January 5, 2006 -  In pursuit of their mission to preserve the image and the rights of Jewish women, the Iranian Jewish Women's Organization in Los Angeles and the Ima Cultural Association in New York are proud to make the following announcement:

The search for a halakhically acceptable solution to avoid problems experienced by women in obtaining a Jewish divorce, known as a get, and the preservation of the rights of women bound in marriage to a husband with whom they no longer live, known as agunah, has been a concern for world Jewry for centuries. For the past ten years preventive solutions, based upon authoritative rulings of leading rabbis have been implemented both by observant Ashkenazic and Sephardic religious authorities.

On behalf of all Iranian Jewish women, we, Parvaneh Doostan Sarraf and Nahid Pirnazar Oberman, would like to thank the Iranian religious authorities, Rabbi Yedidiah Ezrakhian and Rabbi Eliyahoo Ben Hayeem, from the State of New York as well as Rabbi David Shofet and all the members of the Iranian Jewish Rabbinic Association (Tribunal), based in Los Angeles, for their concern and decision to take such preventive steps.

In October 2005, the Iranian Rabbinic Association (Tribunal) in Los Angeles approved the implementation of a legal pre-marital agreement, separate from a "ketubah." This agreement, which does not contradict the ketubah, states that should a dispute arise between a married couple, they will acknowledge one another's basic rights. The agreement also includes that in said situation, the couple will agree to allow an authorized orthodox religious panel to arbitrate and to issue a final decision regarding the husband’s obligation to give a get.

 The Iranian Jewish Women's Organization and the Ima Cultural Association, hope that the impact of this agreement will be to ensure a peaceful and equitable resolution to avoid the conflicts associated with agunot.  Presently, there are thousands of agunah women whose marriages are suspended or have been legally terminated in civil court, but not "legally" resolved according to Jewish law.  These women are being deprived of their basic human right to move forward with their lives or religiously allowed to remarry. 

 The proper implementation of this agreement will strive to ensure equal rights in marriage for generations to come. Thus it is the duty of the respective families to encourage and the obligation of rabbinic authorities to make the bride and groom aware of the existence of such new agreements. The new agreement, already used throughout the United States, is to ensure all those who get married, according to Jewish law, to enter marriage with good will and respect for each other's basic rights.

 The Iranian religious authorities from both New York and Los Angeles recommend the use of this agreement beginning in the year 2006.  In the future, this date will be considered as a turning point in the history of Iranian Jewish Women. Such legally enforceable and halachically acceptable agreements with regard to get have been revised and improved for the past ten years by religious authorities. The Binding Arbitration Agreement with regard to Jewish Halachic divorce, suggested by the Rabbinic Council of America, with various options, strives to find an acceptable solution to avoid problems experienced by women in obtaining a Jewish divorce (get).

 

        Parvaneh Doostan Sarraf                  Nahid Pirnazar Oberman                    

             Ima Cultural Association              Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization 

In pursuit of their mission to preserve the image and the rights of Jewish women, the Iranian Jewish Women's Organization in Los Angeles and the Ima Cultural Association in New York are proud to make the following announcement:

On behalf of all Iranian Jewish women, we, Parvaneh Doostan Sarraf and Nahid Pirnazar Oberman, would like to thank the Iranian religious authorities, Rabbi Yedidiah Ezrakhian and Rabbi Eliyahoo Ben Hayeem, from the State of New York as well as Rabbi David Shofet and all the members of the Iranian Jewish Rabbinic Association (Tribunal), based in Los Angeles, for their concern and decision to take such preventive steps.

In October 2005, the Iranian Rabbinic Association (Tribunal) in Los Angeles approved the implementation of a legal pre-marital agreement, separate from a "ketubah." This agreement, which does not contradict the ketubah, states that should a dispute arise between a married couple, they will acknowledge one another's basic rights. The agreement also includes that in said situation, the couple will agree to allow an authorized orthodox religious panel to arbitrate and to issue a final decision regarding the husband’s obligation to give a get.

The proper implementation of this agreement will strive to ensure equal rights in marriage for generations to come. Thus it is the duty of the respective families to encourage and the obligation of rabbinic authorities to make the bride and groom aware of the existence of such new agreements. The new agreement, already used throughout the United States, is to ensure all those who get married, according to Jewish law, to enter marriage with good will and respect for each other's basic rights.

The Iranian religious authorities from both New York and Los Angeles recommend the use of this agreement beginning in the year 2006. In the future, this date will be considered as a turning point in the history of Iranian Jewish Women. Such legally enforceable and halachically acceptable agreements with regard to get have been revised and improved for the past ten years by religious authorities. The Binding Arbitration Agreement with regard to Jewish Halachic divorce, suggested by the Rabbinic Council of America, with various options, strives to find an acceptable solution to avoid problems experienced by women in obtaining a Jewish divorce (get).