Recalcitrant husband finally gives wife a get

Jewish men in the street during Tikkun HaKlali near the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, on eve of Rosh Hashanah, October 2, 2024 (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Two years after a Jewish woman in Israel asked her husband for a get, she finally got it.

The couple had been married for 10 years, and she has been an agunah (a chained woman) because he refused to give her a get for the last two years.

She turned to Yad Leisha, the oldest, largest, and most experienced support center for agunot in the world, who provide women with free legal counseling and legal representation in Israeli rabbinic courts. She asked them to help her to get her get. She was represented by attorney Dina Raitchik who successfully placed sanctions on her husband, including a lien on his bank account. Unfortunately, in spite of these sanctions, he still refused to grant the get.

The turning point came when he realized that he had an exit delay order issued against him as part of the sanctions authorized by the Beis Din.This meant that he wouldn't be able to go to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. He tried to get the exit order cancelled but was unsuccessful.

The wife's attorney Dina Raitchik explained, "We realized we had an opportunity which would return to pressure him and we refused to cancel the exit order. In the end his love for the Tzaddik [Rebbe Nachman] overcame his ‘love’ for his wife. I am happy the woman ended the year as a free woman. We will continue to fight for the freedom of all of our clients who are trapped in marriages against their will.”