Diaspora women whose husbands deny them a get should consider turning to Israel for help, a former Knesset member told Limmud.

Aliza Lavie, who represented the Yesh Latid party as an MK from 2013 to 2019, introduced legislation that enabled agunot from overseas to put their case to Israel’s rabbinic courts.

Under Israeli law, rabbinic courts have the power to order sanctions against recalcitrant husbands.

“Every woman all over the Jewish world can get help,” she said. “So don’t hesitate and we are more than happy to help.”

Since the law came into force three years, more than 100 women have been assisted, she said.

It took “four hard years” to enact the legislation, she said, which followed a request to her by the Chief Rabbi of Moscow.

But she became aware that it was not only in Russia that there was a problem with agunah but more widely in Europe and in South America too.

Whereas some in Israel queried a law that would apply to those who were not citizens of the
state, Dr Lavie felt it was “my duty to help my sisters”.

A lecturer in political science at Bar Ilan University, she has long been an activist with the Orthodox women’s group, Kolech.

A few years ago she published a collection of historic Jewish women’s prayers which was subsequently translated into English.

It was inspired by a visit to a synagogue in Rome where she heard recited a unique prayer for women, which dates back to the 15th century.

Earlier this year, her book for batmitzvah girls came out in Hebrew, which offers ideas on how to mark the rite of passage along with the stories of 71 role models ranging from Dona Gracia, who organised the settlement of Iberian Jewish refugees in the 16th century, to Emma Lazarus, the 19th century poet whose words adorn the Statue of Liberty.

“I found a lot of girls here in Israel [were] celebrating their batmitzvah without meaning,” she said.

Now she is at work on an English adaptation of the book which is due to appear next year.

“The next step is to develop a virtual arena for batmitzvah girls in Hebrew and English,” she said.

For those struggling with questions about their role in Jewish life today, her advice was to go and look in the past. “Knowledge is power,” she said. “We come from a long heritage and our mothers and fathers left us answers.”

Asked whether she might try to return to the Knesset, she answered “maybe” though she no longer belongs to Yesh Latid.