish prenuptial agreement for the prevention of get-refusal.[20] The tagline of their initiative is: "Friends don't let friends get married without the halachic prenup", and in November 2014, ORA released a video to promote that message.[21] While there is no way to know definitively if Jewish prenuptial agreements are becoming more popular in the Orthodox world, Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann, Director of the Beth Din of America, stated that, "Anecdotally, there appears to have been a big increase in awareness and usage in the last few years."[22]

References
  1. "Organization for the Resolution of Agunot Inc". CharityNavigator.org. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  2. "Our Mission". Organization for the Resolution of Agunot. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  3. Dolsten, Josefin (June 28, 2017). "Can a woman refuse to give her husband a Jewish religious divorce? It just happened in Australia". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  4. Jones, Abigail (April 8, 2015). "In Orthodox Jewish Divorce, Men Hold All the Cards". Newsweek. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  5. "Keshet Starr". LinkedIn.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  6. Cohen, Debra Nussbaum (March 1, 2012). "Congressman Pressed on Agunah Issue". Forward. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  7. Janofsky, Adam (September 22, 2014). "Facebook, Unchain Me!". Tablet. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  8. O'Neil, Lorena (January 24, 2014). "Will the 'Chained Wives' of Judaism Finally Be Released?". OZY. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  9. "The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot". Slingshot Fund. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  10. Miller, Rochelle Maruch (May 16, 2013). "From Darkness to Light: ORA's Mission of Hope". The 5 Towns Jewish Times. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  11. Medina, Jennifer (March 21, 2014). "Unwilling to Allow His Wife a Divorce, He Marries Another". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  12. Oppenheimer, Mark (January 3, 2011). "Religious Divorce Dispute Leads to Secular Protest". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  13. Lewak, Doree (November 4, 2013). "An orthodox woman's 3-year divorce fight". New York Post. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  14. Lewak, Doree (February 5, 2014). "Orthodox Jewish woman finally gets her divorce after 3 years". New York Post. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  15. Fowler, Lilly (January 29, 2014). "To get around Jewish law, some rabbis insist on prenups". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  16. Jones, Abigail (November 12, 2013). "Divorce in the Orthodox Jewish Community Can Be Brutal, Degrading and Endless". Newsweek. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  17. Brenhouse, Hillary (November 4, 2013). "For Orthodox Women, Getting the Get Can Take Years". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  18. Furman, Phyllis (May 28, 2012). "Get lost! Women struggle to get Jewish divorce from their Orthodox husbands". New York Daily News. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  19. Miller, Rabbi Jason (May 5, 2012). "Compelling Jewish Men to Grant a Divorce Through Social Media". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  20. Herz, Libby (April 28, 2015). "Will the Halachic Prenup Catch On". COLlive. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  21. "Friends Don't Let Friends Get Married Without The Prenup!". YouTube. November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  22. Siegel, Beverly (March 6, 2015). "Sign on the Dotted Line". Tablet. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
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