A Beis Din in Netanya revoked a marriage that was conducted k’das Moshe V’Yisrael via the Rabbanut in Hadera after a startling discovery in the wake of divorce proceedings.
The story began when a woman, a Bas Kohen and a mother of three daughters, appealed to the Beis Din for a get, claiming that her husband is unfaithful. The woman requested custody of her daughters and the money owed to her according to the kesuvah.
Prior to the hearing, the husband’s attorney presented a preliminary claim questioning the authority of the Beis Din to resolve the dispute between the two parties for a startling reason. The lawyer claimed that his client is not Jewish and therefore the Beis Din is not authorized to rule on the case. The lawyer even presented papers testifying that that the husband is a non-Jew, including his original birth certificate, stating that his mother is Ukrainian.
The husband said that his mother had left Israel and immigrated to Canada three years earlier and right before she left, she revealed to him that she wasn’t Jewish and gave him his real original birth certificate.
An investigation later revealed that the husband, his twin brother, and another brother were all married according to “halacha’ to Jewish women through the Rabbanut in Hadera and all three brothers had children.
The Rabbanim of the Beis Din carried out an in-depth investigation of the husband’s claims, even speaking at length to the husband’s mother in Canada via teleconference. The mother confirmed that she is a non-Jewess and even submitted documents that verified her claim.
The Rabbanim transferred the documents to two professional investigators who specialize in determining Jewish identity. After in-depth research, the investigators informed the Beis Din that according to the official register in Ukraine, the husband’s mother and grandmother are both non-Jews, contrary to what’s written on their Israeli identity cards, and therefore the husband is non-Jewish.
In order to remove any doubt, the Beis Din then sought a second opinion from HaRav Alexander Dan, who also specializes in determining Jewish identity. He also carried out a thorough investigation and concluded that the husband is a non-Jew.
The Beis Din subsequently issued a lengthy p’sak din, spanning dozens of pages, concluding that “since the defendant is not a Jew, the Beis Din does not have the authority to judge regarding the custody of the children and alimony…or the dissolution of the marriage…and the two parties must appeal to the Family Court.”
The Av Beis Din noted that “today it is necessary mei’ikar hadin to investigate olim from the former Soviet Union who claim they are Jews.”
The dayanim also expressed great pain over the distress of the woman, who was deceived by her husband’s mother, as well as the other two daughters-in-law.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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16 Responses
Thank you Zionists for inviting into your State millions of Russian Goyim posing as Jews.
Most likely a lot more to the story
And hopefully not an embellishment to lobby on behalf of stricter conversion laws / current modifications
The story does not match the title! The story clearly states the the Beis Din refused to rule on the issue and forwarded the dossier to family court to rule.
This is the tip of an iceberg no one talks about.
Many citizens of the former Soviet Union who wanted to leave their Communist prison took the opportunity to emigrate to Israel after the success of the Let My People Go campaigns. Some paid money to Jews who weren’t interested in leaving to trade ID’s, some just falsified papers like the woman in this story.
The tens of thousands of non-Jewish Russian immigrants in Israel are a big problem that Kahana is trying to solve with his giyur reforms (I’m not commenting on what a good or bad idea that is). What people don’t want to realize is that the supposedly Jewish immigrants who fooled authorities, or were themselves misled by their mothers, are a much bigger problem.
Please fix the headline and opening paragraph. Responsible Batei Dinn do not “revoke” marriages.
The Beis Din clarified that there was in fact never a marriage to begin with, as Kiddushin by a non-Kew is not Tofes.
This should not be confused with the dangerous idea of revoking marriages retroactively through various means, which presents a slippery slope leading to the abyss.
The primary headline perhaps should be changed to emphasize the unfortunate failure of the system to prevent such a terrible occurrence from happening in the first place.
Hymish, This deception can happen in Brooklyn and and anywhere in the world. i.e. Eliya Haliwa etc. None of us are immune to being deceived. Interesting that it took money for the liar to expose himself. It was only when the wife wanted her kesuva money that he outed himself. Hashem Yerachem on the family. Its time to start keeping proof of our yahadus.
Shame on Kol Yisroel in rhe 1990s for allowing this to happen. The country should go after the Ukrainian shiksa who lied just to get out of the broken USSR. How many more are in Israel who have lied and got stipends without being honest. Many ISRAELIS could had benefitted had the country been more careful on allowing just anyone in. Please do an audit on the throngs of olim from the 1990s.
My heart goes to the women who were duped.
This just proves that the time has come to create a sefer hayuchsin, and leave the government out of the decision as to who is a Jew.
א”י עיסה לבבל
2 Questions:
1 – If a non-Jew accepts the kesuva – even under the false premises that he is Jewish, is that nevertheless a binding contractual agreement which could be enforced by Beit Din?
2 – And if not by Beit Din, could a secular court treat the kesuva as a binding contract?
Did one check if Liebermann is jews.
send them home….we do not need gentiles running around as jews….awful…..not my problem…..it is from above….
ujm, i know understand how an eigel haZahav could follow matan Torah. Your ability to turn a miracle into an unfortunate event shows how some can view events. Speak to a competent Rav about your de’ot.
The average Israeli nowadays, should be considered a goy (especially if from former USSR-CSSR, but even not).
This is simple logic – Israelis are Zionists not jews, just like Christians are not jews unless proven
This looks like a bizarre case possibly based on financial considerations. How do you believe the mother – either she lied first time to be accepted as a Jew or second time to gain financial advantage for her son? I would say she and her son are proven liars in at least one case, so all benefits should go to the other side. Still would need get from sofek, unless they now can suddenly find clear documentation to prove they are non-Jews.
DrYidd, lol you stumbled on the wrong website. Yeshiva World is visited by the small minority of yeshiva Jews who don’t buy into the Zionist “miracles”. Go find another site if you want some likeminded people.