Center for Women's Justice

The Center for Women's Justice (CWJ) is an Israeli public-interest law firm founded in Jerusalem in 2004 by attorney Susan Weiss. Its work focuses on the relationship between women's rights, Israeli civil law, and Jewish religious law, particularly where religious courts and family-law procedures affect women's ability to obtain equality, personal autonomy, and effective access to justice. The organization is best known for challenging the legal and institutional treatment of agunot—women whose husbands refuse to grant them a Jewish divorce, or get—and for arguing that get refusal should be treated as a civil wrong rather than as an exercise of religious authority immune from ordinary legal accountability. CWJ developed a litigation strategy based on bringing civil tort claims against recalcitrant husbands and, in some cases, challenging the conduct or institutional responsibility of state and religious authorities. Its stated objective has been to establish a dependable body of Israeli civil-law precedent under which prolonged refusal to grant a get can lead to financial damages. This approach seeks to alter incentives in divorce disputes while also changing the wider legal understanding of coercion, abuse, and responsibility within the religious family-law system. The organization has also participated in constitutional and administrative disputes involving the authority of rabbinical courts. In 2007, it brought a high-value claim on behalf of a woman who had reportedly been denied a divorce for 18 years. The case alleged that the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Rabbinical Court had acted negligently by enabling the husband to demand concessions in exchange for the divorce. In 2010, CWJ joined other organizations in challenging an Israeli legal restriction that prevented women from applying for the position of director-general of the rabbinical courts. Another important area of work has involved the status of converts and the limits of rabbinical-court power. CWJ represented a woman whose conversion to Judaism was questioned during divorce proceedings. The rabbinical court subsequently revoked the conversion, affecting both the woman and her children and raising broader concerns about the status of conversions performed under the authority of Rabbi Haim Druckman's conversion system. CWJ and allied organizations challenged the decision and helped bring the dispute before Israel's High Court of Justice, where the relationship between secular judicial review and religious-court jurisdiction became a central issue. Beyond courtroom litigation, CWJ provides professional training for lawyers, conducts legal advocacy, and produces public education about harmful or discriminatory rabbinic practices. Its educational work has included online video material, a community blog, and commentary on religion, state, and gender. The organization has been associated with the International Coalition for Agunah Rights and has received support from philanthropic bodies including the New Israel Fund, the Hadassah Foundation, and the National Council of Jewish Women. CWJ's public-interest model combines individual representation, precedent-setting litigation, institutional critique, and public communication rather than commercial legal services.

The Center for Women's Justice was established in Jerusalem in 2004 by attorney Susan Weiss as a public-interest law firm addressing women's access to justice within Israel's hybrid civil and religious legal environment. Its activities concentrate on cases in which Jewish religious law and the authority of rabbinical courts have direct consequences for women's marital status, family life, religious identity, and equality. One of CWJ's defining strategies has been litigation on behalf of agunot, women whose husbands refuse to provide a get. Because Jewish divorce generally requires the husband's participation in granting the document, a recalcitrant husband can leave a wife unable to remarry under Jewish law. CWJ sought to move the issue beyond the sphere of religious dispute by filing civil tort claims for financial damages. The organization has described its objective as creating a clear legal rule that get refusal is not a protected religious prerogative but conduct capable of generating civil liability. The strategy was intended both to compensate affected women and to create pressure for earlier resolution of divorce cases. In 2007, CWJ sued the Israeli Justice Ministry for NIS 4.5 million on behalf of a woman who had allegedly been prevented from obtaining a divorce for 18 years. The claim argued that the Supreme Rabbinical Court had been criminally negligent in assisting the husband to extract concessions in exchange for the get. This litigation exemplified CWJ's broader effort to hold public institutions accountable when their procedures or decisions allegedly enable coercive treatment of women. CWJ later participated in a dispute over the division of authority between Israel's secular courts and religious tribunals. The dispute arose after a rabbinical court questioned the Jewish status of a woman who had converted to Judaism during ordinary divorce proceedings. The court revoked the conversion, an action that also affected her children and raised wider concerns about conversions conducted under the authority of Rabbi Haim Druckman, who headed the Conversion Authority in the Prime Minister's Office. CWJ joined organizations including Na'amat, WIZO, and Emunah in challenging the decision. In May 2009, Israel's High Court of Justice required judges of the Supreme Rabbinical Court to explain the basis for decisions revoking conversions associated with Druckman's conversion court. CWJ represented one of the petitioners. The proceedings also exposed a jurisdictional disagreement: counsel for the rabbinical courts argued that conversion matters belonged exclusively to religious tribunals and could not be reviewed by secular courts. The case therefore concerned not only the individual petitioner's status but also the constitutional boundaries of religious adjudication and state supervision. In 2010, CWJ joined a separate legal challenge to the rule preventing women from applying to become director-general of the rabbinical courts. This reflected the organization's interest in institutional representation as well as individual remedies. Its work has included lawyer training, legal advocacy, and educational programs explaining problematic rabbinic practices and their effects on women. The organization's communications work has included a series of online videos narrated by the fictional character Savta Bikorta, or 'Grandmother Criticism,' who presents accounts inspired by CWJ cases in a deliberately sarcastic style. In 2011, CWJ launched a blog featuring staff, volunteers, and interns. Staff member Rivkah Lubitch also wrote a recurring column for Ynet on religion, state, and gender issues encountered through the organization's work. CWJ has been identified as a member organization of ICAR, the International Coalition for Agunah Rights. Its reported philanthropic supporters have included the New Israel Fund, the Hadassah Foundation, and the National Council of Jewish Women. Publicly available reference material does not establish a complete current leadership roster, financial profile, or full account of later activities; those details require verification from current organizational sources.

