Bais Din Grants Divorce After 22 Years

In a historic decision issued by the bais din in Tzefas, a woman has finally been granted a get after more than twenty years of her husband refusing to release her from their marriage. The case stands out as the first instance in which criminal charges were filed against a husband for get refusal, ending with the issuance of the get after he received a conditional pardon from the president.

The couple wed in Baltimore in 1997 and have three children. From early in the marriage, the woman suffered serious abuse, was cut off from her family, and was even denied the ability to get proper treatment for one of their sons who was ill. She filed for divorce in 2003, but the husband never showed up in court. A local court ultimately granted the divorce in his absence in 2005.

Years later, after the family made aliyah to celebrate their son’s bar mitzvah, the woman reopened the case in the Israeli bais din system. Despite repeated attempts, the husband refused to cooperate. In 2012, he was arrested and held in prison for several years, but was eventually released in 2019 when the woman closed the file.

In 2020, the legal arm of the batei din took a groundbreaking step by utilizing Article 287 of the Penal Code, which allows criminal prosecution of someone who ignores a legal directive. The husband was brought to trial and sentenced to an additional year and a half behind bars.

While serving that second sentence, talks resumed with the involvement of the prison system’s rabbinical staff, the public legal aid service, and officials from the batei din system. With the direct guidance of the President of the Great Rabbinical Court, Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Dovid Yosef, and backing from the Office of the President and the Justice Ministry, the man was offered a conditional pardon if he agreed to grant the get. He ultimately consented.

The divorce was finalized at the bais din in Tzefas and officiated by Rav Yosef Yaguda, the head of the bais din in Haifa.

Now living once again in Baltimore, the woman has finally been set free from the chains of her long-standing unresolved marriage. Rav Eli Ben Dahan, Director of the Rabbinical Courts, said: “The ability to impose criminal sanctions on recalcitrant husbands continues to yield positive results. Through these measures, we have succeeded in freeing a woman from a prolonged marital impasse. We remain committed to employing all available legal mechanisms to assist those denied a divorce in Israel.”

{Matzav.com Israel}