A landmark Gruss/IBD conference: REDEFINING FREEDOM

On behalf of the NYU Gruss Program and International Beit Din you are cordially invited to a landmark one-day conference “REDEFINING FREEDOM” focused on Examining the Agunah Crisis through the Lens of Coercive Control.  A Decade of Transformation, A Future of Justice.  

Justice Daphne Barak-Erez, Supreme Court of Israel, will deliver a Keynote address “Religious Courts, Secular Courts and Gender Equality – Normative Limits, Avoidance and Competition.”

REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Click here to register

*** 

About the conference: Under Jewish law, a husband may refuse to give a divorce to his wife, even in the face of a court decision mandating a dissolution of the marriage. Without his consent, the marriage cannot be dissolved. The woman remains "in chains". To address this problem in a systemic way, a new rabbinical court (the International Beit Din) was established in New York at the initiative of Blu Greenberg and Joseph Weiler and partially under the auspices of the NYU Gruss program. This conference is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this court and assess its past and plot its future. 

Program:

8:15 – 9:00am: Coffee/Light Breakfast (Kosher)

9:00 – 9:15am: Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Esq., Professor J.H.H. Weiler – Welcome and Introduction to Conference

9:15 – 10:00am: Keynote Address “Religious Courts, Secular Courts and Gender Equality – Normative Limits, Avoidance and Competition” – Israeli Supreme Court Justice Daphne Barak-Erez (CLE credit pending)

10:00 – 10:30am: Survivor’s Account:  The Horrific Toll of Coercive Control during the Divorce Process

10:30 – 10:45am: Coffee Break (Kosher)

10:45am – 12:00pm: Breakout Sessions:

Breakout 1 – Mental Health and Domestic Violence Professionals. Anna Cable, LCSW, Dr. Barbara Gochberg, Shaindy Urman

Breakout 2 – Lawyers & Judges (CLE credit pending). Daphne Lazar Price (moderating), Dr. Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, Jane J. Felton, Esq., Esther Macner, Esq.

Breakout 3 – Rabbis/Clergy. Dr. Jennifer Hirsch, moderating. Rabbi Zach Truboff, Rabbanit Leah Sarna

12:00 – 1:00pm: Light Lunch (Kosher)

Expecting More – What Can We Do Better

1:15 – 2:30pm: Agunah Activism

2:30 – 2:45pm: Coffee Break (Kosher)

2:45 – 4:45pm: Batei Din/Halacha (CLE credit pending)

4:45 – 5:00pm: Conclusion/Closing Remarks