After a night in prison, husband grants get to estranged wife

A man who has refused for the past four years to give a get (halakhic divorce) to his wife was picked up seemingly by chance at a police checkpoint on Monday in the region of Modi’in, Behadrey Haredim reports. Finding that there was an arrest warrant for the man, they transferred him to police detention – and the next day, he agreed to grant his wife the coveted get.

The saga began four years ago, when the couple decided, for various reasons, to separate. Two years ago, they reached a divorce settlement but the husband subsequently changed his mind and refused to go through with it. The Rabbinic Court ruled that the husband was to grant a get and provide support to his wife, but the husband instead appealed to the Beit Din Hagadol (Rabbinic High Court) and agreed to an adapted settlement with his wife. However, yet again, he changed his mind and refused to go through with it.

At this point, the Yad Le’Isha organization, representing the wife, entered the picture. Their attorney, Tehila Cohen, approached the Rabbinical Court five weeks ago and demanded that the husband be coerced into granting a get, and the Court agreed. The police were involved and an arrest warrant was issued.

According to the report, the husband then told his children that their mother was pursuing him and he fled. He was picked up apparently by chance at a police checkpoint and transferred to prison. The next day, he agreed to grant his wife an unconditional get.

Approached for comment, the wife was effusive in her praise for Yad Le’Isha and attorney Cohen. “I endured this situation for four years, and for the last few months, Tehila Cohen went all-out to free me,” she said. “I am so grateful for her expertise and dedication.”

Yad Le’Isha’s director, Penina Omer, thanked the Rabbinical Court headed by Rabbi Bezek for his support, as well as the secretaries of the Rabbinical Courts of Tiberias and Tzfat. “We are constantly hearing stories of women subject to extortion in order to receive a get,” she said. “I appeal to the rabbis to find a halakhic solution to this problem and take responsibility for this situation.”

The husband was apparently not approached for comment.

This is not the first time that Yad Le’Isha has been involved in persuading Rabbinical Courts to use coercive measures to force husbands to grant their wives halakhic divorces, without which they cannot remarry according to Torah law. The use of coercion to “persuade” a husband to give a get is extremely controversial among Torah scholars, and many rabbinic authorities insist that such a coerced divorce is no divorce at all and that the woman remains married and any subsequent “remarriage” is an adulterous relationship – hence the appeal of Yad Le’Isha’s director for a halakhic solution.

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