Chained woman unchained retroactively

Marriage annulments are extremely rare in Judaism, but one just happened, though not through official channels.

In Israel the lifecycle events are all centralized and administered by the Rabbanut - birth, marriage, divorce, conversion and death. You can pretty much find a private rabbi or private beis din and do whatever you want (within the limitations of each rabbi/beisdin), though your status will only be recognized as official if you do it through the official Rabbinate.

Tzviya Gorodetsky has been an aguna since 1995. Her husband has decided he prefers to sit in jail, since the year 2000,  rather give her a gett. The divorce was initially ordered by the beis din after an incident of domestic abuse after Tzviya lost her baby shortly before due to give birth. Since then the Rabbanut has been unable to persuade him to give the gett.

Now a private beis din,. led by Rabbi Sperber, has determined that she qualifies for an annulment. They base their ruling on the fact that the marriage was a mistake- -  a mekach taus - as nobody would ever agree to such a marriage if knowledge of the level of abuse would have been known.Also, she testified that she bought and paid for her own wedding ring, not the husband, showing that the initial kinyan itself might not have been valid (if her testimony is to be accepted and believed).

Rabbi Sperber's name is the only one attached to the decision, as the other rabbis involved wished to remain anonymous, as did the talmidei chachomim with whom they consulted, so as to avoid the obvious backlash that would be coming their way from the Rabbanut as a result of this decision.

So, with an off the record private annulment, that m,eans from the perspective of Judaism she is not married but from the Rabbanut's perspective she is/ Rabbanut does not control Judaism, so anybody can go to any rabbi or beis din and perform any religious ceremony with all the halachic ramifications, though the Rabbanut will not recognize and accept it and change the persons status accordingly as a result. So, if she chooses to remarry, halachically she is allowed to but it would have to be through a private affair, or abroad (which is all private) and not through the Rabbanut.

What a mess, but at least she has choices and options now, even if somewhat limited.

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