The Rabbinate saw fit to make the appointment to help shore up religious services for the many thousands of new immigrants who have settled in the capital over the past few years.
Rabbi Yehuda Gordon, in his 60's, immigrated to Israel in 1965 from Lodz, Poland. As a member of Israel's Rabbinical Courts system, he has dealt with thousands of difficult divorce cases, and is credited with finding many recalcitrant husbands who refuse to give their wives religious divorce papers.
Rabbi Gordon told Arutz-7 today that he has traveled throughout Europe and Russia to find these men and convince them to sign the papers. He said that about two years ago, he had a particularly miraculous case:
"A woman from Gush Katif wished to marry a widower. She had once been married, however, in a full Jewish ceremony, to a man who remained behind in the city of Chernovsky in Ukraine. I called him on the phone to ask about him giving her a get [Jewish divorce]. He threatened to beat me up if I ever showed up at his door and to throw me out the window of his 6th-floor apartment.
"About two months later, I was in Chernovsky, and I brought my friend with me from Jerusalem, and with no prior notice, we made our way, with great trepidation, to the man's apartment. I knocked, and a non-Jewish woman opens the door, smiles nicely at us, says, 'Oh, rabbis, please come in.' The apartment was full of broken dishes, and the husband was sitting on the couch, nice and calm, but all scratched up. After a short talk, I brought out the papers authorizing us to issue a get in his name, he signed them, and I put them away. But I had to ask: 'When I called up last time, you threatened to throw me out the window. What happened?'
"He said, 'What happened was that last night, my wife here had a dream that I had two wives. She woke up in a rage, and demanded that I divorce the other one. I told her that I had already done so, and I showed her the civil divorce paper. She refused to accept this, and said, 'No, you have two wives,' and we have had this big fight since this morning... So when you came in, we knew that our problem was solved."
Rabbi Gordon then continued, "We see what miracles G-d does in order to free a Jewish woman of her chains... I recently visited MK Tzvi Hendel in the Knesset, and he started to tell me about a close relative of his who had just married a woman only after a rabbi went to Chernovsky and convinced the former husband... I said that it was me, and we had a little dance in celebration..."
Fluent in eight languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, French, German, and Czech, Rabbi Gordon has headed an immigrants' yeshiva in Paris, directed the Al Tidom (Do Not Be Silent) organization for Russian Jews in New York, and taught in Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim in Jerusalem.
His background is rich in rabbinical experience, having studied closely with the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein of New York and the late Rabbi Yitzchak Zilber, head of the Russian Jewish community in Israel.
Author of many books on Jewish law and thought, Rabbi Gordon has "open phone lines" in Russian, English and French for citizens to ask questions and discuss problems. The lines are temporarily inoperative, but he can be reached regarding agunah issues at "gordon11@speedy.co.il".
Rabbi Yehuda Gordon, in his 60's, immigrated to Israel in 1965 from Lodz, Poland. As a member of Israel's Rabbinical Courts system, he has dealt with thousands of difficult divorce cases, and is credited with finding many recalcitrant husbands who refuse to give their wives religious divorce papers.
Rabbi Gordon told Arutz-7 today that he has traveled throughout Europe and Russia to find these men and convince them to sign the papers. He said that about two years ago, he had a particularly miraculous case:
"A woman from Gush Katif wished to marry a widower. She had once been married, however, in a full Jewish ceremony, to a man who remained behind in the city of Chernovsky in Ukraine. I called him on the phone to ask about him giving her a get [Jewish divorce]. He threatened to beat me up if I ever showed up at his door and to throw me out the window of his 6th-floor apartment.
"About two months later, I was in Chernovsky, and I brought my friend with me from Jerusalem, and with no prior notice, we made our way, with great trepidation, to the man's apartment. I knocked, and a non-Jewish woman opens the door, smiles nicely at us, says, 'Oh, rabbis, please come in.' The apartment was full of broken dishes, and the husband was sitting on the couch, nice and calm, but all scratched up. After a short talk, I brought out the papers authorizing us to issue a get in his name, he signed them, and I put them away. But I had to ask: 'When I called up last time, you threatened to throw me out the window. What happened?'
"He said, 'What happened was that last night, my wife here had a dream that I had two wives. She woke up in a rage, and demanded that I divorce the other one. I told her that I had already done so, and I showed her the civil divorce paper. She refused to accept this, and said, 'No, you have two wives,' and we have had this big fight since this morning... So when you came in, we knew that our problem was solved."
Rabbi Gordon then continued, "We see what miracles G-d does in order to free a Jewish woman of her chains... I recently visited MK Tzvi Hendel in the Knesset, and he started to tell me about a close relative of his who had just married a woman only after a rabbi went to Chernovsky and convinced the former husband... I said that it was me, and we had a little dance in celebration..."
Fluent in eight languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, French, German, and Czech, Rabbi Gordon has headed an immigrants' yeshiva in Paris, directed the Al Tidom (Do Not Be Silent) organization for Russian Jews in New York, and taught in Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim in Jerusalem.
His background is rich in rabbinical experience, having studied closely with the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein of New York and the late Rabbi Yitzchak Zilber, head of the Russian Jewish community in Israel.
Author of many books on Jewish law and thought, Rabbi Gordon has "open phone lines" in Russian, English and French for citizens to ask questions and discuss problems. The lines are temporarily inoperative, but he can be reached regarding agunah issues at "gordon11@speedy.co.il".