Oy vey, give her the get and go

A PROMINENT member of South Africa’s Jewish community has been banned from entering a shul, taking part in communal Jewish events or even being buried in a Jewish graveyard because of his failure to grant his wife a traditional divorce.

The ban, imposed last weekend by the Beth Din rabbinical court, has proved a major talking point within the Jewish community.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein endorsed the decision and condemned the husband’s behaviour as “immoral”.

The Sunday Times has opted not to name the couple, in line with a Constitutional Court ruling on reporting divorce proceedings.

The matter has, however, been aired on social media by a lobby group highlighting the plight of women held to ransom by husbands who withhold the traditional divorce document, a “get”.

Under Jewish law, a get is required to effect a divorce. However, it must be granted by the husband to the wife — an increasingly unpopular provision.

In a statement to the Sunday Times, Goldstein said the Jewish community had a duty “to take a strong stand” against the husband’s conduct.

“The halacha [Jewish law] mandates us to do everything in our power to defend the rights of women, and especially in a situation like this, where a husband maliciously withholds a get,” said Goldstein.

“Therefore the Beth Din treats these situations with extreme seriousness. There is also very good South African legislation which assists. For these reasons we have hardly any agunah [get refusal] cases in South Africa.”

The Beth Din’s decision followed months of failed negotiations. “We must all support these sanctions against him because in so doing we support the strong moral stance of the halacha to fight on behalf of [the wife], whose rights are being violated,” said Goldstein.

The Beth Din said the husband had since remarried and had three children with his new wife.

The husband told the Sunday Times there was “another side to the story”, but gave no details.