Following a week of dramatic, fast-moving developments, a man who kept his wife an Agunah for 17 years has finally given his wife a Get.
Dibo (Jeff) Hafif gave the Get on Sunday morning, thanks to a few Sephardic Rabbonim in Flatbush, and the recent movement on social media to pressure recalcitrant husbands into giving their wife divorces.
As YWN reported last week, there were nightly protests outside the mans home in Flatbush last week. The protests grew in size, and the hashtag #FreeEvet went viral on social media. Jewish influencers on social media, many accounts who have thousands of followers have been promoting hashtags in support of these Agunos.
Meanwhile, the man had already married a second woman, and was arrested on Thursday for assaulting his wife and children. Hafif was eventually released from custody, and a meeting was held on Sunday morning with local Rabbonim – including Rabbi Eli Mansour – where he gave the Get.
Mr. Harry Adjmi, one of the pillars of the Sephardic community in Flatbush, was extremely influential in facilitating at least two Gitten the past few days.
This is just one of a few Agunos who received a Get the past two weeks, following an outpouring of protests on social media in support of many women who are literally chained to their husbands.
There are multiple protests planned this week at the homes of other get-refusers, and sources tell YWN that Rabbonim are frantically trying to convince these men to give their Gitten before protests escalate.
LAST NIGHT:
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24 Responses
mamish yeshiva news!!
Smart move. Normally I’m disgusted by the excitement of YWN whenever there’s a negative story of someone they disagree with (regardless if the individual is plain evil), but in this case, they are part of the solution to this horrible problem of refusing to give a gett (it’s two “t”s)
But the poor second wife who we all heard being abused in such vile manner. What about her? Is he free to go back to continue?
Now lock him up for 17 years!
What’s with the protests? Fifty cents worth of duct tape and short length of plastic garden hose would quickly cause those recalcitrant to have a sincere change of attitude.
I’m happy for her! He acted like an animal! I just hope it is not a GET ME-USHA which invalidates the Get. Hilchos Gitin is not a social media issue. It belongs to GRDOLEI YISROEL to Pasken.
Now let me hear from this 2 idiots “ Deracheha_darchei_noam” and “ujm”who criticised the public pressure and the kashrus of the get. Not interested to hear about the Halacha witch the rabunim said is 100% kosher
The only way this was able to happen is the public pressure and to publish it all around. And we will continue on our scheduled protests for other husbands like him ones we receive the ok from the rabunim like it was by this one stay tuned. A big thank you to all the ppl who helped and we will keep up doing so and with hashems help it will work iy”h
A “Get Me’usa” Is only if it involves physical harm or damage to his money. But public pressure by making it public so everyone should know and it results in בושות is no question.
To “Jy”
There are two types of a “get”.
One type of a “get”, is one which was given willingly out of free will “without coercion or pressure”, which is a “kosher get”.
Another type of a “get” is one which is given out of any type of “coercion or pressure” whatsoever, including public pressure, humiliation, embarrassment and protests, which is considered a coerced “get”, a non-kosher “get” known as a “Get Me’usa”.
Anyone receiving a “get” that falls under a “Get Me’usa” is still considered an “Eishes Ish” (a married woman) and forbidden for someone to marry.
Any one getting remarried after receiving a “get” that falls under a “Get Me’usa”, any children from that new marriage would be “mamzeirim” and would be forbidden to be married by another jew unless that jew is also a “mamzer or mamzeres”.
There are very very rare times where certain types of pressure may be permitted, however such an instance can only be after a reliable, established and accepted mainstream “Bais Din” hears the claims of both parties and issues a clear “psak din” detailing as to what type of pressure is permitted, if any.
This new modern approach of dealing with “get” by applying pressure and arranging protests across the board whenever there is a dispute regarding a “get”, is against “halocho” and is an approach being promoted and pushed by “Ora” which is a “leftwing modern orthodox” organization that aligns itself with the ideology of “open orthodoxy” which said ideology either perverts and misapplies “halocho” or totally disregards “halocho” completely.
