Israel Non Profit News » Mavoi Satum

Mavoi Satum Recognizes its Volunteers

Pamela Deutsch — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:13:47 +0000

This Rosh Hashana, Mavoi Satum devoted ”Kol Masa” ( a newsletter written for and by ‘Mesoravot Get’) to the unique and special relationship formed between a ‘Mesorevet Get’ and her ‘Melava’ ( volunteer companion) . In the newsletter, you will read what motivated women to volunteer as a ‘Melava’ as well as what ‘Mesoravot Get’ feel about the relationship with their ‘Melava’ and what it means to them.

Loneliness is a very difficult feeling. Even when a woman has a supporting family and friends, a ‘Mesorevet Get’ may still feel lonely and alone. As Mazal, a ‘Mesorevet Get’ for four years, movingly writes in her poem “in the end, the struggle is the woman’s only”.

Notwithstanding this feeling, a Melava, who understands the woman’s situation and supports her throughout the process until she receives a ‘get’, can ease this sense of “I’m fighting alone’.

The Melava program is integral to the service Mavoi Satum provides. Her role is to accompany the ‘Mesorevet Get ‘ to the rabbinical court and to the civil court, as well as to offer a ‘listening ear’ at all times. It is important to note that the relationship is not one-way. As you will read, it is as meaningful a relationship for the ‘Melava’ as it is for the ‘Mesorevet Get’.

Ramit Elon Receives her Get

Pamela Deutsch — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:37:28 +0000

Ramit, a mother of three, a poet and an artist, received a get today in the Haifa Rabbinical Court. This came after a bitter five year struggle in which Ramit insisted she deserved her freedom without having to make concessions or compromises.
Congratulations! We hope and pray for a happy and successful future for Ramit.

Ramit was married in 1993, after she and her future husband became religiously observant. The couple lived in a Charedi neighborhood. Her husband’s violent behavior began soon after their marriage. After 12 years of continuous suffering, Ramit and her daughter were compelled to leave their home , and Ramit filed for divorce. As often happens, despite the fact that Ramit and her husband jointly purchased their apartment , the title to the apartment was in his name. He took advantage of the situation and claimed full ownership of the apartment. To make matters worse, the Beit Din demanded that Ramit should give up the apartment in exchange for a get and pressured her to transfer jurisdiction over the apartment’s ownership from the civil courts to the bet din. Ramit refused.

In all hearings relating to the apartment Ramit was represented, in both the rabbinical and the family court, by Gittit Nachliel, Mavoi Satum’s lawyer. Without giving up on her share of the apartment, the rabbinical court recommended that the husband give Ramit a get, though they did not compel him to do so.

In addition, through The Center for Women’s Justice, Ramit submitted a damages claim for divorce refusal. This move caused the judges in the rabbinical court to decree that until Ramit retracted her damages claim they would not arrange for her to receive a get. Luckily, the civil court ratified that Ramit was entitled to half of the apartment and to compensation from her husband for refusing her divorce. When her husband saw that he was fighting a losing battle and was going to lose on all counts, he agreed to give her a get. With our help, the two sides were able to arrive at a fair divorce agreement. As of today Ramit is a free woman.

Mavoi Satum

Pamela Deutsch — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:00:58 +0000

One out of every seven Jewish women in Israel is at risk of becoming inextricably stuck in an unwanted marriage. Israeli law, which gives absolute authority over marriage and divorce to the religious courts and empowers men as the sole executors of the divorce process, systematically leaves women vulnerable to extortion, manipulation and abuse as they try to exit marriage. Thousands of women, mesoravot get, are living through this nightmare, neither married nor divorced, stuck for years or even decades in a state of limbo, prevented from leaving their unwanted marriages and unable to build new lives for themselves.

Mavoi Satum, a not-for-profit organization established in 1996, takes a unique approach to helping mesoravot get by working simultaneously on the micro and the macro – that is, by helping individual women while advocating for broader reform. In the personal realm, Mavoi Satum offers a range of legal and social support services, including legal counseling, legal aid, social support, empowerment programs, therapy, and more. On the systemic level, Mavoi Satum advocates for reform of the marriage and divorce system in Israel through strategic advocacy, networking, campaigns for public awareness, and most recently, a groundbreaking initiative to create a viable alternative to the Beit Din. Mavoi Satum strives to alleviate the suffering of mesoravot getby helping them achieve freedom, and hopes to build a society in which this terrible problem ceases to exist.

Mavoi Satum Legal Precedent is Having an Impact

Pamela Deutsch — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:00:36 +0000

Ever since Att. Gitit Nachliel’s legal precedent in which the parents of a recalcitrant husband were forced to pay child support as grandparents, Mavoi Satum has been inundated with requests for similar lawsuits. Mavoi Satum, and mesorevet get “L”, have been celebrating a major victory following the ruling of the Jerusalem Family Court (Judge P. Marcus) in which the parents of the recalcitrant husband were forced to pay for child support of their grandchildren. Mavoi Satum Legal Aid Director Att. Gitit Nachliel won this victory based on information that became available about the parents conspiring to hide the whereabouts of their son and facilitate his recalcitrance. “L” has been an agunah for four years, and her husband left the country when she was pregnant with their youngest child.

For more information about this and other Mavoi Satum’s legal precedents, contact Gitit Nachliel.

Center For Women’s Justice

Pamela Deutsch — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:06:20 +0000

The Center for Women’s Justice (CWJ) is dedicated to the advancement of women’s justice, particularly in the area of marriage and divorce. Israeli civil law defers all matter relating to the personal status of its citizens to their respective religious courts. Often the decisions of the religious courts infringe on the personal dignity of the women and men that appear before them. Cases are frequently decided in accordance with the most narrow interpretations of long-standing traditions rather than with the more modern notions of marital partnership.

At CWJ, we believe that the interests of justice should not be compromised. We envision an Israeli society in which both democratic and religious values findfullexpression.Toachievethisvision, we seek to bring about a strategic and structural change in the way that both our civil and religious courts relate to the demands of justice; as well as working toward educating Israeli citizens regarding the need for justice in personal status issues.