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‘Chained' Orthodox Jewish Wives Take To Facebook And Twitter To Rally Support For Religious Divorces

The ‘Chained Wives' Of Orthodox Judaism Are Turning To Social Media To Rally Support For Religious Divorces
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By 

Religion Reporter, HuffPost

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Rivky Stein sat with a panel of rabbis early last month in a beit din, a religious court, waiting for her husband Yoel Weiss to arrive. The pair had been separated for two years, but Yoel had refused to give Rivky a get, a document of Jewish divorce.

“I prayed for my freedom,” said Stein. Yoel never showed up.

A surge of news reports followed, adding to an ongoing saga that had been chronicled by publications ranging from The Daily Mail to Haaretz. A call to action was posted on a website devoted to Stein’s cause. Donations poured in to a crowd-funding website that has raised over $22,000 so far.

The coordinated use of publicists, Facebook, Twitter, donation sites, and rallies is becoming common for women like Rivky Stein who seek religious divorces from their husbands.

Read more on Tablet Mag

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Before You Go

10 Righteous Jewish Women
Beruriah (Second-century Palestine)(01 of10)
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The only woman in the Talmud who is both a teacher and a source of Jewish law. (credit:HebrewBooks.org)
Glückel of Hameln (1645-1724)(02 of10)
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Wrote a memoir of Jewish life in Central Europe covering the second half of the 17th and early 18th Centuries. Her book is an important description of what Jewish life was like at that time. (credit:MediaWiki)
Henrietta Szold (1860-1945)(03 of10)
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Founded Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America and was a founder of Youth Aliyah which located 30,000 children and brought them safely to Palestine. She was a major intellect whose work with Louis Ginsburg on his Legends of the Jews was never acknowledged in her lifetime. She was the first female student at the Jewish Theological Institute, admitted only after she agreed not to seek accreditation for her academic work. (credit:MediaWiki)
Lillian Wald (1867-1940)(04 of10)
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Known as the "Angel of Henry Street" she created the Henry Street Settlement House in New York's Lower East Side. She was a giant in public health and social work. (credit:MediaWiki)
Emma Goldman (1869-1940)(05 of10)
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An anarchist, pacifist and advocate for the rights of workers and of women. (credit:MediaWiki)
Golda Meir (1898-1978)(06 of10)
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Prime Minister of Israel from 1969-1974 (credit:MediaWiki)
Rabbi Regina Jonas (1902-1944)(07 of10)
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The first woman rabbi. Ordained at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin in 1935, she was murdered in Auschwitz in October 1944. Her story was essentially unknown until after the fall of the Berlin Wall when East German Archives became available. (credit:MediaWiki)
Betty Friedan (1921-2006)(08 of10)
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Author of the game changing book "The Feminine Mystique" in 1963 which changed the way or culture looks at women and the way women look at themselves. She was a founder of NOW (National Organization of Women) and the National Women's Political Caucus. Her other important books include The Second Stage and Fountain of Age, Betty was a force of nature and I am grateful to acknowledge her as a personal friend and mentor. I really miss her! (credit:MediaWiki)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933- )(09 of10)
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The first Jewish woman and only the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. (credit:MediaWiki)
Barbra Streisand (1942- )(10 of10)
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Perhaps the most famous Jewish entertainer -- not only the top selling female recording artist, but also an actor and director. I was privileged to be one of her teachers and a consultant on the film "Yentl." The moment in the film when Yentl first puts on a tallit still makes me shiver -- Barbra got it so right! I was both moved and impressed to discover how important Jewish tradition and Jewish learning is to her. And I am in awe of the difference she has made in our world through her support of progressive causes.(Photo: Publicity photo of Barbra Streisand from her first television special "My Name is Barbra.") (credit:MediaWiki)
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