Center for Women's Justice

What Center for Women's Justice does

Center for Women's Justice (CWJ) is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 2012 by Dr. Susan Weiss and headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel. It serves Jewish women in Israel whose rights are affected by religious personal status law, particularly those facing get refusal (agunot), rabbinic court discrimination, revocation of Jewish identity for converts, mamzerut designations, and gender segregation in academia and public spaces. Services are delivered free of charge and include direct legal representation, tort claims against husbands who refuse to grant a religious divorce, Supreme Court petitions, educational seminars for attorneys, and a private rabbinic court initiative led by Rabbi Daniel Shapira that annuls marriages for women unable to obtain relief from state rabbinic courts.

Its core offerings are legal instruments rather than software: the prenuptial 'Agreement of Justice and Fairness' (הסכם בצדק ובהגינות), the postnuptial 'Pledge of Compassion and Dignity,' and the 'Security Bond' (שטר ביטחון) — a halakhic mechanism enabling a get when a husband becomes incapacitated. The online Legal Information Center (ORC) provides a multilingual (Hebrew, English, Russian) database of case law, legislation, and professional articles on personal status law, serving both clients and attorneys. CWJ is recognized internationally, having received the Genesis Prize ($1M 'Jewish Nobel Prize') in 2018.

CWJ operates as a nonprofit association (עמותה רשומה) funded by donations and grants from Jewish women's foundations, family foundations, and federations. The organization has a 7-person team and is founder-led. Distribution is primarily direct (office, phone, email, website) supplemented by community outreach, legal seminars with the Israel Bar Association, Knesset engagement, international speaking tours, and social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).

Name

Center for Women's Justice

Legal name

מרכז צדק לנשים, עמותה רשומה

Website

https://cwj.org.il

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Center for Women's Justice is a Jerusalem-based nonprofit legal advocacy organization that provides free legal services, tort claims, and rabbinic-court alternatives to Jewish women in Israel facing get refusal, rabbinic court discrimination, and gender segregation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Advocacy Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAFAD

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

SECONDARYBPAGAFAA

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

SECONDARYBPAHAAAK

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Legal Services

SECONDARYBPAIAFAG

Specialty & Problem-Solving Courts (Drug, Mental Health, Veterans, Family)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Justice System (Courts, Prosecution & Corrections)

Keywords

• Legal advocacy services
• Religious divorce representation
• Prenuptial agreement programs
• Women's rights nonprofit
• Civil tort litigation

Headquarters

HQ city

Jerusalem

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: CWJ operates as a nonprofit organization funded primarily through donations, grants from Jewish women's foundations, family foundations, and federations. The website includes a donation button and the organization has received major grants from foundations including Genesis Prize ($1M award), David Berg Foundation, multiple Jewish Women's Foundations, and federations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Center for Women's Justice is a legal advocacy nonprofit that provides free legal representation, tort-claim strategy, and alternative dispute resolution to women in Israel facing discrimination in the rabbinic court system. Its core offerings include tort claims against husbands refusing to grant a get (religious divorce), halakhic prenuptial and postnuptial agreements (Security Bond, Agreement of Justice and Fairness, Pledge of Compassion and Dignity) designed to prevent agunut, and access to a private rabbinic court under Rabbi Daniel Shapira that annuls marriages when state rabbinic courts will not.

Product overview

Center for Women's Justice operates as a legal nonprofit organization offering a suite of services focused on women's rights under Jewish law in Israel. The core offerings include prenuptial and postnuptial agreements designed to prevent get refusal and agunot situations, legal strategy for tort claims against recalcitrant husbands, a private rabbinic court initiative, and an online legal information center. These services work together to provide women with legal remedies, preventive agreements, and alternative dispute resolution options in matters of personal status, divorce, and religious court proceedings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Security Document (שטר ביטחון): A prenuptial agreement program developed with rabbis to prevent agunot (chained women) by providing mechanisms for get delivery if husband becomes incapacitated.
• Just and Fair Agreement (הסכם בצדק ובהגינות)
• Pledge of Compassion and Dignity

