Contract for a Just Marriage (a draft proposal)
The following document is CWJ's proposal for a comprehensive solution to the problem of Jewish women and divorce based on a proposal made by an esteemed scholar and rabbi. It appoints an agent to deliver a bill of divorce; makes the marriage conditional on living together under one roof; and proclaims that the terms of this contract are the accepted policy of the husband and wife's religious community. We urge all interested parties to lobby for this proposal to be accepted by their religious leaders.
Part One: a conditional betrothal
1.1. The groom [hereinafter also: “husband”] obligates himself to betroth his bride [hereinafter also: “wife”] in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel, subject to the conditions (paragraphs. 1.2 through 1.6, below) and the other obligations set forth in this document. To this end, the groom shall declare to the bride under the bridal canopy that:
"בכפוף לתנאים ולהתחייבויות המצוינים במסמך זה, הרי את מקודשת לי בטבעת זו כדת משה וישראל"
(You are hereby betrothed to me with this ring in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel, subject to the terms and conditions of this document,)
1.2. If the husband shall be absent from the marital home that he shares with his wife, but returns home to live with her for at least 1 day every 15 months until the husband or wife dies, this betrothal and marriage that has been arranged between them shall remain valid and binding.
1.3. Should the husband be absent from the marital home that he shares with his wife for 15 consecutive months, for any reason whatsoever, even by reason of force majeure that he has no control over, this betrothal and marriage that is hereby entered into shall be null and void. It shall be as if the husband and wife never married but instead shared a joint home, and the religious blessings of betrothal shall be deemed null and void.
1.4. The parties agrees that a declaratory judgment of any rabbinic court, or of a civil family court, that the parties have been living a part for 15 consecutive months shall be adequate proof that the parties have in fact been living apart for 15 consecutive months.
1.5. This obligation has been undertaken in accordance with the rules of kinyan before the undersigned important rabbinic tribunal, in accordance with the halakha. The condition set forth above is made in accordance with the halakhic notion of the “double condition” (tenai kaful).
1.6. Sexual intimacy between the undersigned parties shall not void this condition, and the wife shall be trusted as if she were “a hundred witnesses” (ke'meah edim) to testify that the husband never voided this condition.
Part 2: appointing an agent and witnesses for the get
2.1. The groom hereby appoints any person who is a witness today, or at any time in the future, to his signature on this document to act as a scribe, to purchase feather and quill in his name, and in so doing to: write a bill of divorce (a get), one or more, in order to facilitate the release his wife; and to write a bill of divorce in his name, and particularly for him, for the sake of his wife, and particularly for her, in order to affect the divorce and for purposes of divorce.
2.2. The groom hereby appoints any 2 persons who are witness today, or at any time in the future, to his signature on this document to act as a witnesses to the bill of divorce that will be written by the above mentioned scribe. The groom hereby appoints the witnesses to sign in his name, and particularly for him, for the sake of his wife, and particularly for her, in order to affect the divorce and for purposes of divorce.
2.3. The groom hereby appoints any person who is witness today, or at any time in the future, to his signature on this document to act as his agent to deliver a bill of divorce, after it is written and signed, and to be his agent to deliver the bill of divorce to his wife whenever he should so desire. The hand of this agent, shall be like the hand of the husband; and the delivery of the agent, like the delivery of the husband; the agent’s mouth, like the mouth of the husband.
2.4. The groom does hereby give authority to the agent to appoint another agent in his stead. This subsequent agent can appoint another agent in his stead, agent after agent, even up to one-hundred agents, as he should so desire. He may even appoint an agent in the absence of the husband, until the bill of divorce is actually delivered into the hands of the wife.
2.5. As soon as the bill of divorce is delivered into the hands of the wife by the agent, or by the agent’s agent, or by the agent’s agent’s agent, up to 100 agents, the wife shall be released from the husband by the power of the bill of divorce and shall be permitted to marry any man.
2.6. Permission is hereby granted to the rabbi who arranges the bill of divorce to make any changes to the names of husband and wife that he feels is necessary for the purpose of meeting the legal demands of the halakha.
2.7. The husband hereby obligates himself not to cancel—in any manner whatsoever—the bill of divorce whose purpose is to release the wife; and, similarly, to refrain from canceling the agency described above to deliver the bill of divorce to his wife.
2.8. The husband hereby obligates himself to cancel any statement he may have made, or will make in the future, that would in any affect the validity of the bill of divorce meant to release his wife, or of the appointment of the agent described above who is meant to deliver the bill of divorce to his wife.
2.9. Even if the husband and wife continue to live together after this notification of divorce, and even should they have sexual relations one with the other after the husband gives notice to write, sign, and deliver a bill of divorce, these sexual relations will not be considered, expressly or by implication, to nullify the order to write, sign, and deliver a bill of divorce.
2.10. The wife’s’ testimony shall be considered like the testimony of 100 witnesses that the husband did not cancel his declaration: to appoint a scribe to deliver a bill of divorce in his stead; to appoint witnesses to the bill of divorce; or to appoint agents for the deliver of the bill of divorce in his stead to his wife.
Part 3: public proclamation to enable the dissolution of Jewish marriages
3.1. The husband does hereby declare that he knows and agrees that his wife has agreed to marry him only with the understanding that should she request to be divorced from him, he will give her a bill of divorce within 15 months of the parties’ separation and his wife’s request from him that they divorce.
3.2. The husband does hereby declare that he understands that should he refuse to deliver a bill of divorce to his wife for any reason (even force majeure), he does thereby violate this agreement that forms the very basis of the couple’s marriage, and that by doing so he effectively renders upon the marriage the declaration that it is null and void after a period of separation of 15 months from the wife’s request of a bill of divorce. All this is based on the Public Proclamation that determines that a marriage is null and void if the wife wants a divorce and the parties live apart for a period of 15 consecutive months.
3.3. The parties agree that a declaratory judgment of a rabbinic court or of a civil court that the parties are living apart for 15 consecutive months will be adequate proof of the fact that the parties have, in fact, been living apart for a period of 15 consecutive months.
3.4. Husband and wife do hereby declare that the two of them belong to a community in which the rabbinic courts do in fact dissolve marriages upon those circumstances in which the parties agree to the Public Proclamation described in paragraph 3.2, above.
3.5. The parties do hereby declare that should this document not be halakhically binding, the parties shall be not be considered to have married one-another.
3.6. The husband does hereby declare that there is no witness, or any witness that he may present in the future, that can void this document, or any of its conditions.
3.7. The wife does hereby declare that she agrees to the terms that the husband has set forth and that she accepts them in a form kinyan before this "respected rabbinic tribunal" (bet-din hashuv).
Signature of the Groom:
____________________
Signature of the Bride:
____________________
We the undersigned, the rabbinic tribunal for purposes of this document, do hereby testify as to the oral declarations made, and to the signatures of the husband and wife.
Rabbi: ____________________________
Witness 1: _________________ son of ___________________
Witness 2: _________________ son of ___________________
See preface to "Contract for a Just Marriage" for an explantion of the contract, as well as מבוא לשטר לנישואין בצדק ובמשפט (in Hebrew). For Hebrew version of document, go to: שטר לנישואין בצדק ולמשפט
sign our petition (in Hebrew) calling our leaders to support initiatives like this one.
sign our petition (in English) calling our leaders to support initiatives like this one.
see our Contract for a Just and Fair Marriage (abridged version) for a contract that contains both the elements of this proposal--conditional marriage and appointment of agent for the delivery of the get, as well as increased spousal support.
