An Israeli film was nominated for this year’s  Golden Globe awards  in the foreign film category. Even more amazing than a nomination of an Israeli film is its topic: Jewish divorce.  Gett: The trial of Viviane Amsalem places this painful topic on the international scene. As far as I am concerned this is astonishing. No longer just a concern within part of the Jewish world, it is now a global topic. I am eager to see it and wait for the aftereffects.  

The film did not win which I am sure is upsetting for Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, the directors and writers. But from my perspective, winning is not the issue. Rather this film has significance because it raises the tragedy of Jewish divorce and places it front and centre in the eyes of the world.  The catastrophe that is the current state of Jewish divorce is shameful. This film should appropriately shame us. 

In 1975 at a Montreal conference for professionals working on divorce, no one would concede to a national problem. The rabbis claimed there was no problem in Judaism. With all the denial, there was no movement toward solutions. In the general Jewish population there was almost total ignorance. Few knew that you even needed a Jewish divorce in addition to a civil one. No one knew the word agunah – a woman unable to get a Jewish divorce because her husband is either missing or recalcitrant. 

I confess that while I was teaching about divorce, I did not know agunot (chained women) personally and did not know enough. These last 40 years I have learned a lot and heard all kinds of stories. Too much!

In the 1980s some of us had a private meeting with the then chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Meir Lau. We were trying to build agreement for a prenuptial agreement. As I explained about the mounting problem of agunot, he told me there was no problem. In his computer, he said, there were only four cases of women without a get. They were greedy women who would not just give their husbands money. It was just esseq, business, he claimed. He saw nothing wrong with establishing a process wherein women must pay their husbands for their legal rights. Nothing was wrong with the extortion that he was witnessing even enabling. Just greedy women messing with a good system! He was not the only rabbi to make this claim.

You can imagine my reaction. 

The reaction was a worldwide campaign on the part of many women and men to publicize the problems and advocate for resolutions.  

Slowly with a growing awareness some solutions were put forward. We in Canada amended the national divorce act. This law can be used to make sure neither partner uses Jewish law to restrain the other or to prevent the civil divorce from taking full effect. Many countries instituted similar laws. There is an increase in the usage of prenuptial agreements. These are not final solutions but involve greater consideration and responsiveness. 

And while this is only a problem both within Orthodoxy and in Israel, the issue must affect all of us. This is not just a problem for the rabbis, though of course they must be directly involved. It applies to all of us, and not just when we are personally involved. When a Jew cries how can we not respond. When a Jewish woman cannot find justice, how can we sit idly by? When Jewish law is systemically untrustworthy, it is incumbent on all of us to repair it.

So what will the film accomplish? Hopefully, it will get people talking. There have been a number of good films recently addressing this problem. They all shine a much-needed light on the women. Films bring necessary attention that might yield reinterpreted laws. Attention is needed. Education is called for. Films on the world stage have incredible potential. Not simply to embarrass but to affect change. That is my goal. Always.