Mar 4, 2025
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Navigating Jewish Divorce:
In this episode of The Franciska Show,
Franciska recaps a recent concert and discusses upcoming events.
The main segment features Sarna, sharing insights on Jewish divorce
and the Agunah crisis. Sarna details her upbringing in the Orthodox
community, her work with the homeless in New Haven, and her
academic journey at Yale. She explains the historical context of
the Agunah crisis, the role of Batei Din, and her organization's
innovative approaches to resolving Jewish divorces. They also
discuss coercive control in abusive relationships and the
importance of choosing the right Batei Din for divorce proceedings.
Sarna emphasizes the need for community support for women in
abusive marriages and outlines scenarios where her organization can
intervene to prevent get extortion and facilitate fair
divorces.
00:00 Introduction and Concert
Recap
00:59 Guest Introduction: Sarna's
Background
03:19 Discussing Jewish Divorce and
Agona Crisis
06:36 Ideal Divorce Process and
Challenges
10:09 Choosing the Right Bait Din
16:18 International Perspectives and
Collaboration
18:40 Identifying and Addressing Get
Extortion
22:39 Choosing the Right Beit Din
22:50 Halacha and Gender Dynamics in
Divorce
23:59 Historical Context of the Agunah
Crisis
26:56 Coercive Control in
Marriages
30:56 Financial Implications of
Divorce
32:52 Challenges in Leaving Abusive
Relationships
35:45 Strategies for Securing a
Get
38:03 Supporting Friends in Troubled
Marriages
39:53 Community's Role Post-Get
41:08 Final Thoughts and
Reflections
About Our Guest:
Rabbanit Leah Sarna is the Director of
Public Education and Media for the International Beit Din and the
Spiritual Leader of Kehillat Sha’arei Orah in Lower Merion, PA. An
award-winning Jewish educator, she has taught Torah in Orthodox and
Jewish communal settings around the world, and she particularly
loves empowering women of all ages to feel ownership over the most
complex areas of the Torah library. Her written works can be found
in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Lehrhaus and the Jewish
Review of Books, and she is currently writing a book of Torah and
Halacha relating to pregnancy, birth and the beginning of life.
Leah has extensive advanced higher Jewish education and holds a BA
in Philosophy & Psychology from Yale University.
lsarna@internationalbeitdin.org
Equitable Division of
Assets: https://bethdin.org/equitable-distribution-and-the-enforceability-of-choice-of-law-clauses-in-beit-din/
(they don't name who exactly they are writing this against)
and the attached on how equitable distribution of assets works in
Israel.
IBD Links -
IBD mailing list: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/n12Pgpa
www.JewishCoffeeHouse.com