Aget,ghet,^[1][2][3] orgett (/ɡɛt/;Imperial Aramaic:גט, pluralgittinגטין) is a document inJewish religious law which effectuates adivorce between a Jewish couple. The term is also used to refer to the divorce itself.^[4][5] Theget is a 12-line document written in Aramaic.^[6] The requirements for aget include that the document must be presented by a husband to his wife. The essential part of theget is a very short declaration: "You are hereby permitted to all men." The effect of theget is to free the woman from the marriage, and consequently, she is free to marry another, and that the laws ofadultery no longer apply. Theget also restores to the wife the legal rights that her husband held over her.

Thebiblical term for the divorce document, described inDeuteronomy 24, is "Sefer Keritut" (Hebrew:ספר כריתת). The wordget may have its origins in the Sumerian word for documentGID.DA. It appears to have passed fromSumerian intoAkkadian asgittu, and from there intoMishnaic Hebrew.^[7] In theMishnah,get can refer to any legal document although it refers primarily to a divorce document. (Tosefet Beracha to Ki Teitzei)

Several popular etymological speculations were offered by early modern Rabbinic authorities. According toShiltei Giborim, it refers to the stoneagate, which purportedly has anti-magnetic property symbolizing the divorce.^[8] TheGaon of Vilna posits that the Hebrew letters Gimel and Tet in the wordget are the only letters in theHebrew alphabet that cannot form a word together, again symbolizing the divorce.Baruch Epstein states that it comes from the Latin wordactio, meaning "action", which refers to any legal document.Marcus Jastrow posits a Semitic root, arguing that it derives from the Hebrew word for engraving (Hebrew:חטט).^[9]

Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg posits that after theBar Kokhba revolt theRomans decreed that all documents be processed in a Roman court (in order to weaken Jewish nationalism, although it is far more likely that Roman lawmakers were simply following procedure common to all bureaucrats, everywhere, to standardize and simplify their work). The termget may have entered the vernacular during this time.^[10]

Halakha (Jewish law) requires the following specific formalities for aget to be considered valid:

• A divorce document must be written;^[11] this is usually done by asofer (professional religious scribe) and in the presence of two witnesses. The ceremony is led by a Rabbi known as themesader gittin and is completed under the guidance of aBeit Din, known as a Jewish court.^[12] Theget must have been written on the explicit instruction and free-willed approval of the husband,^[11] with the specific intention that it is to be used by the husband and his wife. It cannot be initially written with blanks to be filled in later.
• It must be delivered to the wife, whose physical acceptance of theget is required to complete and validate the divorce process.^[11] The wife will take theget that has been folded to fit the size of her hands and places it under her arm. She then walks a few steps to solidify the divorce.
• There are certain detailed requirements relating to the legal and religious nature of theget itself. For example:
  • It must be written on a fresh document, and there must be no possibility of cleanly erasing the text.
  • It may not be written on anything attached to the ground (for instance, an attached fig leaf).^[13]
  • Theget may not be pre-dated.

Any deviation from these requirements invalidates theget and the divorce procedure. In some cases, the get is completely invalid, but in others it is a somewhat valid get that would cause the women to have the status of a "divorcee" prohibited to marry a Kohen, even if she is not considered legally divorced.

Aget must be given of thefree will of the husband; however, consent of the wife is not biblically mandated (nevertheless, Ashkenazi tradition provides that a husband may not divorce his wife without her consent).^[14] Aget may not be given out of fear of any obligation either party undertook to fulfill in a separation agreement. Such an agreement may provide for matters such as custody of the children and their maintenance, and property settlement. But either party may withdraw from such an agreement, on the question of the dissolution of the marriage only, if they can satisfy the court of a genuine desire to restore matrimonial harmony. In such a situation all the recognized matrimonial obligations continue to apply. On the other hand, pecuniary conditions stipulated by the parties in the separation agreement would still be valid and enforceable, though the marriage state continues to exist.

The laws ofgittin only provide for a divorce initiated by the husband. However, the wife has the right to sue for divorce in arabbinical court. The court, if finding just cause as prescribed in very rare cases in Jewish law, will require the husband to divorce his wife. In such cases, a husband who refused the court's demand that he divorce his wife would be subjected to various penalties in order to pressure him into granting a divorce. Such penalties included fines and corporal punishment; one such measure had the husband spend the night at an unmarked grave (with the implication that it could become his grave). In modern-dayIsrael, rabbinical courts have the power to sentence a husband to prison to compel him to grant his wife aget. Rabbinical courts outside of Israel do not have power to enforce such penalties. This sometimes leads to a situation in which the husband makes demands of the court and of his wife, demanding a monetary settlement or other benefits, such as child custody, in exchange for theget. ProminentJewish feminists have fought against such demands in recent decades.^[15][16]

