Rivka Haut – författare

The anguish endured by agunot (chained) Orthodox Jewish women trapped in unhappy or defunct marriages by husbands who refuse to give them a gett (divorce) reveals the power of religious law even when it conflicts with modern societies' moral and legal norms. These women may be civilly divorced but must petition rabbinic courts in their quest to obtain a gett. In these courts women are subject to financial demands, pressured to drop charges of domestic violence and pedophilia against their husbands and to concede custody and visitation rights to unfit fathers.This book takes the reader inside the rabbinic courts, into civil divorce courts and legislatures that contend with this problem and into the lives of victimized women and children. Well-versed in Jewish divorce law, the authors have counseled thousands of agunot and challenged the Orthodox rabbinate's inaction in response to the injustices faced by these women.

Daughters of the King explains women's involvement in and around the synagogue from its antecedents in the biblical period to contemporary times. The role of women in the synagogue is a most timely but potentially divisive issue. Grossman and Haut have demonstrated the historical diversity of women's roles in Judaism, to record first-person accounts of the innovative practices now being introduced for and by women throughout the Jewish community, and to consider how these new realities will help to shape the religious life of Jewish women in the future. The contributors represent an interdisciplinary approach to the subject, drawing from history, anthropology, sociology, medieval studies, women's studies, Jewish law, the Bible, the Talmud, and rabbinic thought. The book will be of interest to lay reader and scholar alike, to Jews and Christians, feminists, synagogue leaders, and clergy.

An Inspiration to All Who Struggle for Religious and Gender Equality

“Our souls yearn to pray, in peace, in the sacred place, to read from our holy Torah, together with other Jewish women.”—from the

In Israel today, the historic Western Wall, known as the Kotel, a holy site for Jewish people, is under the religious authority of the Orthodox rabbinate. Women have only limited rights to practice Jewish ritual in its precincts.

This passionate book documents the legendary grassroots and legal struggle of a determined group of Jewish women from Israel, the United States, and other parts of the world—known as the Women of the Wall—to win the right to pray out loud together as a group, according to Jewish law; wear ritual objects; and read from Torah scrolls at the Western Wall.

Eyewitness accounts of physical violence and intimidation, inspiring personal stories, and interpretations of legal and classical Jewish (halakhic) texts bring to life the historic and ongoing struggle that the Women of the Wall face in their everyday fight for religious and gender equality.