One night in jail after an arrest at a lockdown checkpoint, and a years-long divorce battle came to an end.
Thanks in large part to a police checkpoint set up to identify people breaking Israel’s ongoing lockdown, a man who had been refusing his wife’s request for a divorce was arrested and soon thereafter consented to her request.
Over four years ago the wife had filed for divorce following a series of events. While coming to a court-arranged agreement to proceed with the divorce in 2018, the husband soon thereafter reneged on the agreement and has since refused to grant a Get (mandatory Jewish divorce contract) freeing his wife from the marriage.
After subsequent deliberations to reach an agreement five weeks ago, with which the husband refused to agree, the court issued an arrest warrant against the man and his information was handed over to the Israel Police.
Through the involvement of the Ohr Torah Stone Yad La’isha Legal Aid Center which advocates on behalf of agunot (women trapped in marriage), efforts were intensified to force the husband to release the Get.
With news of the warrant, the man left his job and even his family, telling his children that he was being tormented by their mother. His whereabouts remained unknown until earlier this week, when he was stopped at a police checkpoint in the Modiin area that had been set up as part of the nationwide Coronavirus lockdown.
Upon presentation of his identification to the attentive officer manning the checkpoint, the recalcitrant husband was immediately taken into custody. After spending the night in jail, he then agreed to issue the Get unconditionally.
After gaining her freedom, the wife responded to the events saying, “I have no words to express my gratitude to God and to his remarkable messengers from Yad La’isha and in particular the incredible Attorney Tehila Cohen. For the past four years I have been trapped and these past months Tehila has accompanied me going above and beyond in order to free me from this status.
“The professionalism, dedication and care and countless hours working on my case are just a small part of the support I received. I also want to thank the Rabbinical Court who worked over the Sukkot holiday period to help secure the Get.”
Pnina Omer, Director of Ohr Torah Stone’s Yad La’isha also expressed her thanks to the Rabbinical Court for working to expedite the resolution over the holiday.
“Over and over again we’re exposed to these stories of women being extorted as part of divorce proceedings,” Omer said. “The Get has become a halachically endorsed tool that can be abused to extort, control and threaten a spouse. We can’t continue to watch this happen.
“I take this opportunity to once again turn to the relevant leaders to take responsibility and find halachic solutions that will address agunot and Get-refusers. We have a moral responsibility towards our fellow Jewish women that they not be abandoned to suffer and be held hostage.”