Prominent Orthodox rabbis have pointed to many years of rabbinical sources that state that any coercion (kefiyah) can invalidate aget except in the most extreme of cases,^[17] and have spoken out against "get organizations", which they claim have often inflamed situations that could have otherwise been resolved amicably.^[18]

Sometimes a man will completely refuse to grant a divorce. This leaves his wife with no possibility of remarriage withinOrthodox Judaism. Such a woman is called anagunah (עגונה, "anchored [woman]," as in tied down to the previous marriage, thus unable to remarry) or amesorevet get (literally "refused aget"), if a court determines she is entitled to a divorce. Such a man who refuses to give his wife aget is frequently spurned by Orthodox communities, and excluded from communal religious activities, in an effort to force aget.^[19]

While it is widely assumed that the problem lies primarily in men refusing to grant aget to their wives, and that it is a widespread issue, in Israel, figures released from theChief Rabbinate show that women equally refuse to accept aget and that the numbers are a couple of hundred on each side.^[20][21] While such a husband has the option of seeking aheter meah rabbanim, no similar option exists for the wife. Men can also better afford delays as they lackbiological clocks.

InConservative Judaism a traditionalget is required. However, in cases where the husband refuses to grant theget and thebet din (rabbinical court) has ruled that the husband's refusal is not justified, the marriage may be dissolved byhafqa'at kiddushin, or annulment of the marriage. This requires a majority vote of the Jointbet din, comprising nine rabbinic scholars. Upon their authorization of the process, thebet din may issue a certificate of annulment. This procedure is viewed as an extreme option and is only done in cases of dire necessity.^[22]

The rules governing theget are subject to thecivil law of the country, which has precedence over the Jewish marital law.

On the other hand, if a civil divorce is obtained, there is still a need under Jewish law, for the Jewish divorce procedure outlined in this article to be followed if the couple wishes to be considered divorced according to religious Jewish law or to remarry under religious law: i.e., the husband would still need to deliver theget to the wife and the wife to accept it.^[23] Otherwise, the couple may be divorced under the civil law ("the law of the land") while still be considered to be married under Jewish law, with all the consequences which follow from that status. It is religiously forbidden for either spouse to remarry without aget. If either spouse has children without acquiring aget and remarrying through Jewish laws, the children conceived by the new couple are considered illegitimate, ormamzerim, which severely disables the child's ability to participate in Jewish life.^[24]

One of the most contentiousgittin in history was probably theGet of Cleves of the late 18th century, which caused a rift between several rabbinic courts in Western Europe.^[25] The case involved a husband who at times exhibited signs ofmental illness (in whichparanoia was a contributing symptom) who gave his wife aget. As aget can only be given by a "sane" individual, much analysis and debate ensued regarding how to classify this individual as well as the precise definition ofinsanity inhalakha.

In the Middle Ages, a woman could gain the status of a moredet (rebellious wife) and go to the Rabbinic courts to get a divorce. A woman could gain that status through a few means, including refusing to have sexual relations with her husband. However, sometimes doing so would mean she would forfeit her right to herketubah.^[26]

In 2013, theNew York divorce coercion gang, a group of rabbis that forcedgittin through the use ofkidnapping andtorture, was closed down by theFederal Bureau of Investigation.^[27] Asecond one that utilizedmurder was closed in 2016.^[28]

In 2024,Orthodox feminist activist and politicianAdina Sash called for a mikvah strike in support of Malky Berkowitz, a 29-year-old Orthodox woman whose husband has refused to provide aget for years. The "mikvah strike" involves women refusing to have sex with their husbands during times where sex is considered amitzvah, such as after women visit the mikvah post-menstruation. The goal, according to Sash, is to pressure men within the Orthodox community to pressure Berkowitz's estranged husband to finally provide theget.^[29][30]

• Rochelle Majer Krich's bookTill Death Do Us Part (1992),ISBN 0-380-76533-0.
• InThe Sopranos episode "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" (1999), Tony is hired for the purpose of convincing a stubborn Orthodox Jewish man to give aget to the man's wife.
• In theCoen Brothers filmA Serious Man (2009) the demand for aget is a recurringplot device.
• The filmGett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014) shows the process of a Jewish woman trying to obtain a divorce from a reluctant husband.

• Agunah
• Beth din
• Jewish prenuptial agreement
• Jewish views on marriage
• Ketubah
• Lieberman clause (Conservative Judaism)

• Animation video of the Get process[1]

• Beth Din of America: Gittin (Jewish Divorce)
• Chabad.org: Jewish Divorce: Get
• Jewish Virtual Library: Divorce in Judaism
• JLaw.com: Jewish Divorce and the Role of Beit Din by Rabbi Jonathan Reiss^{[dead link]}

• Divorce
• Jewish marital law
• Talmud concepts and terminology
• Jewish life cycle
• Positive Mitzvoth
• Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law
• Divorce in Judaism

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