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)
“I try to go on and rebuild my life, but the get is always hovering in the background.” – Inbar, mesurevet get for 3 years
“I feel as though I’m screaming as loudly as I can but that no one hears me.” – T, mesurevet get for 2 years
“My soul is raging, beautiful and curious, but it is also locked up and blocked. The future does not look good.” – A, mesurevet get for 7 years
“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
“He locked me in and took the keys with him.” – C, mesurevet get for 6 years
“I liken my life to an anchor, moored deep in the earth. There is no growth, only immovable heaviness.” – A, aguna for 2 years
“My reality is heavy, I’m anxious to cast the heaviness off and raise my head.” – T, mesurevet get for 1.5 years
“My marriage is like a noose which grows tighter and tighter around my neck.” – M, aguna for 6 years
“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
“All of the achievements and successes I’ve accomplished in life are being buried along with me.” – Y, mesurevet get for 9 years
“A bride who enters a marriage in handcuffs will never know happiness.” – N, mesurevet get for 5 years
“Each day that I don’t receive my get is another day that’s been stolen from me.” – A, mesurevet get for 4 years
“I am unable to concentrate on anything other than receiving my get.” – O, aguna for 7 years
“As a woman being denied a divorce I understood: I do not have control over my own life.” – M, mesurevet get for 4 years
“I look at the world and at myself from the outside; I’m afraid to go in.” – N, mesurevet get for 6 years
“To be an aguna is to know that your life is controlled by somebody else.” – M, agunah for 3 years
“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.
“I escaped from my previous life and hope to find respite in my future one.” – D, aguna for 2 years
“My dream of starting a family grows more and more distant with each passing day.” – R, mesurevet get for 2.5 years
“To be an aguna is to be alone.” – T, aguna for 5.5 years
“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
