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Aguna: Evliliğine Zincirlenmiş Kadın

Year 2024, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 26 - 51, 30.04.2024

Abstract

Yahudilikte evlilik ve aile kurma kutsanmakta ve dini bir emir kabul edilmektedir. Boşanma ise Tanrı’nın şahit olduğu bir ahdin sonlandırılması anlamına geldiğinden kötü bir eylem olarak tasvir edilmekte ve kınanmaktadır. Ancak, toplumun bir gerçeği olarak da kabul edilmektedir. Nitekim, Yahudi kutsal metinlerinde boşanma bir olgu olarak tanınmakta ve gerekli hallerde çiftlerin boşanmasına müsaade edilmektedir. Tarafların anlaşarak boşandığı durumlarda herhangi bir taraf mağduriyet yaşamamaktadır. Ancak, erkeğin boşanma kâğıdı olan get belgesini kadına vermediği veya vermesinin mümkün olmadığı durumlarda kadınlar rızaları dışında evliliklerine mahkûm edilmektedir. Bu durumdaki kadınlara İbranice “zincirlenmiş, bağlanmış” anlamında aguna (çoğ. agunot) denilmektedir. Geleneksel Yahudi hukukunda boşanmanın yalnızca erkeğin kadına hür iradesiyle teslim edeceği get belgesiyle mümkün olması ve dinî mahkemelerin boşanmayla ilgili yaptırımlarının “erkeğin hür iradesi” prensibi gereği sınırlı olması aguna sorununun temelini oluşturmaktadır. Bu araştırmada Yahudilikte boşanma ritüeli ve boşanmada get belgesinin önemi ele alındıktan sonra Yahudi kadınların geçmişten günümüze sirayet eden sorunlarından biri olan aguna durumu tanımlanmış ve nedenleri üzerinde durulmuştur. Ayrıca, günümüzde İsrail’de aguna durumunda olan kadınların yaşadıkları sorunları gidermeye yönelik ortaya konulan birtakım düzenlemeler ve çözüm önerileri hakkında bilgi verilmiştir. Bunun yanında, günümüz Yahudi mezhepleri arasında ihtilaf konusu olan, kalıcı ve kesin bir hüküm niteliği taşımayan söz konusu önerilere getirilen eleştiriler de ele alınmıştır.

