After more than ten years of controversy, a high-profile divorce case that rattled Orthodox Jewish communities across the United States reached its conclusion Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York.
The case, which centered around a controversial religious permission known as the "Heter Meah Rabbanim" (Permission of 100 Rabbis), ended when the husband finally granted a religious divorce (get) to his first wife at the Tartikov Rabbinical Court.
The resolution came after intensive intervention from prominent Orthodox Jewish leaders, including the Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg and other influential rabbinical figures. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate, backed by major religious courts including the Orthodox Badatz court, had taken unprecedented steps to pressure for the divorce's completion.
"This marks a turning point in how these cases will be handled going forward," said a community official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The era of using the '100 rabbis permission' without strict oversight has effectively ended."
The case's resolution is expected to have immediate implications, including the lifting of a travel ban that had prevented Rabbi Abraham Katz, a prominent religious judge from Monsey, NY, from leaving Israel for several months.
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Hager, representing a coalition of Orthodox leaders, played a critical role in negotiating the final agreement. The divorce was officially processed before a panel of three judges: Rabbis Naftali Meir, Moshe Rosenfeld, and Yochanan Twersky.
The case has sparked broader discussions within Orthodox Jewish communities about marriage dissolution processes and the need for reform in religious divorce procedures. Religious authorities in both the United States and Israel have indicated they will implement stricter oversight of similar cases in the future.
For privacy reasons, the names of the divorced couple have been withheld from this report.
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