In a particularly significant and precedent-setting decision, the Rabbinical Council of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate issued a ruling this week that would prohibit the burial in an Israeli religious cemetery of relatives of certain men who are actively denying their wives a Get, or traditional Jewish writ of divorce.
The decision, designed solely to force the hand of a recalcitrant husband, was reached after Israel’s Supreme Court deferred intervening directly on the matter but ordered the council to reach a position on the issue presented to the Court earlier this year.
The case which brought about the decision surrounds two American citizens where the husband M has been denying his wife L a Get for no less than 19 years. While L remains trapped in her marriage until she can secure a halachic divorce via receipt of the Get, M was able to remarry without divorcing his wife in 2014 after having obtained a fraudulent “heter mea rabanim”, a halachic legal mechanism which enables a husband to marry an additional wife, although very rarely used.
Over the years L and various recognized Rabbinic Courts have made multiple efforts to convince M to tender the Get but 19 years after they separated he continues to refuse her requests. This led L and her legal team to petition the Israeli Supreme Court to issue the ruling denying M’s family members, including an ailing parent, the right to be buried in an Israeli religious cemetery, with the hope that such a decision would compel him to set her free.
Alongside L’s lead counsel Adv. Daniel Schwartz and Adv. Avraham Ben Tzvi, the Yad La’isha Legal Aid Center of Ohr Torah Stone which defends the interests of agunot (trapped women) were engaged as co-counsel in the matter.
In 2019, M’s mother died and was brought to Israel for burial. Based upon multiple rulings of prominent Rabbis and Batei Din, then Chief Rabbi David Lau tried to stop the burial of M’s mother until a proper Get would be given. Due to the extreme pressure of the body already being in Israel, there simply was not enough time to set this mechanism up so that it would be effective. “When I learned about this attempt, we did some legal research and determined that in fact a burial can be prevented in order to obtain a Get, both as a matter of Jewish and Israeli law,” explained Adv. Schwartz, who represented L in her divorce against M in New York. “We hope that these proceedings will lead finally to the granting of a Get.”
On Tuesday, August 30th, the Chief Rabbinate’s Council accepted the recommendation of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau on the matter and issued the decision stating that in specific cases of particularly severe Get refusal, family members of the refusing party could be denied the right to a halachic burial. While the Rabbinical Council was clear in its position, they clarified that the implementation of the decision would require the additional approval of a rabbinical court (either in Israel or an accepted rabbinical court in the Diaspora) at the time it becomes relevant. The California Beit Din which issued the injunction on the burial of M’s family is recognized by the Chief Rabbinate in Israel.
L responded to the Rabbinate’s statement saying, “I am deeply thankful to the Chief Rabbinate for this miraculous decision which proves that I am not alone and that the people of Israel are with me. I very much hope and pray that this decision will help set me free after nearly two decades even if the only motivation behind these actions are his desire to properly respect his parents and family and to spare them from the potential consequences of this decision. I also hope that this decision will help other women trapped in these situations.”
Pnina Omer, Director of Yad La’isha said “This decision is instrumental in advancing the cause of L but more broadly for the wider effort to address the challenges surrounding trapped women. Women in these positions need to know that there are halachic options to force the hand of these men, and this decision proves that there are brave and compassionate people who are willing to take the drastic, yet necessary, steps to show that these women will not be forgotten.”
Adv. Schwartz said the decision revealed the positive influence held by the Rabbinate in these cases. “This sends a very clear message to every Get-refuser and their supporters that those actions come with consequence. Our every hope is that the husband will finally be convinced by this decision to the appropriate and just action and let his wife free.”
“The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has sent a very clear message today that the Jewish State will not be used as a safe haven by these evil men who wish to manipulate halacha and our government institutions in the most cynical manner in ways that enable them to continue to abuse their wives rather than allow them to go free,” said Adv. Avraham Ben Tzvi.