References

  • Abramov, S. Zalman. Perpetual Dilemma: Jewish Religion in the Jewish State. New Jersey: Associated University Press, 1979.
  • Arslantaş, Nuh. İslam Toplumunda Yahudiler: Abbâsî ve Fâtımî Dönemi Yahudilerinde Hukukî, Dinî ve Sosyal Hayat. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2. Basım, 2011.
  • Babylonian Talmud. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://halakhah.com/
  • Bayar, Steven. “Annulment of Marriages”. My Jewish Learning. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/annulment-of-marriages/
  • Berkovits, Rahel. “Torat Hayyim: The Status of Women in the Thought of Eliezer Berkovits”. Shofar 31/4 (2013), 4-15.
  • Breger, Sarah Gavriella. Sentenced to Marriage: Chained Women in Wartime. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University, Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellow, Final Project Paper, 2007. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=86a6e338d5383933ae40a121853aae391fd2b0e0
  • Breitowitz, Irving. “The Plight of the Agunah: a Study in Halacha, Contract, and the First Amendment”. Maryland Law Review 51/2 (1992), 313-421.
  • Chabin, Michele. “Doomed At Birth”. The New York Jewish Week. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jta.org/2018/02/12/ny/doomed-at-birth
  • Chernofsky, Erica. “Çökmüş Evliliklere Tutsak Yahudi Kadınlar”. BBC Türkçe. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2014/03/140313_zincirlenmis_kadinlar.amp
  • Daiches. Samuel. “Divorce in Jewish Law”. Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 8/4 (1926), 215-224.
  • Drucker, Malka. Celebrating Life: Jewish Rites of Passage. New York: Holiday House, 1984. Elon, Menachem. “Agunah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 1/513-520. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • Greenwood, Chanan. “After Years of Battle: 74-Year-Old Woman Wins Writ of Divorce”. Ohr Torah Stone. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://ots.org.il/after-years-of-battle-74-year-old-woman-wins-writ-of-divorce/#more-28325
  • Gürkan, Salime Leyla. Yahudilik. İstanbul: İsam Yayınları, 5. Basım, 2015.
  • İçten, Erdinç. Yahudilikte Ketuba. Bursa: Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Doktora Tezi, 2020.
  • Jacobs, Louis. “Halakhah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 8/251-258. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Agunah”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/agunah
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Issues in Jewish Ethics: Divorce”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/divorce-in-judaism
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Issues in Jewish Ethics: Adultery”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adultery-2
  • Kutsal Kitap: Eski ve Yeni Antlaşma (Tevrat, Zebur, İncil). Kore: Yeni Yaşam Yayınları, 2016.
  • Kurt, Ali Osman. “Yahudilikte Levirat Evlilik: Geleneğin Tutsak Ettiği Kadınlar / Levirate Marriages in Judaism: The Women were Held Captive by Custom”. Turkish Studies: International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic 11/17 (2016), 245-266.
  • Levmore, Rachel. “The 'aguna' - a statistic or a real problem?”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/The-aguna-a-statistic-or-a-real-problem
  • Levy, Yael V.. “The Agunah and the Missing Husband: An American Solution to a Jewish Problem”. Journal of Law and Religion 10/1 (1993-1994), 49-71.
  • Light, Caroline. “"A Predominant Cause of Distress": Gender, Benevolence, and the "Agunah" in Regional Perspective”. American Jewish History 97/2 (2013), 159-182.
  • Maslin, Simeon J.. “Yes, There Is a Reform Divorce Document But Don't Call It a ‘Get’"” (Görüşmeci: Aron Hirt-Manheimer, Yazılı Mülakat). https://reformjudaism.org/yes-there-reform-divorce-document
  • MJL, My Jewish Learning. “Liturgy, Ritual and Custom of Divorce”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/liturgy-ritual-custom-of-divorce/
  • Newman, Marissa. “In Rare Move, Private Rabbinical Court Sets ‘Chained’ Woman Free After 23 Years”. The Times of Israel. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rare-move-private-rabbinical-court-sets-chained-woman-free-after-23-years/
  • Novak, David. “May a Jewish Marriage be Annulled?”. The Union for Traditional Judaism. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://utj.org/viewpoints/responsa/may-a-jewish-marriage-be-annulled/
  • Omer, Pnina. “Helping Break The Chains of Agunot Whose Husbands Refuse Divorce – Opinion”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/helping-break-the-chains-of-agunot-whose-husbands-refuse-divorce-opinion-653917
  • OTS, Ohr Torah Stone. “Portrait of an Aguna”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://ots.org.il/portrait-of-an-aguna/
  • Roitman, Jessica Vance. “Feckless Fathers, Fraught Families: Abandonment and Cultural Change in the Early Modern Jewish World”. Religious Changes and Cultural Transformations in the Early Modern Western Sephardic Communities. Ed. Yosef Kaplan. 541-564. Leiden: Brill, 2019.
  • Salihoğlu, Mahmut. “Yahudi Hukukunda Mamzer”. Ekev Akademi Dergisi 15/47 (2011), 269-275.
  • Salihoğlu, Mahmut – Bedir, Şefaat. “Mordecai Kaplan’ın Yahudi Dinî Hayatında Yaptığı Yenilikler”. Oksident 1/2 (2019), 171-192.
  • Schereschewsky, Ben-Zion (Benno). “Agunah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 1/510-513. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • Sedley, David. “In Rare Move, Rabbinical Court Annuls Marriage of Woman Refused Divorce”. The Times of Israel. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rare-move-rabbinical-court-annuls-marriage-of-woman-refused-divorce/
  • Sharon, Jeremy. “Rabbinical Court Statistics on ‘Agunot’ Being Disputed”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rabbinical-court-statistics-on-agunot-being-disputed-481557
  • Shulkhan Arukh. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Halakhah/Shulchan%20Arukh
  • Sperber, Haim. “Agunot. 1851-1914. An Introduction”. Annales De Démographie Historique 2/136 (2018), 107-135.
  • Sperber, Haim. “Agunot, Immigration, and Modernization, from 1857 to 1896”. Mishpachah: The Jewish Family in Tradition and in Transition. ed. Leonard J. Greenspoon. 79-109. Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2016.
  • Starr, Keshet. “Scars of the Soul: Get Refusal and Spiritual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities”. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues 31 (2017), 37-60.
  • Ünal, Asife. “Yahudilikte Evlilik Anlayışı ve Evlenme Törenleri”. Bütün Yönleriyle Yahudilik. 673-693. Ankara: Dinler Tarihi Araştırmaları VIII, 2012.
  • Vainstein, Yaacov. The Cycle of Jewish Life. Kudüs: WZO, 1990.
  • Vana, Liliana. Yahudilik’de Kadın: Epitropos’luk-Kadın Dua Grupları-Evlenme. çev. Mehmet Aydın. Konya: NKM Yayıncılık, 2013.
  • Weiss, Susan. “Divorce: The Halakhic Perspective”. Jewish Women’s Archive. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/divorce-halakhic-perspective#pid-16939
  • Weiss, Susan. “Prenups Meant to Solve the Problem of the Agunah: Toward Compensation, Not ‘Mediation’”. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues 31 (2017), 61-90.
  • Weiss, Susan. “Susan Weiss Advocates for ‘Chained’ Women in Israel” (Görüşmeci: Uriel Heilman, Yazılı Mülakat, Görüşme Kasım 2019). https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2019/11/15/susan-weiss-advocates-chained-women-israel/
  • Westreich, Avishalom. “The ‘Gatekeepers’ of Jewish Family Law: Marriage Annulment As A Test Case”. Journal of Law and Religion 27/2 (2011-2012), 329-357.

