In early November, a news article called “An Orthodox Woman’s 3-Year Divorce Fight” swept the Facebook pages of Yeshiva College and Stern students. Many of them shared the article from its original source, the New York Post, and got into heated conversations about the article – and the agunah issue in general.Before we explore why it was such a hit among Yeshiva University students and Jews in general, it is important to understand what the article was about.
The article was published on November 4th. It was written from the perspective of the agunah herself, Gital Dodelson of Lakewood, New Jersey. Gital married Avroham Meir Weiss four and a half years ago. She explained in the article that she was not interested in him after going on a few dates, yet she was pressured by Avroham’s family and her own family to consider the shidduch. She said, “In my society you’re expected to listen to them on these matters.” Avroham Meir was described to her as a great Torah scholar from a great family; Rav Moshe Feinstein was his great-grandfather.
Gital recounted in the article that she knew something was wrong their first Shabbat they spent as a married couple. Gital explained how she remembers him saying things like “When I don’t get my way, I don’t know how to function,” and, “You don’t get to make the decisions.” Gital finally decided she had to move back into her parents’ home after a bad fight with him, when their son was one-month old. Avroham filed for divorce in the civil courts, and the couple are legally divorced. Yet she is not halachically divorced, as for the past four and a half years, her husband has refused to give a get. Gital said that his words from the most recent time she spoke to him sums up his motives: “I can’t give you a get — how else would I control you?” So, Gital remains without a get, and is a ‘chained woman,’ unable to date and remarry until Avroham decides she can.
But what was it about this article that allowed it to spread so easily through social media, especially among Yeshiva University students? First, it was written from the perspective of the agunah, who tells her story unashamedly, which is something the Orthodox Jewish community and of course the rest of the world have rarely or even never seen before. It appeals to the emotions of the reader, and evokes sympathy because it is Gital’s own voice explaining her own suffering as an agunah. Yeshiva University Agunah Advocacy Club president Kimberly Hay explained that “Gital’s story is heartbreaking, and demonstrates why get refusal is abusive and unacceptable.” Students who shared the article on Facebook shared this sentiment about the article’s ability to arouse such emotions. Michal Kupchik, a Stern student who is also a board member of the Agunah Advocacy club, stated that “to have an agunah speak out in such a personal, detailed way makes it a surefire must-read.” Not only did this article’s ability to stir up strong feelings about the agunah issue cause it to be popular, but it was the fact that it was written so personally from the agunah herself that made it a good way to raise awareness about the issue. This is something the students who shared the article on Facebook recognized, and wanted their friends and acquaintances to see.
Another reason the article was such a hit for Yeshiva University students is that it was not published on a Jewish news site, but by the renowned New York Post. As Kupchik stated, “Over the past month, the agunah crisis has made its way more than ever into the mainstream media.” It is exciting to the Orthodox Jewish community, including Yeshiva University students, that an agunah’s story has captured wide attention online outside of just the Jewish world. Yet at the same time, many may feel that this kind of publicity could lead to the rest of the world believing that Orthodox Judaism is a sexist religion.
In addition to all of these reasons for the article’s popularity is the fact that Avroham Meir’s father, Yosaif Asher Weiss, was an editor for ArtScroll at the time of this publishing of the article. Orthodox Jews everywhere buy books from this company, and it is controversial and unacceptable to many of them that a man supporting his get-refusing son could be an editor for the company. Yosaif’s support for his son was shown in a public statement made after Gital’s article was published: “Our family is horrified by the vitriol, lies and hate that permeate Gital’s article.” Needless to say, only two days after Gital’s article was published, Yosaif Weiss resigned from Artscroll, but not without saying that it is the fault of the Dodelsons that the get is not being given, and that the situation needs to be resolved. Before his resignation, a petition against ArtScroll to fire Yosef Weiss also spread like wildfire on Facebook.
The fact that so many students chose to share the article and be involved with Gital’s situation online shows how passionate Yeshiva University students are about the agunah problem. The Agunah Advocacy Club vice president Yaelle Lasson stated that “it’s amazing how Agunah advocacy has spread over social media.” Many Yeshiva University students know little about the agunah problem, which is something that the students who shared this article must be aware of if they believed it needed to be shared. The students who shared the article felt a sense of responsibility. Stern student Sima Weissman reflected this notion when she explained that “It was so effortless [for me] to share [on Facebook]. My thought process was… why not [share it]?” Kupchik also explained her reasoning behind the importance of sharing the article, saying, “Hopefully raising our voices online will lead to raising them in real life…for Gital and for the many other agunot, whose stories all deserve to be told and cared about.” Kupchik’s statement about raising voices in person relates to a concern that the Agunah Advocacy board member have all expressed.
Agunah Advocacy Club board members feel that although social networking is a great way to raise awareness for the agunah issue, there is, more primarily, a need for active involvement in both the club and in general. Lasson said that, “I hope that everyone can channel their awareness and passion with further effective involvement with our club and agunah advocacy as a whole. Hay shared a similar sentiment, stating, “I think that there is definitely a value in circulating these articles on Facebook…[but] if you want to tell a get-refuser that his behavior is unacceptable, your voice will be better heard at a rally outside his home than by sharing a link on your Facebook wall that only your friends can see.”
This is not to take away from the great power of social networking’s use in raising awareness of agunah issues; which Hay, Lasson, and all AAC board members understand. Without the sharing of the article; the speaking out against the issue online, the spreading of the petition to fire Yosaif Weiss and now also a public request for people to demand Avroham’s removal from the Yeshiva of Staten Island, progress would not have been made and could not be made. A Facebook page called “Free Gital: Tell Avroham Meir Weiss to Give His Wife a Get” now has over 13,300 likes, and a large amount of that is Yeshiva College and Stern students. But, the Agunah Advocacy Club members are encouraging anybody who is passionate about this issue to be involved in the club and attend rallies. The level of action we have seen taken through social media by Yeshiva University students on the agunah issue is a telling sign, and hopefully this outpouring of support will continue in the future.