Modifying Halacha

Recently, there was a very disturbing article written in the Canadian Jewish News in response to an event that took place this month in Montreal. The Supreme Court of Quebec had a hearing about a case where a husband refused to issue his wife a Get, and the Supreme Court of Quebec ruled in favour of the wife and placed a fine on th husband for causing his now ex-wife much emotional damage. The article in the CJN stated that this event should prove to the Orthodox community that we have failed as a religion in regards to this law, and in response to this event we should modify/change the Jewish Law to subscribe to this ethical dilemna of the husband having autonomy when it comes to Jewish divorce.

While I'm not disagreeing with the fact that this Halacha could potentially cause emotional damage to a woman, the approach that was taken, that the Jewish Law must be changed is a completely non Jewish concept. The reason that the Jewish people continue to persevere and survive is due largely to the fact that we, as a people value Oral, Rabbinical and Traditional practices to the extent that there are many laws we do just because G-d told us to and we might not understand them at all. This is not to say that there is no solution to this dilemna, but the solution is definitely not to change the law, and we have definitely failed as a religion. In ancient times the Beit Din had ways of "forcing" the husband into giving a Get to his wife but in modern times when Beit Din has no power the solution might not be as easy, but it could be as simple as making pre-nuptual agreements. Every couple can write on their Ketubah that in the event of disagreement they will follow the suggestion of Beit Din which legally binds the husband to giving his wife a Get. The point I'm trying to get across is that sometimes there is no quick and easy fix to our religious problems but when we do have a problem, we can't view it as a failure of the religion but we must view it as a failure of our own to fully understand the religion.