Rabbinic Authority, Volume 5

Rabbinic Authority: The Vision and the Reality introduces the English-speaking public to the parameters and scope of rabbinic authority in general, and the workings of the institution of the beit din (Jewish court of law) in particular. In this fifth volume of his groundbreaking series on rabbinic authority, Rabbi Warburg discusses the case of the modern-day agunah, a wife who is unable to obtain a divorce due to her husband’s recalcitrance. For the first time in English, this monograph discusses utilizing the technique of the double halakhic doubt (sefek sefeika de’dina) as a vehicle to void a marriage, in order to address the plight of the agunah. Thiis volume is devoted primarily to demonstrate how a beit din or rabbinical authority(ies) can take care of this complicated issue, especially for those decisors who reject the various other options to void a marriage.