Ohr Torah Stone | Features | Newsletter Winter 2002

Click here for Previous Issues of OHR Online

OTS Newsletter - Winter 2002

Yad L'Isha: A Helping Hand For Women In Need

S IS A JERUSALEM MOTHER of six whose divorce case was mired in the court system since 1982. For twenty years, her unstable and abusive husband obstinately refused to grant her a get, holding her hostage in an attempt to gain full custody of their children and all joint property. Finally, a desperate and penniless S was referred to Yad L'Isha - The Max Morrison Legal Aid Center and Hotline for Women. Through careful and passionate legal research and argument, the Center successfully fought for separation between the granting of a get and the couple's custodial and financial arrangements. "Fifteen months ago," recalls Vardit Rosenblum, who handled the case, "the courts finally ordered an even split from a sale of the marital home, which was contingent upon the husband's granting of a get."

But S's predicament was far from resolved: her husband reneged, insisting that the sale of the home go through before the get was granted. Then he reneged again, demanding his share of the money in advance. Although the court clearly understood his demands to be contractually - and morally - baseless, they nonetheless pressured S to agree, fearing that if she did not give in, she would never receive her get.

Vardit immediately moved to stay the decision, and filed an appeal in a higher court. "I could hardly believe it," she says. "Once the husband would receive his half, what incentive would he have for giving my client a divorce? He would leave her hanging for another twenty years with no home, no child support, no get and no life." When the appellate court handed down its verdict, the ruling was for S - along with a steep reprimand of the lower court. "We have no doubt that the lower court acted in opposition to halacha, putting the woman and her children into a horrible and desperate situation." The appellate court ordered the husband to grant the get immediately - which he did, the very next day.

"The outcome of this case has very significant ramifications," explains Legal Aid director Susan Weiss. "One of the more horrible cases that we recently closed involved a woman who lived in a caravan because the court forced her to sell the marital home in accordance with a divorce agreement that her husband breached. This ruling should help prevent that kind of injustice in the future."

The Legal Aid Center was founded in 1997 to help S and others like her. Today, seven advocates are employed in Jerusalem and in the Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Regional Center in Tel Aviv, serving some 160 clients at any given time. Vardit, a married mother of three, joined the Center two years ago through a grant from The Nash Family Foundation. "We are on call 24 hours a day to expedite our clients' cases," declares Vardit. "We do not tolerate foot-dragging, and we do not hesitate to file appeals or stays for unjust rulings. People need to understand that each and every day that an aguna is denied a divorce is a day of unnecessary suffering. They must understand that the denial of a get is tantamount to theft for the woman whose freedom is stolen. We are committed to releasing these women from their chains before it is too late."

< Back

Return to Ohr Torah Stone