Marriage and Divorce
The marriage contract is entered into by men and
women as equal partners. However, all contracts in
Judaism has to have a "giver" and a "taker" and it
was decided that the man should perform the role
of "giver" which is why he says the marriage formula under the wedding canopy. At the same time, the marriage contract, which is signed by two impartial witnesses, consists entirely of the obligations a husband has towards his wife. It further states that divorce can only take place If both parties agree and that the husband needs to pay his wife a big sum of money as compensation if he wants a divorce.
As the husband is the "giver" of the marriage contract, he also needs to be the "giver" of the divorce contract. Jewish law is liberal in that it does not require proof of "fault" for a divorce as English law has required up until recent times. It is recognised that marriages can break down without a partner being at fault. However, because the man and woman enter into the marriage contract as equal partners, the contract can only be cancelled if they both freely agree to a divorce. When both partners agree, the Jewish divorce procedure is very straightforward but some husbands refuse to grant their wives a divorce, usually for some personal reason and the Jewish courts can not force him to give a divorce as he has to give it of his free will. This leaves the woman unable to remarry, effectively blackmailed by their husbands. Women can also refuse to accept the divorce, but as they are not the "givers" it is easier for men to obtain freedom than for women in the same position. 
Non-Orthodox Approaches
At the risk of generalising, one can perhaps say that Orthodoxy looks at society from a Jewish legal perspective whereas the Progressive movement looks at Jewish law from a social point of view. Therefore, the fact that society has changed and that women have equal roles to men has led the Progressive movement to reject the parts of Jewish law that they view as sexist. Women are therefore counted as part of the minyan, they can lead the public prayer service and become rabbis. It is felt that legal norms can be broken to express Jewish values in modern circumstances. As a result, many senior and rabbinical positions in the Progressive movement are in fact filled by women. The Masorti or Conservative movement in England have so far not ordained any women rabbis and each synagogue decides to what extent they allow mixed seating at public prayer as well as active female participation in the service. There is awareness of the fact that there are social and political factors to consider besides the legal problems surrounding the female public role.
Women Rabbis?
There are no women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism and many believe it will never happen. What would be the problem with having women as rabbis?
Rabbis are primarily leaders, teachers and to some extent law-makers. There is not a specific legal problem with a woman performing these tasks - it is rather that it has not been socially acceptable. An Orthodox woman rabbi would not be able to lead the prayers or read from the Torah in a mixed congregation but the truth is that many male rabbis do not perform these tasks either. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, a modern Orthodox rabbi who trains women to be pleaders in Jewish courts as well as legal decision makers in areas of Jewish law affecting women recently said that he will not ordain women rabbis because he thought it was "socially and politically not acceptable yet, if ever".
One woman is already poised to prove him wrong, however. Haviva Ner-David, an American woman living in Israel, originally applied to Yeshiva University in New York to undergo rabbinical training. The college did not reply to her application, so she continued her Jewish studies at various institutions and is now studying privately with a respected Orthodox rabbi who plans to ordain her as a rabbi. As she has completed the required studies that Orthodox rabbis undertake, Rabbi Strikovsky feels it would be "hypocrisy" not to give her a rabbinic qualification. Haviva, who is 27 years of age, married and the mother of a young daughter, will probably not be a communal rabbi but instead lecture in Jewish Studies at an advanced level.
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