The Agunah: Chained Woman in Marriage

Year 2024, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 26 - 51, 30.04.2024

Abstract

In Judaism, marriage and forming a family are blessed and considered a religious commandment. Divorce, on the other hand, is depicted as a negative action as it signifies the termination of a covenant witnessed by God and is condemned. However, it is also acknowledged as a reality within society. Indeed, divorce is recognized as a phenomenon in Jewish sacred texts, and couples are allowed to divorce under necessary circumstances. In cases where both parties mutually agree to divorce, neither party experiences any hardship. However, in situations where the man fails to give the woman the divorce document, known as a get, or is unable to provide it, women are condemned to marriages against their will. Women in this situation are referred to as agunot (s. aguna) in Hebrew, meaning "chained" or "bound." In traditional Jewish law, divorce is only possible through the delivery of the get document by the man to the woman of his own free will, and the sanctions imposed by religious courts regarding divorce are limited due to the principle of "the man's free will." This forms the basis of the aguna problem. After discussing the importance of the divorce ritual and the significance of the get document in divorce in Judaism, this research defines the aguna situation, an ongoing issue for Jewish women from the past to the present and explores its causes. Additionally, information is provided about various regulations and solution proposals aimed at alleviating the problems faced by women in aguna situations in Israel today. Furthermore, criticisms of these proposals, which are subject to debate among contemporary Jewish denominations and do not constitute a permanent and definitive ruling, are also addressed

