Coalition of Jewish Women for the GET

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records; 2 videocassettes (each 44 min, 39 sec.)

Scope and Content: This accession consists of a 1969 letter from Senator A[rthur] W. Roebuck, responding to a thank-you letter sent by Mrs. Sydney Cooper and Mrs. Minden, co-chairs of Crown Gifts division, and Mrs. Allen A. Small, chair of the Women's Division of UJA. The letter refers to the recent visit of a group of women who visited the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and were received by Senator Roebuck. The other items in the accession are a video and guidebook set entitled 'Untying the Bonds... Jewish Divorce: a GET Education Video & Guidebook, Fall 1997."

Custodial History: The records were in the office of Frances Goldstein, associate director for Top Gifts at UJA's Centre for Philanthropy, before being transferred to the OJA. Goldstein was formerly the head of Women's Campaign.

Administrative History: The Canadian Coalition of Jewish Women for the GET was composed of all the major Jewish women's organizations, which joined forces in the late 1980s to have the federal Divorce Act amended. The Jewish Women's Federation was one of these organizations; the others were Jewish Women International of Canada, Emunah Women of Canada, Hadassah-WIZO Organization of Canada, Na’amat Canada, Canadian ORT, Women’s Federation CJA, National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Status of Women Committee of Canadian Jewish Congress and Women’s League of Conservative Judaism. In 1990, as part of a lobbying group that included B'nai Brith, Canadian Jewish Congress, and religious groups of all faiths, the Coalition succeeded in having a protective clause added to the Divorce Act, ensuring that no spouse should retain barriers to the religious remarriage of their ex-spouse in a divorce in Canada. The Coalition went on after its successful legislative reform campaign to produce an educational video on Jewish divorce and continue with its activism and public awareness building.