35 Spring 2026 of the Swedish communities and their few Orthodox rabbis. In America, a group of Orthodox Jewish organizations had already, in the late 1930s, established an umbrella organization called Vaad HaHazalah (“Committee for Rescue”). It soon set up a Scandinavian Section, led by Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe,10 a German rabbi who had come from Yeshivat Mir in Poland to live and teach in Stockholm. The Swedish rabbi whom Rabbi Wolbe initially approached to coordinate activities on behalf of the Agunot was Rabbi Jacob Israel Zuber,11 the respected rabbi of the Adas Jisroel Synagogue in southern Stockholm. Since Rabbi Zuber did not feel he had sufficient authority to deal with the Aguna challenge alone and needed the support of a rabbinate of international standing, he initially referred the Aguna cases to Dayan Yechezkel Abramsky in London.12 For reasons unknown, all subsequent requests for release from Aguna status were soon transferred to Rabbi Shlomo David Kahane,13 representing the Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem. For the cases to be halachically valid and enable the Jerusalem Rabbinate to issue its decisions without doubt, all instances were thoroughly investigated after the applicant had filled out a detailed form. Other Orthodox rabbis in Sweden assisted Rabbi Zuber in these investigations, especially those who frequently visited the rehabilitation camps, namely, Rabbi Benjamin Zeev Jakobsohn14 and Rabbi Abraham Israel Jacobson.15 Due to the meticulous work done, no case is known in which an Aguna released through this methodology was later challenged. When Zuber emigrated to the U.S. in 1947, he handed over all responsibility for handling the Agunot to Rabbi A.I. Jacobson, who continued to investigate, administer, and represent these issues into the early 1950s. Obtaining Marriage Permission under Swedish Law At the time, population registration in Sweden, including the registration of personal status, was maintained by the Church of Sweden on the orders of the Crown, and it remained the church's duty until 1991. Hence, everyone seeking to marry, including Jewish couples, had to approach the local pastorate and declare their unmarried status. If one or both had been married before, they had to provide proof to the pastor of their current unmarried status or that they were divorced or widowed. This was generally more complicated for a foreign citizen, and even more so for a person whose spouse had died in war. The condition for marriage according to Swedish law was that the pastor be convinced and able to issue a hinderlöshetsintyg.16 In the absence of a Death Certificate from the country where the spouse had died, this was difficult to achieve. While accredited Jewish community officials such as a rabbi or cantor were authorized under Swedish Law to conduct Jewish marriage ceremonies, they would be very hesitant to do so without a hinderlöshetsintyg from the pastoral bureau, lest they lose their accreditation. In our research, we have tried to understand the extent of discretion these pastors had under Swedish law in deciding whether to issue marriage permission. In an article published in 1951,17 Rabbi Jacobson describes his 10. “Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe (1914-2004),” SETH JACOBSON, available at https://www.jacobson.co.il/aij/bio/eng/wsw-shortbio.html 11. “Rabbi Ya'akov Yisroel Zuber (1895-1953),” SETH JACOBSON, available at https://www.jacobson.co.il/aij/bio/eng/ yyz-short-bio.html 12. This is mentioned also in the preface of Rabbi Benjamin Zeev Jakobsohn to Rabbi Zuber’s CONTRAS L’TIKUN AGUNOT, reprinted in ZICHRON YAACOV, supra note 6, at ch. 16. 13. “Rabbi Shlomo David Kahane (1869-1953),” SETH JACOBSON, available at https://www.jacobson.co.il/aij/bio/eng/ sdk-short-bio.html 14. “Rabbi Benjamin Zeev Jakobsohn (1894-1973),” SETH JACOBSON, available at https://www.jacobson.co.il/aij/bio/eng/ bzj_short_bio.html 15. The two rabbis, Jakobsohn and Jacobson, contemporaries in Stockholm for seven years, are frequently confused by historians; see supra note 10. 16. Literally, “a barrier-free certificate,” i.e., an official certificate of freedom to marry. 17. Rabbi Abraham Israel Jacobson, “Några glimtar från min verksamhet bland 1945 års räddade” [“Some glimpses from my activities among 1945 survivors”], 3 (6–7) VÅR RÖST 10 (Utgiven av World Jewish Congress, Svenska Sektionen) (1951); A.I. Jacobson, Record Group p. 78, File 29, Moshal Repository of the Rabbi A.I. Jacobson Collection, Yad Vashem.
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