All of our “gedolim” have called out “open orthodoxy” as being very dangerous and as being “not orthodox” and is considered “apikorsis”.
“Ora’s” “non-orthodox” ideology has been infiltrating the orthodox community under the disguise of orthodoxy by using the approach used by missionaries, by preying on the good hearts of orthodox jews that are uninformed as to the “halochos” of “get”, and then misinforming them by misapplying “halochos” and concepts taken out of context, and then duping the good hearted but misguided orthodox jews to join their non-orthodox cause.
It is against “halocho” for anyone to encourage, promote or participate in either pressuring or protesting for the purposes of producing a “get”, without first seeing first hand a clear detailed “psak” as to what pressure may be permitted, after hearing the claims of both parties by a reliable, established and accepted mainstream “Bais Din”.
Anyone participating in any type of pressure without said “psak” is acting against “halocho” and is a “misaye’a lidvar aveira” and a partner of producing “mamzeirim” and forbidden remarriages in “klal yisroel”.
Once he gave the gett, why isn’t this 100% loshon hora?
According to the rambam
A man can be whipped until he says he is willing to give a Gett , and the Gett is kosher and valid. (Mishneh Torah 2:20)
And you are worried about shaming him publicly ? He got off too easy!!
I wonder if avichai is a man who is refusing his wife a get. He sounds too familiar with all the ways a get can be invalid and how it would be really bad for a women to get one of those.
For the record. Most of the men currently being called out on social media (all that I know of) have all been acting against orders of the bet din and have also been mesarev. These women all have the full rabbinical support to do what the rabbis have been trying to accomplish fruitlessly for years
Avichai you are oversimplifying the halochos of Gett Meusah. Allowing an Aguna MAY be worse than creating a Mamzer. Not for me or you to Pasken.
I’m afraid Sariray might be right. You sound like a Gett refuser.
Avichai aka M. Kin, you are a phony and a disgrace to mankind. Your YouTube clips against making Aliya to Israel are meant for men who are afraid of getting arrested for abusing their wife and/or holding their separated ex hostage. It is a positive that the Israeli government, Rav Lau, and Rav Yosef have more power and rachmanus on ladies and children who are in pain than anywhere else in the world. Putting pressure on animals like yourself is a mitzvah.
Thank you Ari79!
The dinim of gittin of extremely complex and definitely not in the hands of most rabbanim, let alone people who waste their time commenting on media such as here.
When a get is written, part of the process involves invoking a cherem from Rabeinu Tam against anyone who questions that get. I would suggest that those who have the arrogance to question a get actually know nothing about the subject.
However, in this instance, we have clear proof that the main factor is to bring proof on the rabbanim. The subject belongs to a community that is very protective of its honor, and as soon as the problem was made public, they acted.
This is a sad indictment of the Sefaradic community of Brooklyn and their Rabbonim. What they were either uninterested or imponent at fixing over the course of 17 years, a few people with smart phones were able to accomplish in a matter of a few weeks.
Don’t be fooled. This man won. He ran out the clock and the get he gave to a women no longer young seems now pretty worthless. Shame all around.
@besalel
What a disgusting thing to say: this Agunah should be chained to such an animal because she’s not 25? The Gett is worthless? Why- because she isn’t a baby machine or a “hot Chanie”?
You are just as despicable as any Gett refuser. You have zero respect for women. If you are married, nebach on your poor wife.
“Avichai” if you are a family member or a friend of the other side or if you are yourself a Get refuser. It is very said to see such people like you trying to make a statement witch is baseless and someone whose seems to have no idea what’s going on. Now the din is very clear and i will ask everyone to see it for themselves ערוך השולחן סי ק״כד or its קלד א וב׳ now because the person gave already the get i wont post details y its clear that in this case even “כופין אותו עד שאומר רוצה אני” would be allowed as you will see in the source i gave you.
And let me tell you another thing we didn’t do anything without the ok from a by”d.
