Yeah, this is lame, why isn’t it good enough that they have thier state’s divorce decree and have done with it? This is just punishment and hassle for women and men get off free. That is shitty.
Still: the biggest group, per that same survey.
friedo:
Because you can’t “admit” something that isn’t true.
MOD NOTE:
Let’s keep it civil, folks. This…
…is not appropriate in MPSIMS. If you want to bash each other’s religious beliefs or lack thereof, we have a Pit for that.
Gender equality is not something that one comes up with in one’s own mind. It is obvious. A god who says that women do not get the same rights as men do when they marry (as Orthodox Judaism does) is not a god worthy of respect. That kind of philosophy is a threat to the wellbeing of myself and my beloved daughters.
Saying that we don’t know why but we just do something because is not much of a convincing argument unless you are speaking to five year olds. It is part of the reason why I found the five years I spent attending an Orthodox yeshiva so vastly unpleasant.
Heck, I knew that from watching Barbra Streisand & Amy Irving in YENTL.
The “get” issue isn’t the best example of gender inequality in Orthodox Judaism.
It is my understanding that the “get” issue raises its head because, while in theory a man’s permission is necessary, in reality the assumption is that where an divorce is otherwise legal that permission is not supposed to ever be withheld; in practice, if both parties do what they are supposed to do, the “get” is a mere formality. That’s why there are often serious - for the man - consequences where Orthodox men refuse to provide it (such as being ostracized by the community). Such refusal is seen as spiteful.
That isn’t to say that Orthodox Judaism isn’t unequal, or that a “get” isn’t a relic of an inherently patriachal religious culture - only that, in practice, the inequality only shows itself where the process is used improperly.
So, theoretically since any woman can divorce the man by more or less telling he and the community, and HE is the only one that can sign the get, and make the divorce legal - how is this equality? She can not legally marry in a religious ceremony, nor bear any other man a child that is legitimate without the get, so she is being fucked over, and not in bed. So her only option is to stay married to the man, and never be able to marry someone she does want to boink. And while married, the man is entitled to a certain amount of sex. So how is this not forcing the woman to stay married? Historically her options tended to be married or prostitute.
If the divorce is otherwise proper, he’s supposed to sign the get. Not doing so is a pretty serious offence within the Orthodox Jewish community - so much so, that it can result in ostracism, or worse.
Under those circumstances, I’d be willing to bet the woman would not be required to perform any duties - as the man was not performing his (namely, signing the get).
The situation does screw the woman over, because without a get, she can’t remarry with the faith (and neither for that matter can he - but presumably he doesn’t care).