Getting Free
Getting Free is a six-episode limited series that shares the firsthand stories of five women whose abusive husbands denied them a Jewish divorce, known as a gett. Under Jewish law, a marriage is not fully dissolved without a religious divorce, and without it, a woman becomes an agunah, or 'chained woman.' The podcast explores how these women struggled to free themselves from marriages that civil courts could not dissolve. It sheds light on the legal and emotional challenges faced by agunot in the Jewish community.
Episodes
They didn’t sign up for this
Meet the five women of Getting Free. They come from different parts of the United States and different cultures, but they have one thing in common- after escaping miserable marriages, they faced one last impossible hurdle: getting their abusers to agree to a Jewish divorce.
It’s time they tell their stories.
From courtship to court
The women fall in love, or they decide to give a nice guy a chance. But red flags start to pop up. There’s abuse. And the women escape. A normal divorce story would end there, but they’re still trapped. They’re agunot- “chained women.” That’s because their husbands refuse to give them a religious divorce, known as a gett.
The women in Getting Free are professionals, mothers, neighbors, and leade
More than a messy divorce
Why does this religious divorce matter to the women? Why don’t they just walk away? They explain, in their own voices. Advocates and legal experts also weigh in on the abuse and violation of Jewish law that fuels the agunah crisis.
In This Episode
What the gett process should look like
Why don’t agunot just leave the marriage without a gett?
The practical consequences of not having a gett
How c
What about the men?
They don’t want their wives back. It’s been years since they lived together. But the husbands won’t grant a religious divorce. Why stay married to someone you despise? What motivates gett refusers? We hear from the men.
In This Episode
Arguments from men who say refusing a gett is ok.
Results from an International Beit Din study looking at how many of our clients experience abuse during their
Yes, the women will be sacrificed
Many family members and rabbis insist that the women make things work, despite violence, verbal, and financial abuse. Not only that, but they support the husband in his gett refusal, expecting or even encouraging extortion. Why are we letting this happen?
In This Episode
Alla’s situation gets worse, and she decides to leave.
Even when women face abuse and violence, people they trust tell them t
Are they free?
Julia, Melissa, Amit, Alla, and Helen continue their stories. How do they get out? We walk through all of the strategies and reveal what works – or doesn’t – for each of them.
In This Episode
An anonymous agunah shares her experience when her husband was shamed publicly.
Amit turns to advocate Adina Sash, aka Flatbush Girl, for help getting her gett.
A beit din in Israel gets creative to convin
How you can help
You’ve heard the women’s stories. Now what? You don’t have to be an expert or a superhero.
Rabbi Barry Dolinger, executive director of the International Beit Din, and Anna Cable, a social worker and trauma expert, offer some concrete advice. Change is possible.
In This Episode
How to offer support to someone in a coercive relationship
What to do when a friend is trying to escape an abusive ma
Recommended
2819 Church
Markus Schulz presents Global DJ Broadcast
Bad Friends
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The Joe Rogan Experience
Beat and Speak by Cisco English
Les Santiago Boys
Speak And Shine English
Speak Local - English Listening and Speaking
Legal Off the Leash
Beyond the Syllabus: Pedagogy and Purpose
Mid-Age Tech
