Shaming in Rabbinical Court

In TRADITION’s Winter 2024 issue, we featured an essay by Dr. Aliza Bazak on “Shaming in Rabbinical Court Rulings in Israel: A Modern Commentary on Medieval Rabbinic Sanctions in Divorce Cases.” The article examines the mechanism of shaming as a tool to obligate recalcitrant husbands to grant their wives a divorce and marks the circumstances under which it can be applied. It surveys its origins in Rabbenu Tam’s halakhic sanctions, and explores the varied interpretations, permutations, applications, and implementations of these sanctions. Three representative test cases of shaming in Israeli courts are presented and examined against the backdrop of consultations with dayyanim who employ this mechanism. The article suggests that, as opposed to Jewish communities elsewhere, in Israel shaming is not an effective measure in obligating husbands to grant a divorce. The article questions why this is, and considers how to best adapt this effective halakhic tool to the unique spiritual-cultural climate in Israel.

Aliza Bazak recently appeared as a guest on the “Medabrim Mishpatim” (Talking Law) program at Tel Aviv University, where she serves on the faculty of the law school (in addition to her work as a rabbinical court advocate), to discuss her TRADITION essay in Hebrew.