Next Year, Will They Be Free?

A camera lens captures the incredible pain, frustration and despair of 20 agunot and mesuravot get, clients of Yad L’isha: the Monica Dennis Goldberg Legal Aid Center and Hotline who are literally trapped in marriages that are dead, unviable or abusive.
As we prepare to celebrate Passover – the Holiday of Freedom – we ask that you remember these women and the thousands of others who are not free. We remind you about these chained women not only because we must take responsibility for the suffering of others, but also because if solutions to this problem are not found, the issue could affect each and every one of us.
No one is immune from this problem. Today, we are exposing you to the frustration and despair of 20 of our clients; tomorrow, it could be your neighbor, your friend, your sister, your daughter.
(Click on a photo to enlarge)

inbart — “I try to go on and rebuild my life, but the get is always hovering in the background.” – Inbar, mesurevet get for 3 years

db SHK 7234.9 — “I feel as though I’m screaming as loudly as I can but that no one hears me.” – T, mesurevet get for 2 years

SHK 8632.9 — “I was terrified throughout my marriage, and I continue to live in fear today. Withholding a get is violence.” – O, mesurevet get for 3 years

NirkeidaR04 — “I liken my life to an anchor, moored deep in the earth. There is no growth, only immovable heaviness.” – A, aguna for 2 years

NirkeidaR01 1 — “My reality is heavy, I’m anxious to cast the heaviness off and raise my head.” – T, mesurevet get for 1.5 years

5 %D7%AA%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%94SHK 7116 — “My marriage is like a noose which grows tighter and tighter around my neck.” – M, aguna for 6 years

SHK 7722 — “I can’t breathe. This terrible feeling of being in limbo – not married and not divorced – is closing in on me.” – D, mesurevet get for 10 years

db SHK 6986.9 1 — “All of the achievements and successes I’ve accomplished in life are being buried along with me.” – Y, mesurevet get for 9 years

12967493 1154116004621365 542258201391832683 o — “I look at the world and at myself from the outside; I’m afraid to go in.” – N, mesurevet get for 6 years

12973399 1153473741352258 7683425889394578874 o — “To be an aguna is to know that your life is controlled by somebody else.” – M, agunah for 3 years

12976977 1153453464687619 2685102936607565665 o — “Even the incredible support I’m fortunate to have doesn’t provide me with any relief.” – C, mesurevet get for 3 years, Aguna for one year.

13000310 1153450071354625 4372795750098993833 n — “I escaped from my previous life and hope to find respite in my future one.” – D, aguna for 2 years

12998465 1153462038020095 3913013366014542267 n — “My dream of starting a family grows more and more distant with each passing day.” – R, mesurevet get for 2.5 years

12991023 1153463251353307 5467332437686096087 n — “To be an aguna is to be alone.” – T, aguna for 5.5 years

12977091 1153457888020510 8839398184703694530 o — “My life is like a slingshot in between the sky and the earth. I await judgment.” – B, aguna for 4 years

The photos will be exhibited over Passover in Jerusalem’s First Station complex. We ask that you please share and forward this virtual exhibit to show agunot and mesuravot get that you care, to tell them that they are not as alone as they feel, to help educate society and to support us as we push toward just solutions.

Yad L’isha: the Monica Dennis Goldberg Legal Aid Center and Hotline, a division of Ohr Torah Stone, was founded in 1997 to provide expert legal representation to agunot and mesuravot get in the rabbinical courts. Yad L’isha employs a staff of professional, dedicated Rabbinical Court Advocates and civil attorneys who have won the freedom of over 1,000 women while helping and supporting countless others. Today, Yad L’isha continues to provide hundreds of women per year with legal aid, the services of a staff social worker, a private investigator, and coaching and empowerment services