• 2011

  Launch of organizational blog

  [1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  CWJ expanded its public education work with a blog featuring the experiences of staff, volunteers, and interns.

• 2010

  Challenge to gender restriction in rabbinical-court administration

  [1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  CWJ joined litigation challenging the exclusion of women from applying for the director-general position of the rabbinical courts.

• 2009

  High Court proceedings on revoked conversions

  [1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  The High Court of Justice required the Supreme Rabbinical Court to justify decisions revoking conversions associated with Rabbi Haim Druckman's conversion authority.

• 2007

  Civil damages claim over prolonged get refusal

  [1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  CWJ filed a NIS 4.5 million claim for a woman who had reportedly been denied a divorce for 18 years, alleging negligence by state and rabbinical institutions.

• 2004

  Organization founded in Jerusalem

  [1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Attorney Susan Weiss founded the Center for Women's Justice as an Israeli public-interest law firm focused on women's rights and justice under Jewish law.

A rights-focused Israeli public-interest law organization working at the intersection of women's rights, civil litigation, and Jewish religious law. CWJ positions legal advocacy as a tool for reforming institutions and securing practical remedies for women affected by religious family-law procedures.

• Legal services · 2004

  Public-interest legal representation

  CWJ represents women in cases involving religious divorce, conversion status, rabbinical-court authority, and institutional discrimination. Its legal work is designed not only to resolve individual disputes but also to generate precedents and public accountability.

• Strategic litigation · 2004

  Get-refusal civil litigation

  This litigation model seeks civil damages from husbands who refuse to grant a Jewish divorce. CWJ uses the approach to frame prolonged get refusal as actionable harm and to encourage Israeli courts to recognize financial liability for coercive marital conduct.

• Professional education

  Legal education and advocacy

  The organization provides professional training for attorneys and public advocacy concerning the effects of rabbinic procedures on women. Its educational output has included video, blogging, and commentary connecting individual cases to broader questions of religion, state, and gender.

• 2011Public education through Savta Bikorta and blogging

  Israel · Online

  CWJ used satirical online videos and a community blog to explain real-world legal issues involving women, rabbinical courts, and religious-state relations.

  Outcome. The initiative broadened CWJ's communications and educational presence; no quantitative reach figures are provided in the source material.

  Source
• 2004Civil accountability for get refusal

  Israel

  CWJ began pursuing civil tort claims against recalcitrant husbands, aiming to make financial damages an established remedy for women denied a Jewish divorce.

  Outcome. The strategy became a central part of CWJ's public-interest litigation model; the supplied sources do not establish a final comprehensive case outcome.

  Source

• 2010

  Support challenge to exclusion of women from rabbinical-court administrationStrategy

  Background

  Israeli law prevented women from applying for the director-general position of the rabbinical courts.

  Action taken

  CWJ joined other organizations in seeking repeal of the restriction through litigation against the justice minister.

  Aftermath

  The case extended CWJ's institutional-equality work beyond individual divorce representation; the supplied sources do not state the final ruling.

  Source

• 2009

  Challenge rabbinical-court jurisdiction over conversion revocationOther

  Background

  A rabbinical court revoked a woman's conversion during divorce proceedings, creating wider questions about the status of conversions linked to Rabbi Haim Druckman's conversion authority.

  Action taken

  CWJ represented a petitioner before the High Court of Justice and argued alongside partner organizations for judicial scrutiny of the revocation.

  Aftermath

  The High Court required the Supreme Rabbinical Court to justify its decisions, while the rabbinical courts maintained that the issue belonged exclusively to religious jurisdiction.

  Source

• 2004

  Adopt civil tort litigation as a response to get refusalStrategy

  Background

  Women denied a Jewish divorce can face prolonged marital and religious restrictions because a get generally requires the husband's participation.

  Action taken

  CWJ began filing or supporting civil claims for financial damages against husbands who refused to grant a get.

  Aftermath

  The organization sought to establish a durable Israeli legal principle treating get refusal as civil wrongdoing rather than solely as a religious-law matter.

  Source

• 2011

  CWJ expands public education through video and blogging[1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign

  The organization introduced a blog and continued online educational work, including satirical videos dramatizing issues arising from its legal cases.

• 2010

  CWJ joins challenge to restriction on women leading rabbinical courts[1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit · Regulation

  CWJ joined other organizations in litigation seeking to invalidate a legal restriction that prevented women from applying for the director-general position of the rabbinical courts.

• 2009

  High Court reviews revoked conversion decisions[1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit · Regulation

  The Israeli High Court of Justice gave judges of the Supreme Rabbinical Court a period to justify decisions revoking conversions associated with Rabbi Haim Druckman's conversion court. CWJ represented one of the petitioners.

• 2007

  CWJ files major claim over prolonged denial of divorce[1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Lawsuit

  The organization sued the Israeli Justice Ministry on behalf of a woman who had reportedly remained unable to obtain a divorce for 18 years, alleging negligence connected to the conduct of the Supreme Rabbinical Court.

• 2004

  Center for Women's Justice brings civil damages strategy against get refusal[1]Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  CWJ began pursuing civil tort claims against husbands who refused to grant a Jewish divorce, seeking to establish get refusal as a legally compensable civil wrong.

1. 1Center for Women's Justiceen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Center for Women's Justice official websitecwj.org.il