References

  • Abramov, S. Zalman. Perpetual Dilemma: Jewish Religion in the Jewish State. New Jersey: Associated University Press, 1979.
  • Arslantaş, Nuh. İslam Toplumunda Yahudiler: Abbâsî ve Fâtımî Dönemi Yahudilerinde Hukukî, Dinî ve Sosyal Hayat. İstanbul: İz Yayıncılık, 2. Basım, 2011.
  • Babylonian Talmud. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://halakhah.com/
  • Bayar, Steven. “Annulment of Marriages”. My Jewish Learning. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/annulment-of-marriages/
  • Berkovits, Rahel. “Torat Hayyim: The Status of Women in the Thought of Eliezer Berkovits”. Shofar 31/4 (2013), 4-15.
  • Breger, Sarah Gavriella. Sentenced to Marriage: Chained Women in Wartime. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University, Undergraduate Humanities Forum Mellon Research Fellow, Final Project Paper, 2007. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=86a6e338d5383933ae40a121853aae391fd2b0e0
  • Breitowitz, Irving. “The Plight of the Agunah: a Study in Halacha, Contract, and the First Amendment”. Maryland Law Review 51/2 (1992), 313-421.
  • Chabin, Michele. “Doomed At Birth”. The New York Jewish Week. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jta.org/2018/02/12/ny/doomed-at-birth
  • Chernofsky, Erica. “Çökmüş Evliliklere Tutsak Yahudi Kadınlar”. BBC Türkçe. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler/2014/03/140313_zincirlenmis_kadinlar.amp
  • Daiches. Samuel. “Divorce in Jewish Law”. Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law 8/4 (1926), 215-224.
  • Drucker, Malka. Celebrating Life: Jewish Rites of Passage. New York: Holiday House, 1984. Elon, Menachem. “Agunah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 1/513-520. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • Greenwood, Chanan. “After Years of Battle: 74-Year-Old Woman Wins Writ of Divorce”. Ohr Torah Stone. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://ots.org.il/after-years-of-battle-74-year-old-woman-wins-writ-of-divorce/#more-28325
  • Gürkan, Salime Leyla. Yahudilik. İstanbul: İsam Yayınları, 5. Basım, 2015.
  • İçten, Erdinç. Yahudilikte Ketuba. Bursa: Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Doktora Tezi, 2020.
  • Jacobs, Louis. “Halakhah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 8/251-258. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Agunah”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/agunah
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Issues in Jewish Ethics: Divorce”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/divorce-in-judaism
  • JVL, Jewish Virtual Library. “Issues in Jewish Ethics: Adultery”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adultery-2
  • Kutsal Kitap: Eski ve Yeni Antlaşma (Tevrat, Zebur, İncil). Kore: Yeni Yaşam Yayınları, 2016.
  • Kurt, Ali Osman. “Yahudilikte Levirat Evlilik: Geleneğin Tutsak Ettiği Kadınlar / Levirate Marriages in Judaism: The Women were Held Captive by Custom”. Turkish Studies: International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic 11/17 (2016), 245-266.
  • Levmore, Rachel. “The 'aguna' - a statistic or a real problem?”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/The-aguna-a-statistic-or-a-real-problem
  • Levy, Yael V.. “The Agunah and the Missing Husband: An American Solution to a Jewish Problem”. Journal of Law and Religion 10/1 (1993-1994), 49-71.
  • Light, Caroline. “"A Predominant Cause of Distress": Gender, Benevolence, and the "Agunah" in Regional Perspective”. American Jewish History 97/2 (2013), 159-182.
  • Maslin, Simeon J.. “Yes, There Is a Reform Divorce Document But Don't Call It a ‘Get’"” (Görüşmeci: Aron Hirt-Manheimer, Yazılı Mülakat). https://reformjudaism.org/yes-there-reform-divorce-document
  • MJL, My Jewish Learning. “Liturgy, Ritual and Custom of Divorce”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/liturgy-ritual-custom-of-divorce/
  • Newman, Marissa. “In Rare Move, Private Rabbinical Court Sets ‘Chained’ Woman Free After 23 Years”. The Times of Israel. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rare-move-private-rabbinical-court-sets-chained-woman-free-after-23-years/
