About a year and a half ago, the Tzohar Rabbinical Association launched a prenuptial agreement known as “haskamahava” (a contraction of the Hebrew words for “love” and “agreement”) in order to prevent the phenomenon of divorce refusals. Jewish law stipulates that a husband must grant his wife a get (divorce document) in order for divorce to be effective. Divorce can thus be stalled if the husband refuses to grant a get or if the wife refuses to receive one. According to data published today by the organization, close to two thousand couples have already signed the prenuptial agreement that recently sparked a conversation in religious Zionist circles, since some rabbis have spoken against signing the agreement. The organization said that the prenuptial agreement is creating a revolution and that it can prevent the phenomenon of divorce refusal. According to the agreement, if one of the spouses decides to divorce, and after all the possibilities for compromise between the spouses have been exhausted, the get must be given. If one of the spouses refuses to grant or receive the get, he or she will have to pay 6,000 shekels more in alimony or half of his or her salary to his or her spouse for each intervening month. As noted, Tzohar's prenuptial agreement has recently aroused resentment among some religious Zionist rabbis who claimed that the agreement is unacceptable, but Tzohar says that the agreement was made in accordance with the strictest halakhic protocols.