[Now let me just be clear with you. that we will continue on our scheduled protests and could be that you are one of them. who knows!!] And to say things about a given get you must be very careful what you say. And the sin of doing so is very חמור ר״ל
Besalel you are talking what u don’t know anything about. Rabbis in the community and beyond have worked tirelessly for years to help this woman. There is just a limit to their powers. In fact, this particular case , they put him into cherem and plastered his face in every shul on flyers… he then took the council of rabbis to court for defamation. This is public- google Sephardic rabbinical council vs hafif
It cost them a pretty penny
And he also threatened anyone who tried to help her. He would call their wives and tell them “your husband is helping her because he’s having an affair” or try to spread lies about them. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Nothing was out of bounds for this monster. The agunah said publicly- do not blame the rabbis they really tried. If she doesn’t, how can you??
What he stole from her can never be returned
He WILL pay for that in BET DIN SHEL Malah
But Better late than never she still has so many years of her life BEH to enjoy and live in happiness
If he had it his way she would’ve never been free at all
Shame on him and shame on his enablers
I hope the men and boys of this and every Jewish community are paying attention
“Don’t let this be you”
Let them all learn now that it won’t be tolerated and they will pay a price
To all the above good meaning commenters. Although maybe unintentionally you are misleading people by quoting, applying, or referencing “halocho” out of context. Although maybe unknown to you, it appears to be against “halocho”, to encouraging people to join protests without first having and showing people a written “psak din” from a reliable, established and accepted mainstream “Bais Din” that heard the claims of both parties and issued a clear “psak din” detailing as to what type of pressure is permitted, if any. As we all know that pressure applied to a husband to give a “get” without a “psak din” will create a “get me’usa”. These actions seem to fall into the category of possible “Choti Umachti Es Horabim” and “Lifnei Iver Lo Siten Michshol”.
In order to try to bring some clarity to these very complicated and unfamiliar “halochic” issues at hand, and their severe repercussions of the possible violations of “eishes ish” and the producing of “mamzeirim”, I therefore copy a previously circulated letter below.
This letter was a PUBLIC NOTICE that was written and circulated in 2012 regarding GITTIN, COERCION and MAMZERUTH, written by Rabbi Dovid E. Eidensohn whom is a Talmid of HaGedolim Reb Aharon Kotler Zt”l, Reb Moshe Feinstein Zt”l, Reb Yaacov Kaminetsky Zt”l and the Cabala Jerusalem Genius Reb Shmuel Toledano Zt”l.
The letter is as follows:
Rav Dovid Eidensohn ORA Letter
LETTER TO LAKEWOOD ABOUT ORA AND DEMONSTRATIONS TO FORCE A GET
Rabbi Dovid E. Eidensohn
תמוז תשע“ב
PUBLIC NOTICE
REGARDING GITTIN, COERCION and MAMZERUTH
The Posek HaDor Reb Yosef Shalom Elyashev shlit”a encouraged me to speak out about the invalid Gittin being made in the United States because of coerced Gittin.
He was concerned about Rabbis who pressure the husbands to force a GET and make a GET MEUSO, an invalid forced GET. He told me that any Bais Din that makes changes in accepted Gittin halacha to help Agunoth, that he removes from it the Chezkas Bais Din. There are now hundreds of woman who have suspicious divorces. If they remarry they may be doing one of the worst aveiros and their children may be mamzerim.
To become familiar with this issue, we must first learn the following. There are three basic categories regarding coercion in a GET with the first two categories being rare.
1. When the Talmud says that someone must divorce, and if the husband refuses than we should coerce him. In this instance we may coerce even with sticks. see EH 154:21
2. If the Talmud says the husband must divorce, but does not specify coercion, the husband may not be physically forced Remo EH 154:21. However the Remo adds that such a person may be coerced with passive ostracizing as not doing business with him etc. if he can go to another city and escape it. Shach (end of Gevuras Anoshim) and Chazon Ish (EH 108:12) forbid this ostracizing.
3. This third category of coercion is the common one. A woman declared that her husband is repulsive to her and she cannot be with him in marriage. No coercion at all is permitted to force him to divorce. EH 77:3 Shulchan Aruch, Remo, Bais Yosef and Gra’h. Also see Rashba VII:414.
