An aguna or agunah (Hebrew: עֲגוּנָה, romanized: ʿaḡunā, lit. 'anchored or chained [woman]', plural: עֲגוּנוֹת ‎, ʿaḡunoṯ) is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her marriage as determined by traditional halakha (Jewish law).

ORA is the only nonprofit organization addressing the agunah crisis on a case by case basis worldwide.

Recent years has seen an increased awareness regarding the agunah problem, and attempts to aid those women who find themselves in this unenviable situation.

AGUNAH (Heb. עֲגוּנָה; lit. "tied," cf. Ruth 1:13), married woman who for whatsoever reason is separated from her husband and cannot remarry, either because she cannot obtain a divorce from him (see Divorce), or because it is unknown whether he is still alive.

Jun 23, 2021 · Agunot are women unable to obtain a rabbinic divorce (get) because their husbands are unwilling or unable to give one, while this is the only halakhic means for divorce. No time limit exists for this status.

Aug 7, 2018 · An agunah (“chained woman”) was traditionally a woman whose husband had disappeared in wartime or at sea, for example. Such a woman could not remarry under Jewish law because her husband could not be proven to be dead.

Orthodox and Conservative rabbis have worked to create solutions within the Jewish framework, including prenuptial agreements and retroactive annulment. When a husband refuses to grant a Jewish divorce to his wife, she is an –“chained” to the marriage.

No one who has read Chaim Grade’s powerful novel The Agunah will soon forget its tragic heroine, whose husband has left her and refuses to give her a get (Jewish divorce), so that she can never remarry. Actually, the novel describes only one of several categories of agunah.

agunah, in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband’s death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature.

Join the Movement! An agunah (plural: agunot) is a woman trapped in a marriage against her will because her husband refuses to grant a “get” (halachic bill of divorce). The reality is that every. single. Jewish. woman. who marries according to Orthodox tradition is a potential agunah. This does not have to be our reality.