  • Novak, David. “May a Jewish Marriage be Annulled?”. The Union for Traditional Judaism. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://utj.org/viewpoints/responsa/may-a-jewish-marriage-be-annulled/
  • Omer, Pnina. “Helping Break The Chains of Agunot Whose Husbands Refuse Divorce – Opinion”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/helping-break-the-chains-of-agunot-whose-husbands-refuse-divorce-opinion-653917
  • OTS, Ohr Torah Stone. “Portrait of an Aguna”. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://ots.org.il/portrait-of-an-aguna/
  • Roitman, Jessica Vance. “Feckless Fathers, Fraught Families: Abandonment and Cultural Change in the Early Modern Jewish World”. Religious Changes and Cultural Transformations in the Early Modern Western Sephardic Communities. Ed. Yosef Kaplan. 541-564. Leiden: Brill, 2019.
  • Salihoğlu, Mahmut. “Yahudi Hukukunda Mamzer”. Ekev Akademi Dergisi 15/47 (2011), 269-275.
  • Salihoğlu, Mahmut – Bedir, Şefaat. “Mordecai Kaplan’ın Yahudi Dinî Hayatında Yaptığı Yenilikler”. Oksident 1/2 (2019), 171-192.
  • Schereschewsky, Ben-Zion (Benno). “Agunah”. Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Fred Skolnik. 1/510-513. Michigan: Thomson Gale, 2. Basım, 2007.
  • Sedley, David. “In Rare Move, Rabbinical Court Annuls Marriage of Woman Refused Divorce”. The Times of Israel. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-rare-move-rabbinical-court-annuls-marriage-of-woman-refused-divorce/
  • Sharon, Jeremy. “Rabbinical Court Statistics on ‘Agunot’ Being Disputed”. The Jerusalem Post. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rabbinical-court-statistics-on-agunot-being-disputed-481557
  • Shulkhan Arukh. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Halakhah/Shulchan%20Arukh
  • Sperber, Haim. “Agunot. 1851-1914. An Introduction”. Annales De Démographie Historique 2/136 (2018), 107-135.
  • Sperber, Haim. “Agunot, Immigration, and Modernization, from 1857 to 1896”. Mishpachah: The Jewish Family in Tradition and in Transition. ed. Leonard J. Greenspoon. 79-109. Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2016.
  • Starr, Keshet. “Scars of the Soul: Get Refusal and Spiritual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities”. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues 31 (2017), 37-60.
  • Ünal, Asife. “Yahudilikte Evlilik Anlayışı ve Evlenme Törenleri”. Bütün Yönleriyle Yahudilik. 673-693. Ankara: Dinler Tarihi Araştırmaları VIII, 2012.
  • Vainstein, Yaacov. The Cycle of Jewish Life. Kudüs: WZO, 1990.
  • Vana, Liliana. Yahudilik’de Kadın: Epitropos’luk-Kadın Dua Grupları-Evlenme. çev. Mehmet Aydın. Konya: NKM Yayıncılık, 2013.
  • Weiss, Susan. “Divorce: The Halakhic Perspective”. Jewish Women’s Archive. Erişim 20 Şubat 2024. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/divorce-halakhic-perspective#pid-16939
  • Weiss, Susan. “Prenups Meant to Solve the Problem of the Agunah: Toward Compensation, Not ‘Mediation’”. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues 31 (2017), 61-90.
  • Weiss, Susan. “Susan Weiss Advocates for ‘Chained’ Women in Israel” (Görüşmeci: Uriel Heilman, Yazılı Mülakat, Görüşme Kasım 2019). https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2019/11/15/susan-weiss-advocates-chained-women-israel/
  • Westreich, Avishalom. “The ‘Gatekeepers’ of Jewish Family Law: Marriage Annulment As A Test Case”. Journal of Law and Religion 27/2 (2011-2012), 329-357.
There are 46 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Jewish Studies
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Hazan Aydın 0000-0002-7328-0571

Early Pub Date April 28, 2024
Publication Date April 30, 2024
Submission Date February 23, 2024
Acceptance Date April 3, 2024
Published in Issue Year 2024 Volume: 1 Issue: 1

Cite

ISNAD Aydın, Hazan. “Aguna: Evliliğine Zincirlenmiş Kadın”. Dinler Tarihi 1/1 (April 2024), 26-51.

Journal of the History of Religions is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.