Divorce (illustration)
Divorce (illustration)Thinkstock

A rabbinical court in Tel Aviv issued an exit deferment order against a haredi couple from the United States and confiscated their passports, claiming that they support their son's refusal to give his wife a Gett (divorce document) for many years.

The father of "divorce-refuser" Oded Gaz, a doctor of physics and a former lecturer at Bar Ilan University, was sentenced to a 30-day imprisonment after Gaz stopped appearing at Rabbinical Court hearings.

“Me and my husband are being punished for no reason,” said Gaz’s mother according to Walla! News. “Perhaps the Court is seeking to help an Agunah (Jewish woman who is "chained" to her marriage - ed.), but they are being cruel to the wrong people."

After Gaz went missing, a judicial panel of the Supreme Rabbinical Court headed by Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi David Lau publicly ostracized his conduct.

During a meeting with the Israel Prison Service, Rabbi Lau said: “Unfortunately, I have sent some (Gett refusing husbands) here in the hopes and prayers that they may come to their senses.”

Rabbi Lau expressed sorrow over Gaz’s disappearance and noted that up until recently, he had been cooperating.

The Rabbinate now fears that if he is not found soon, Gaz’s wife will remain an Agunah for many more years to come.