“Lebanese Chosson” Gives His Wife a Get, Bringing Dramatic Saga to an End

Eliyahu Haliwa, who turned out to be a Lebanese Muslim after marrying a frum Syrian girl from Brooklyn, NY, in 2021 and later underwent a “giyur lechumrah” to become a full-fledged Jew, has now given a get to his wife following a ruling by the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court.

As first reported by Matzav.com last year, Rabbi Avrohom Reich, founder of Kehillas Hatzolas Yisroel, one of the first kiruv organizations in Brooklyn for Russian Jews, said that after speaking to Haliwa’s mother, who lives in Texas, who said she was Jewish, Haliwa underwent a giyur lechumrah. Rabbi Reich, as we reported, did not conduct the conversion himself, but witnessed the conversion being made by a bais din, confirming this in a letter seen below.

Haliwa then went to visit Israel with the intention of settling there. At the time, he wanted to get back together with his wife.

Meanwhile, Haliwa said that leaders and rabbis from the Syrian community tried to persuade his wife to cut ties with him.

“I want everyone to know, including the Syrian community, that they will not be able to cut me off from my wife,” he said at the time. “Next year I will be here with my wife, no matter how much they try to cut us off.” As for her family, and whether they will one day accept him, he said, “I hope that one day they will accept me. I have nothing against them.” He added, “I am happy to be here in the Land of Israel, in the Holy Land. This is my home, this is my place. I am surrounded by good people. I am surrounded by the army and police who protect me. I am happy here. The air here is different. This is where I belong. With the help of Hashem, I will live here, I will die here, and I will be buried here, and soon I will be reunited here with my wife.”

Earlier, Haliwa had said that he stopped putting on tefillin because he knew he is not allowed to. Eliyahu was then interviewed on the radio by broadcaster Zev Brenner.

“I was wrong and did a lot of damage to the bride’s family,” he said. “I’m not a victim, and not trying to be one. I just want another chance. I want to fix what happened.” He added, “I want people to understand me, but unfortunately people respond that I deserve death. All the news networks wrote harsh things about me. I want to be a Jew. I really want to convert. I have a Jewish soul. I want to be ultra-Orthodox. I wanted to study Torah long before the wedding.”

The issues became too complex and his wife ended up approaching the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court with a letter from rabbonim stating that Haliwa was a Muslim at the time of their marriage, so the marriage should be cancelled retroactively. The Rabbinical Court did its own independent research and concluded that while Haliwa’s great-grandmother is a Muslim in Lebanon, she descends from Jewish lineage.

The Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court put a restraining order on Haliwa that required him to give a get if he wanted to leave the country, and now, he has granted the get, freeing his wife.

{Matzav.com Israel}