(Courtesy of ORA) The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA) has selected 21 college students as part of the sixth cohort of its Campus Fellowship. The following students will be trained as part of this prestigious leadership program in which they will learn about agunah advocacy, domestic abuse prevention and the halachic prenuptial agreement:
Leon Levy, Baruch College; Hannah Greenwald, Binghamton University; Ranya Braverman Goldstein, Brandeis University; Adina Falk, Brandeis University; Reena Zuckerman, Brandeis University; Meirit Cohen, Brandeis University; Sara Goldstein, Brandeis University; Adam Aviram, Columbia University; Shabbos Kestenbaum, Queens College; Adira Levine, Queens College; Eliana Wagner, Stern College, YU; Shayna Herszage, Stern College, YU; Emily Knopf, University of Chicago; Tehilla Helfenbaum, University of Toronto; Hadassah Wendl, University of Vienna; Avraham Moshe, Yeshiva Beis Yosef-Novarodok; Yoni Moise, Yeshiva College, YU; William Mehrvarz, Yeshiva College, YU; Jared Scharf, Yeshiva College, YU; Alissa Felder, Rutgers University; and Maia Farina, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot was established in 2002 by a group of students at Yeshiva University who were determined to assist agunot in receiving their gets. Since its inception, ORA has grown into a full-fledged nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate abuse from the Jewish divorce process and to ensure that no Jewish couple gets married without signing a halachic prenuptial agreement in advance of the ceremony. By working within both Jewish and civil law, ORA case advocates assist agunot in receiving their gets in a timely manner. Through agunah case advocacy, educational programs and an early intervention helpline, the ORA team works around the clock to support individuals who await their gets, and protects members of the Jewish community from ever becoming victims of get-refusal.
ORA has resolved 340 get-refusal cases to date, and has fielded thousands of calls from men and women in need of guidance and referrals as they navigate the complexities of the Jewish divorce process. ORA understands that divorce is a challenging and overwhelming process to navigate, and they aid individuals as they seek support during what is often one of the most difficult challenges they have faced. ORA believes strongly that the get should always be given in a timely manner and should never be used as a bargaining chip.
Through the ORA Campus Fellowship, ORA attracts future Jewish leaders who are passionate about ending the agunah crisis in their lifetimes. Fellows learn from experts in the field and study topics such as the connection between domestic abuse and get-refusal, the interplay between civil and halachic systems and how the Halachic Prenup works, as well as how to issue one. Students receive leadership and advocacy training over the course of eight virtual seminars. As part of the fellowship, each student is required to become a notary public in at least one state in order to be able to issue halachic prenups independently, and to run an educational program on their campus. To date, ORA has trained 68 Campus Fellows who have collectively issued nearly 50 halachic prenuptial agreements independently.
Through communal education and advocacy, ORA is committed to ensuring that the agunah crisis becomes something of the past, and Campus Fellows are integral to that mission. ORA is grateful to the Aviv Foundation for its generous support of this program. To learn more about the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, contact (212) 795-0791 or [email protected].
