Los Angeles Film Festival-Sentenced to Marriage

Imagine the joy of smiling and crying on your wedding day, imagine the same emotions they day your divorce is final, but if you are a married woman in Israel, you may have plenty of tears, but no joy. In the painfully candid film, Sentenced to marriage, filmmaker Ana Zuria, gives us a glimpse into justice for women's rights or (lack thereof) in Israel as she follows over the course of 2 years the plight of three women seeking divorces from their estranged husbands. The plight is in part to the fact that divorces in Israel are not a civil matter, but fall under a law passed in the 1950's that divorce petitions are granted or denied by the rabbinic court and the consent of the husband. The Rabbinic court is comprised of a panel of rabbis trained in the Torah (Bible) who are supposed to hear the petitions and give a fair and just ruling, but unfortunately, traditional gender bias is the controlling factor leaving these women in a fight for freedom that can span for years or even in definitely with no end in sight. The three women in this documentary seek the help of the Monica Dennis Goldberg School, an organization that trains women to be advocates in the rabbinical courts on behalf of women seeking divorces. Challenging hundreds of years of tradition, these advocates have their work cut out for them.

In the opening scenes we are introduced to a young woman named Tamara. She is seen among family, friends and well-wishers at her wedding. She is glowing as new brides usually do, standing by her husband and hopeful about her future. Fast-forward five years, Tamara is eating breakfast alone in her home, the glow is gone replaced with a shroud of despair. She is preparing to meet with Reut Giat, the advocate in her case. In scenes to follow with a hidden camera moving back and forth outside the courtroom, we overhear Tamara, her advocate and the rabbinic panel meet to discuss her getting a divorce. With her husband absent from the hearing Tamara explains in detail the abuse her husband has inflicted upon her and their two children. The responses of the rabbinic judge are shocking as he dismisses her testimony of abuse as exaggerated. The more persistent Tamara and her advocate are in trying to get the panel to see the blatant abuse, the more determined the panel is to side with the husband against her. The session ends with no resolution. Tamara is frustrated.

Things are no better for Michelle , a mother of 3 and Dari a mother of 4 . Both of their husbands have abandoned them, had affairs with other women and fathered other children. The husbands in the rare times they do show up for hearings, brazenly admit to their affairs knowing that there will be little or no repercussions. Most of the time however, the husbands refuse to show up for the hearings prolonging the process. There is a warrant for the arrest of Michelle's husband, but with the help of people more sympathetic towards him than they are towards justice being served, he escapes time and time again.

The husbands in these cases and many others like them have no desire to reconcile with their wives and children. Because of the unjust gender bias exercised by the rabbinic counsel and the marital laws, the women cannot date, re-marry, or even have certain guest in their homes if the husband files a restraining order to prohibit them. The men use their refusal to sign the divorce decree coupled with the blind support of the rabbinic counsel as leverage to tie up these women's lives for months , years, or even indefinitely. A woman in such a predicament has only two options to obtain her freedom; pay off their husband with a large sum of money, or wait until he dies. Because most women do not have such large sums of money and homicide is out of the question, they are in an unseen prison with no hope of parole for a very long time. The advocates fight long and hard with these desperate women going over marriage documents and other information looking for cracks and loopholes to help them get the relief they so desperately need.

After 5 long years, Michelle and Dari finally get their divorce. Tamara is still bound to her husband, and still fighting to be free. This film will certainly provoke compassion in your heart for these women and many others like them, stir up outrage at the gross injustice, and should help you appreciate more how valuable our freedom is, be it the freedom to vote or if needed, the freedom to end your marriage.

I hope Tamara will finally be granted that privilege.

For more information, go to: www.wmm.com

Published on Jun 29, 2005