Apparently, Get refusal in Israel goes both ways. On Sunday evening, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav David Lau said that there are currently more female Get refusers in the country than there are male Get refusers.
According to Halacha, a man must acquiesce to giving his wife a Get in order for a divorce to take place. A woman can refuse a Get, if she persists in her refusal to accept a Get for a month after a ruling is issued that a Get should be given.
The statement by Rabbi Lau came during a meeting held for Rabbis of the Israel Prison Services. Rabbi Lau went further, blaming the media for fostering the narrative that only women cannot remarry due to husbands who refuse to give a Get, thereby fostering a blatant bias against men stuck in troubled marriages.
In Israel, the Rabbinate is allowed to put those who refuse to give or accept a Get in prison. However, it has so far only incarcerated male refusers.
Said Rabbi Lau: “The media always presents one aspect and, naturally, there are indeed male refusers in prison. But female refusers have not yet been allowed to be put here, and I hope that we will not have to deal with this question.”
“These stories are very painful. Unfortunately there are people who use their abilities inappropriately, and hurt first and foremost themselves and the family.”
In 2017, the Chief Rabbinate released statistics that showed that more men are refused a divorce than women. As reported in Israeli news sites at the time, the records show that some 56,000 couples divorced over the past five years. In the vast majority of these cases, the Beit Din (Rabbinical Court) succeeded in bringing about a divorce by mutual consent or was presented with a “done deal.”
However, in some 7,000 cases, the Rabbinate was forced to order a Get. Out of those cases, 3,566 were against the man, and 3,384 were against the woman. In all but 809 of these cases, a get was given within a month.
According to a report that appeared recently on the Arutz Sheva website, of the 809 cases where refusals for more than a month took place, 382 of them involved a recalcitrant husband, while the other 427 involved women who refused to accept a Get. 12 percent more women refused divorces than men.
Similar statistics cropped up in recent years. Between 2012 and 2015, some 249 women refused to accept a get, while 205 men refused to give one. In 2016 the numbers were almost equal, although the total number spiked significantly with 285 total cases of Get refusal, 143 for men and 142 for women.
Between 2012 and 2017, 69 men were imprisoned for refusing to give a get and not a single woman was imprisoned for refusing to accept one.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
9 Responses
nothing like a little fact to put a dent in the male bashing and religion bashing
you are forgetting a trivial and simple fact: IN EVERY CASE WHERE A WOMAN REFUSES A GET THAT A BD APPROVES THE HUSBAND CAN GET A HETER MEAH RABBONIM. IKKAR CHOSER MIN HA-BLOG
This report only tells half the story. No you cant put women in jail for not accepting a get as a man can appeal and give a get via the above mentioned Heter Meah Rabbanim. I think that some research should be done here, WHY are the women refusing ? Are they getting a bad deal from the Beis Din?
This issue is far more complicated that the article deals with and conclusions should not be made by it. If Rabbi Dovid Lau wants to jail women for refusing to accept their Get, then I have just lost a lot of respect for him.
Each case is its own entity, I know the issues are complicated. Threatening women in this manner is not the Torah way.
We have all already known this, for many many years. When a woman looses her interest in men, she becomes vicious, holds both her husband and children hostages, and both become Agunim:- Oddly enough, then these feminist groups are nowhere to be found.
@ohevetyisrael
And maybe the men are also refusing to five because they get offered bad deals, especially with child custody, out of revenge. Why the double standard? Either no one gets jailed because they are refusing due to grievances, OR in cases that are deemed legitimate, male AND female refusers are jailed.
Why is this not the Torah way? Threatening women like this is not the Torah way but threatening men (and actually implementing it) is the Torah way?
To me this sounds very backwards.
Also heter meiah rabbanim is not something that can be legitimately done at the drop of a hat. It’s more theoretical than practical and there is a real stigma for a man who forces his get through in this way. Many Rabbanim refuse to sign one etc.
CS
Its easier to get a Heter Meah Rabbanim than you think. They usually just send the shtar to a yeshiva in Israel and have it passed along
@ChabadShlucha, From your answer I assume that you have never been in this Parsha. And again, the term Agunah doesnt have a male equivalent for a reason. As a nation of Rachmanim Bnei Rachmanim we must be careful before painting Jewish women in a bad light. This is why I am surprised at R Dovid Lau’s statements and conclusions. If a mans wife wont accept a Get and he cant get a Heter Meah Rabbanim then there is a legitimate reason for that, Blaming the wife is wrong. We are not like Muslims who divorce their wives throwing them to the streets, leaving them high and dry without their children.
CS, we all know of a famous heter rabbonim used by a famous individual. often those signing do not have the independence and knowledge required.