Humiliating the husband especially in public is forbidden both in the second and third categories and is only permitted in the first category. See Rashba VII:414, Radvaz IV:118, Bais Yosef EH 154, Chazon Ish EH 108:12.
The “modern” Orthodox have a terrible problem with broken marriages and “Agunoth.”
They invented “solutions” by twisting the Torah. Rabbi Herschel Schachter from Yeshiva University is the rabbi of ORA. ORA is an organization that frees wives from their husbands. Rabbi Schachter has declared publicly many times that any woman who leaves her husband is an Agunah and if the husband refuses to divorce her he should be forced, including with a baseball bat. He declares, “Coerce him until he dies.” This is a clear violation of conventional halacha. Such a GET is invalid and children born from it are mamzerim. (There are many videos and audio tapes of his talks.)
ORA sponsors public demonstrations against the husband and his family, deprives him of his livelihood, and other coercions. A child born from a mother freed from marriage by Rabbi Schachter and ORA may well be a mamzer.
ORA claims to have forced 170 men to divorce their wives. “ORA Is A Gilui Arayos Factory; A Mamzer Factory.”
Some “progressives” go further and permit a divorce without a GET, claiming that the marriage was invalid for some ridiculous reason.
There are now many children from women who remarried without a kosher GET. We must be very careful when marrying the child of a divorced woman to check with senior Gittin experts if the GET was indeed kosher.
What kind of Torah Jew would join with ORA, the mamzer factory, to force a GET? And yet in the Torah world of today, there are some leading Roshei Yeshivos and Rabbonim who are working together with ORA and doing questionable things to pressure a husband to give a GET.
If we do not take action immediately, the next generation will be divided between those we may marry and mamzerim.
To comment, to get involved or for questions please call me at 845-578-1917.
Dovid E. Eidensohn
Talmid HaGedolim Reb Aharon Kotler Zt”l, Reb Moshe Feinstein Zt”l, Reb Yaacov Kaminetsky Zt”l and the Cabala Jerusalem Genius Reb Shmuel Toledano Zt”l
Please let us know where the protests are being held in front of women’s houses with children who are עגונים away from their Father’s, especially as we approach the great מצוה of והגדת לבנך which is a Torah obligatory מצוה on every Jewish Father, how can any Rabbi not involve himself in applying every extreme pressure against any callous woman interfering with a Father’s fulfillment of this huge מצוה.
A גט is at most voluntary, because it is even bigger מצוה to stay married & promulgate שלום בית which is way better than making the מזבח shed tears.
Despite all the ignorant comments the halacha is clear. A get that was produced by coercion of any kind is completely possul and worthless EXCEPT where an honest beis din has determined that one of a VERY FEW exceptions apply, and has ordered the husband to give a get, and he has refused. In such a case he may be compelled, NOT directly to give the get, but to submit to the beis din’s authority and do whatever the beis din says. Which in this case is to give the get.
But the key point is that the beis din must be honest and only give such an order in the few cases where the gemara permits it. The best sign that a so-called “beis din” is not honest is when they give such orders in all cases or a majority of cases. It’s not possible that the majority of women demanding gittin deserve them al pi din. It’s certainly not possible that all such women deserve them.
So a beis din that never finds a case where kfiyas get is not justified, and never tells a woman “We’re sorry, but you’re his wife and if you want out you will have to pay him whatever he demands”, is just like a shochet ubodek who never finds a treife cow, or a sofer who never finds a possule mezuzah. And ALL such a beis din’s gittin should be presumed to be possul.
And people who have no idea of the details of a case, but have only heard “The wife wants a get and the husband refuses to give it”, have no business getting involved. It’s exactly the same as when you hear that “Reuven is demanding $1000 from Shimon, and Shimon refuses to pay”. If you don’t know whether he owes the money, how can you take sides? The same applies here: in MOST cases a woman who wants a get is not entitled to it, and the husband has every right to refuse, but in SOME cases that is not so, so if we don’t know we must stay out of it.