Bextacy Blog

Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, director of the rabbinical courts, puts the figure at 400. But his definition of an "aguna" – Hebrew for anchored woman – is one who has been waiting at least three years for a divorce.

"It’s not like America where some official says you are divorced," Ben-Dahan said in an interview. "By Jewish law, only the husband can divorce. If the husband says we won’t divorce unless you give me this or that, then there won’t be a divorce."

The religious stricture also affects hundreds of Orthodox Jewish women in the UnitedStates and Canada. Such women are bound by tradition to obtain a religious divorce, or "get," in addition to or instead of a civil divorce, said Rivka Haul of New York, a directorof Aguna, an international group that tracks the issue and helps people in getting over divorce."In a civil court, the spouses begin on a level playing field.

In the rabbinical court, the woman walks in at a disadvantage because she needs the ‘get’ more than her husband needs to give it," said Haut.That is because a Jewish man may live with a woman other than his wife without getting a divorce, while this course is forbidden to a married woman.