A dynamic workshop presented by CWJ director Dr. Susan Weiss opened the eyes and minds of 35 family law students at Bar Ilan University to CWJ’s pioneering litigation approach to combating get refusal.  Carried out in partnership with the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Program for Legal Aid for Women, the session, on March 3, 2014, was part of CWJ’s Legal Education initiative.

Most CWJ legal education seminars are dedicated to familiarizing and equipping practicing attorneys with knowledge about how to apply CWJ’s tort-for-get-refusal tactic and other practical new legal tools for helping women facing get abuse achieve more favorable outcomes. However, in workshops for students who are just forming their personal and professional identities, CWJ takes a bolder approach.  Our hope for a changed society lies in the ability of these emerging young leaders to inspire and influence their generation to rethink old axioms and imagine new alternatives.  Thus, CWJ plants seeds of knowledge and awareness that can grow into a transformed judicial system which ensures freedom and equality for all Jewish women in Israel.

At the Bar Ilan session, Susan Weiss challenged law students to take a hard look at the complex dilemmas that stem from the entanglement of the religious and civil court systems in Israel.  She urged the lawyers-in-training to weigh the democratic concept of individual rights against the right of the religious courts to coerce some religious activities. “Does the State have a right to demand specific religious behaviors of its citizens?” she asked. “Should it be able to force women to cover their hair? Should it be able to force women to marry and divorce in a particular way?”

In a departure from the frontal teaching of most law school classes, Weiss presented real-life cases for discussion, exhorting the students to think outside their textbooks and offer creative solutions.  The lively discussion that ensued demonstrated that the session opened a window of understanding into the complex issues of the current reality, and pointed the way to a new direction of thought and action.