Why did God make women more susceptible to getting hurt? That is a really big question. God also made certain races “less desirable” throughout history and certain people with handicaps. I cannot answer the question as to why God made the world imbalanced as it is except to say that once we see the imbalances it is up to us to correct them. It is up to us to do good. It is up to us to repair. Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick said ”to truly enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this word that is not what it is merely by contrast.” When there is lacking, there is the opportunity for giving. Would I have designed the world like that if it were up to me? Of course not. But I am not God, and I cannot understand or justify human suffering. What I do understand, though, is that the Torah has always commanded us to “not mistreat the widow or orphan” and to “love the stranger.” We have been exhorted to help the weak and oppressed. Jewish law has the ability to adapt somewhat and has adapted in changing societal situations to protect women from the men who try to hurt them. But because we have no centralized Jewish court in the diaspora, there is less that we can do. (The halachic pre-nup – which many couples are using these days – punishes the man with a steep monetary fine for every day he withholds a get. That is the best solution the rabbis in the diaspora have figured out so far.) In modern-day Israel, rabbinical courts have the power to sentence a husband to prison, and to impose additional penalties within prison such as solitary confinement to compel him to grant his wife a get. Rabbinical courts outside of Israel do not have power to enforce such penalties. Instead some will beat up the men – like the recent vigilante case. And Gital Dodelson has taken to social media to wage her war to freedom. We cannot explain why the imbalances exist, but it is up to us to support people everywhere who are hurting because of them…. read more: jewinthecity/2013/11/orthodox-jewish-divorce-get-is-complicated-and-so-is-being-a-woman/
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 14:44:14 +0000
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