Products and services

• Prenuptial Agreement (הסכם קדם נישואין) Halakhic and secular prenuptial agreement document designed to prevent get refusal and agunot situations. Includes the 'Agreement of Justice and Fairness' mechanism enabling divorce without husband's consent. Intended for engaged couples in Israel.
• Postnuptial Agreement (הסכם לאחר נישואין) Agreement for couples already married, including the 'Pledge of Compassion and Dignity' to prevent agunot situations when a husband becomes mentally incapacitated. Intended for married couples in Israel.
• Tort Claims Against Get Refusers (תביעות נזיקין) Legal strategy enabling women to sue husbands who refuse to grant a religious divorce (get) in civil courts for damages. Pioneered by CWJ as a legal remedy for get refusal. Intended for women in Israel facing get refusal.
• Legal Information Center (מרכז מידע משפטי / ORC) Online database containing rabbinic court judgments, legislation, and professional materials on personal status law, tort claims, conversion, and mamzerut issues. Available in Hebrew, English, and Russian. Intended for women, attorneys, and researchers.
• Security Bond for Preventing Agunot (שטר ביטחון) Halakhic document allowing rabbinic courts to grant a get on behalf of an incapacitated husband, preventing a wife from becoming an agunah. Intended for engaged or married couples in Israel.
• Private Rabbinic Court (בית דין פרטי) Private rabbinic court established by CWJ initiative in Jerusalem, led by Rabbi Daniel Shapira, that annuls marriages and kiddushin for women unable to obtain a get through state rabbinic courts. Intended for agunot in Israel.
• Publications Educational materials, legal guides, and resources on women's rights in Jewish law, personal status law, and religious court matters published by CWJ.
• Legal Seminars and Training Educational programs and workshops for lawyers on tort claims, get refusal, halakhic marriage law, and rabbinic court procedures. Delivered in partnership with the Israel Bar Association in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other districts.

Quantifiable outcome

• After 23 years of get refusal, CWJ secured Tzviya Gorodetsky's freedom in June 2018
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Generation 1.5coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with CWJ on a Supreme Court petition challenging the rabbinic court's revocation of Jewish identity for a three-generation family of FSU origin. CWJ attorney Adiya Shvartz represented the family alongside Generation 1.5.
• Kolech - Religious Women's ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership on Supreme Court petitions (e.g., gender segregation in academia petition), prenuptial agreement initiatives (Pledge of Compassion and Dignity), and mikveh access cases. CWJ joined as 'friend of the court' representing Kolech.
• Rabbi Daniel Shapira (Private Rabbinic Court)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWJ initiated and supports a private rabbinic court led by Rabbi Daniel Shapira in Jerusalem, which has successfully annulled marriages of agunot who could not obtain relief from state rabbinic courts.
• American Jewish Committee (AJC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSelected Dr. Susan Weiss as one of four thought leaders to author a position paper on strategies to end the rabbinic monopoly on Jewish personal law. Presented at a workshop for Jewish community leaders in New York, January 2014.
• Israel Bar AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership for legal education seminars on tort claims against get refusers. CWJ attorneys conduct training workshops for members in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other districts.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mavoi Satum: Israeli nonprofit focused on solving the agunah problem and freeing chained women through legal action and rabbinic engagement. Directly comparable in mission, jurisdiction, and target beneficiaries as another Israeli agunah-advocacy legal aid organization.
• Kolech - Religious Women's Forum: Israeli organization advancing religious women's rights, including gender segregation, mikveh access, and personal status issues. Active co-litigant with CWJ on Supreme Court petitions and prenuptial agreement initiatives.
• ITIM - The Jewish Life Information Center: Israeli organization helping individuals navigate the rabbinate and resolve personal status issues including get refusal, conversion, and marriage. Comparable in providing legal navigation support to Jews facing Israeli rabbinic bureaucracy.
• JOFA (Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance): Orthodox feminist organization advocating for women's rights in Jewish law and ritual. Direct funder/partner of CWJ's US speaking tour and active in agunah advocacy, with overlapping mission around rabbinic law reform.
• Women of the Wall: Israeli multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization advocating for women's rights at the Western Wall and broader religious-status equality. Comparable as a women's religious-rights advocacy NGO pursuing legal and Supreme Court remedies in Israeli religious institutions.

Emerging players

• Rabbis for Human Rights: Israeli rabbinic-led human rights NGO that engages with Israeli religious and civil institutions on rights issues. Comparable in operating through legal advocacy within the Israeli religious-legal system on rights-related matters.
• Hadassah-Brandeis Institute: Academic research institute on Jewish women and gender issues. Co-funded CWJ's US speaking tour and shares research/advocacy focus on agunot and Jewish personal status law.
• Agunah International: North American nonprofit providing advocacy and information on the agunah problem across Orthodox communities. Operates in complementary geography to CWJ and shares the get-refusal mission.

Broad incumbents

• NCJW (National Council of Jewish Women): Large, established US Jewish women's advocacy organization with broader portfolio but overlapping interest in personal status, get refusal, and Jewish family law reform. Larger and more resourced than CWJ.
• New Israel Fund: Major US-Israeli philanthropic organization funding civil and human rights NGOs in Israel, including religious rights and women's rights organizations. Indirect peer as a major funder and capacity-builder in CWJ's broader ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cwjisrael
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=pE5HBUzOVAY
• Facebookfacebook.com/cwjisrael
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-women's-justice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Women's Justice