Editing Jewish views on marriage (section)

=== {{transliteration|he|Agunah}} ===
{{Main|Agunah}}
Traditionally, when a husband fled, or his whereabouts were unknown for any reason, the woman was considered an {{transliteration|he|[[agunah]]}} (literally "an anchored woman"), and was not allowed to remarry; in traditional Judaism, divorce can only be initiated by the husband. Prior to modern communication, the death of the husband while in a distant land was a common cause of this situation. In modern times, when a husband refuses to issue a {{transliteration|he|get}} due to money, property, or custody battles, the woman who cannot remarry is considered a {{transliteration|he|[[Agunah#Mesorevet get (Get refusal)|Mesorevet get]]}}, not an agunah. A man in this situation would not be termed a {{transliteration|he|Misarev Get}} (literally, "a refuser of a divorce document"), unless a legitimate Beis Din had required him to issue a Get. The term {{transliteration|he|agunah}} is often used in such circumstances, but it is not technically accurate.

Within both the Conservative and Orthodox communities, there are efforts to avoid situations where a woman is not able to obtain a Jewish divorce from her husband. The {{transliteration|he|[[ketubah]]}} serves this function in [[Conservative Judaism]] in order to prevent husbands from refusing to give their wives a divorce. To do this, the {{transliteration|he|ketubah}} has built in provisions; so, if predetermined circumstances occur, the divorce goes into effect immediately.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Lawrence A. |title=Life Cycles in Jewish and Christian Worship |chapter=The Jewish Wedding Ceremony |publisher=University of Notre Dame Press |date=1996 |pages=129–153}}</ref> After the fact, various Jewish and secular legal methods are used to deal with such problems. None of the legal solutions addresses the {{transliteration|he|agunah}} problem in the case of a missing husband.