Facebook is a source of endless procrastination for college students, a place for middle schoolers to explore their burgeoning sexuality via pictures taken in mirror reflects, and occasionally, a place for political and social activism. This is one of the latter stories.
As Rabbi Jason Miller commented in this Jewish Week blog post, Facebook is being utilized as a place for wives to put pressure on deadbeat husbands who refuse to grant them a get, or the Jewish legal equivalent of a divorce. A member of Republican congressmen David Camp (not to be confused with Camp David)’s staff has been charged by the Rabbinical Council of America for refusing to give his wife a get.
In response, a Facebook outcry has arisen, charging Rep. Camp to put pressure on his staffer to do the right thing. Whether or not cajoling the man’s employer will have the intended effects remains to be seen, but it is an interesting way of conducting affairs nonetheless. As a Congressman up for re-election, Camp will want to do anything within his power to save face with his constituency. What influence he can have on the man’s obduracy is up in the air, but when Jewish law and social media intertwine, the results are bound to be interesting.
Social networking was prominently used to organize the Arab Spring protests last year, and it will be fascinating to see whether Americans and Jews can take the next step into using Facebook and Twitter to promote social justice everywhere.
