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What's so special about a Jewish prenup?

More and more ultra-Orthodox couples are signing prenuptial agreements, financially protecting women in case their husbands refuse to divorce them.
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The religious community in Israel these days is in an uproar over certain “prenuptial agreements” initiated by the Rabbinical Council of America and adopted by the moderate Israeli rabbinic group Tzohar. The issue involves an agreement signed by the couple before their marriage, in which the man obligates himself to pay a high alimony ($50-$150 per day) to his wife if she wants a divorce and he refuses to give her a get (a Jewish bill of divorce).

While various women’s groups have expressed enthusiastic support for the initiative and various rabbis allow it, many authorities in Jewish law — particularly among the Orthodox — fervently oppose the proposal. The reason for this is the concern that in Jewish law, or halacha, this could be considered a “forced get.” Jewish law does not accept the divorce of a man who is forced to give his wife a get, and the couple is considered still married. Supporters of the prenuptial initiative believe that financial pressure is not considered “force.”

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