According To Law

G.E.T. is an organization that promotes

pre- and postnuptial agreements.

BY MICHAEL
FARBOWITZ

n effort is underway to
stem the rising tide of
aginut, the inability to
remarry according to Jew-
ish law because a spouse refuses to
give or receive a Jewish divorce. The
effort is being led by G.E.T., Getting
Equitable Treatment, a New York-
based non-profit organization which is
circulating Jewish prenuptial agree-
ments to rabbis in the hopes that

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82 Brides 1990

brides and grooms will adopt them.
According to traditional Jewish law,
divorcing spouses must receive a get,
a Jewish divorce, presented from the
husband to the wife, before they can
remarry. In a situation where one
spouse refuses to grant or receive the
document, the partner becomes an
aguna, tied to the previous marriage
and unable to remarry. Often, the
recalcitrant spouse will demand
monetary compensation or other con-
cessions before he or she will grant the

get.

The problem is widespread among

traditional Jews, both in the United
States and in Israel, G.E.T. officials
claim. One estimate places the num-
ber of agunot in New York City alone
at 15,000. In Israel, the legal system
is issuing from three to five court
orders each year forcing the husband
to grant his wife a religious divorce.
G.E.T. was founded 10 years ago to
insure that couples go before a Bet
Din, a religious court, to settle their
divorce according to Halacha,
officials hope that by publicizing the
availability of both pre- and postnup-
tial agreements, more couples will