Unchain My Heart joins Victorian roof body

Unchain My Heart, the volunteer organisation supporting those trapped in marriages due to refused Jewish divorces, has been voted in as a member of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV).

Chair Yael Hersham (pictured) addressed the JCCV’s recent AGM, describing the group’s decade-long mission to help agunot, or “chained” individuals who remain halachically bound in marriages that have ended in every other sense.

“Our mission is simple but profound: to restore freedom, autonomy and dignity to anyone trapped in a dead marriage, and to ensure that Jewish law is never weaponised as a tool of coercion and abuse,” Hersham said.

Without a get, or Jewish divorce document, individuals cannot remarry under halachah, and any future children face the stigma of mamzerut (being born from a forbidden relationship).

While the issue predominantly affects women, Hersham noted the organisation also assists men.