A woman who has been estranged from her husband was basically an aguna. They have been living separately, but he would not give her a get. The beis din in New York paskened she deserves a get, based on the details of the situation, but he continued refusing.In New York the beis din does not have any special powers of authority. They can try to pressure him to comply, but they don't have any real authority. In Israel, the situation is different. The beis din in Israel has the ability to sanction the offender until he complies.
The wife found out her husband was on a trip to Israel. She filed a grievance with the beis din in Israel, to pay alimony and to not allow him to leave Israel.
The beis din led by Rav Tzuriel Bublil did so, and he processed it through the courts, basically catching this "mesarev get" to either give his wife a get and pay whatever beis din obligated him to pay, or continue hanging out in Israel. The courts followed through and he cannot leave until he gives the get or until they have a session with both sides present, for which she is planning on coming.
I wonder what Nefesh b'Nefesh would say if he applied for that "Express Aliyah" service they offer...
Interestingly, even though neither the woman nor the man is an Israeli citizen or resident, she was able to file her claim in Israel to prevent him from leaving. This organization, The Jewish International Center, led by Rav Bublil, has been instrumental in passing legislation allowing Jewish women abroad to file claims in Israel to catch their husbands who might be hiding out in Israel. The sole purpose is to help these agunot.
Its terrific of course that this aguna had the option and I wish her all success in obtaining her get. However, she shouldn't assume that a mere tzav ikuv is going to keep him parked here and should be taking proactive steps to make sure that he does. Mine had one from the Beit Din HaRabbani and one from the Beit Mishpat with orders that he post a bond and get a guarantor if he wanted to leave to pursue his business in the US. He couldn't find the guarantor for obvious reasons and simply skipped over a border(likely Egypt or Jordan since as far as the Misrad HaPnim could determine he didn't get on a plane or present either his US or Israeli passport at any border. Of course nobody is responsible for having failed to prevent this)and took a plane from one of those countries. Since, as I said, he didn't present either of his legal passports, one would assume he provided himself with alternate documentation, which isn't, unfortunately too difficult. He was able to go back to his lucrative job and former activities without needing to shoulder responsiblity for support of his children, let alone me. Since he has chosen to no longer be part of the Jewish community the very powerless US Beit Din and Jewish community isn't much interested in "sticking their neck out". She can also expect the file she opened to be closed suddenly for no logicalreason.
ReplyDeleteThe article says Rav Bublil is her lawyer. Not the Av Bet Din.
ReplyDelete