US: Why Hundreds Of Jewish Women Are On Strike From Sex With Spouses

Hundreds of Jewish women proposed a sex strike-- refusing to sleep with their spouses-- to protest against a religious law that makes it extremely difficult for women to seek a divorce. The 'Mikvah Strike' was initiated by activist Adina Sash, who is calling on Orthodox Jewish women to withhold sex from their husbands on Shabbos (Friday), which is considered an auspicious day for intimacy in the culture. “Please call your husband and tell him: I’m sorry. I am closed for business this Shabbos. If you want to have relations with me, please figure out a way to help free Malky," Sash said in an Instagram story recently.

Sash's post referred to Malky (Gold) Berkowitz, a 29-year-old woman from the Hasidic enclave of Kiryas Joel in upstate New York, who has been trying to divorce her husband for more than four years but he has refused to release her from the marriage by granting a get, or Jewish divorce. According to The Economist, Malky has become the face of this women-led protest.

Free Malky-- Jewish Women Seek Divorce Rights

Adina Sash and over 800 other women took to the streets of Kiryas Joel, New York, to protest the Jewish divorce laws, which are particularly hard on women. Sash, a well-known activist, called it a Mikvah Strike, a play on the Orthodox rules requiring women to immerse in a mikvah (ritual bath), between finishing their periods and having sex. 

Kiryas Joel's strict religious codes also require women to seek rabbinical approval before reporting domestic violence to the police. The centuries-old laws also require a husband's written permission (get) for a divorce, leaving them trapped in unhappy and even abusive marriages. Thus, the rights for divorce entirely lie in the hands of the rabbi and the husband.

According to The Economist, the protest has been inspired by the story of Malky (Gold) Berkowitz, who has been unable to seek a get (Jewish divorce) from her husband for the past four years. The term for women trapped in a marriage is agunah, (plural: agunot),  meaning “chained woman." The protest has come to be known as the 'Free Malky' movement or Agunah Movement'.

"We as a community are not doing enough for the Agunah's, and we need to do more...but as someone who waited for my Get, begged for my Get, prayed for my Get...this (Intimacy strike) is not the correct way." pic.twitter.com/lQZiUwjiby

— Frum TikTok (@FrumTikTok) March 7, 2024

Since Sash posted about the protest on the sex strike on her Instagram story, countless social media posts have endorsed it as an 'ingenious way for Orthodox women to seize their agency'. Some others have stirred controversy over the protest, with striking women facing online harassment and even protestors being pelted with eggs.