The Infiltration of Gerushin: The Corrosion and Abuse of Halakha

The Gett (גט) is the document of divorce given, by a man to a woman, which allows the woman to be divorced from her husband. She is removed from the status of being an Eishet Ish (אשת איש). Thus, she can re-marry.

One of the reasons why Hashem wanted a גט to be give by the man is that men are more logical. If a man had a logical reason to not be married to his wife, then this reason holds more value especially when you’re taking into consideration the greater consequences of divorce. If this is true, then if a man is forced to give one under the circumstances of unjust coercion, then the גט can not be valid.

Unfortunately, it is common that a man will give a גט that is not valid because they were willing to give it under these circumstances. Modern-Orthodox institutions have done nothing to prevent this. In fact, their followers are causing some of these problems. The Religious Jewish institutions are doing almost nothing about it. Only now, is there a Jewish organization rising up to the challenge of dealing with the epidemic of Parental Alienation.

The real epidemic that’s haunting Jewish communities is the epidemic of גט מעושה. The Westernized Jews are creating a monster by destroying the essence of a marriage and divorce by corrupting it with their distorted values.

So what happens if a גט מעושה is procured? The answer is simple. She is still married to her husband. Many of these women are willing to remarry even when they know that it’s a גט מעושה.There might be thousands of women who are still married to their husband without even realizing it because many men have given one whether they were aware that the גט they gave was פסוּל. Some of these women marry men who are less likely to care about issur (prohibition) of marrying an אשת איש.

If a different man marries such a woman, then he is marrying an אשת איש and is obligated to separate from her (Even Ha-Ezer 154:20-21). He is pursuing something that is immoral (adultery) and can be forced to divorce her. Note: This has not been enforced by most contemporary Jewish communities. In fact, people regularly marry women who are not divorced in accordance to Halakha.

Western society is eroding due to the lack of family values, and the radical Pro-Divorce movement is one of the silent killers in the quest for the destruction of the Jewish family. The Orthodox Jewish Pro-Divorce movement is in denial that one can claim that a husband can ask for שלום בית to resolve marital issues (Ketubot 77a) provided that he does so. Instead, these activists miss the authentic concept of Kofin Oto (כופין אותו) as found in the aforementioned citation which lists which cases this is allowed and which it is forbidden.

The feminist Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA) resorts to public shaming as a way to justify their feminist ideologies in matters of divorce. The Gemara compares publicly shaming a Jew to murder (Bava Metzia 58b). One should be careful before trying to claim that our sages would justify public shaming in all case of Gittin. According to most Poskim, a גט given because of public shaming is a גט מעושה (Chazon Ish). The ORA and their renegade “rabbis” have the חוצפה to lie about what the הלכה says in matters of divorce. They are responsible for destroying the sanctity and morality of their congregations. 

If a man is obligated but not forced to give a גט, then there are a wide array of opinions about what people may consider doing in order to make the husband feel obligated to give a גט. Most rabbanim claim that a man who doesn’t give a גט should be denied the right to an aliyah in shul, but according to the Maharik, not giving the recalcitrant (Gett refusing) husband an aliyah in shul is akin to publicly shaming him (Maharik 188). It might be a bigger sin if they tell him, in public, that they won’t. Whether or not this is an issue if explained privately might be a different case that one should examine before making this decision. Unfortunately, most of today’s Modern-Orthodox rabbis are insensitive towards this concept as their institutions of higher learning encourage the Pro-Gett movement. Mainstream Orthodoxy is catching on too.

While the ORA have feminist interests in promoting their cause, some dayanim (rabbinical judges) in בית דין have their own writings in writing גיטין because of various incentives. Some of them have egotistical motivations as well of financial incentives גיטין because they enjoy the power they have and can profit off of creating them. They conveniently use Feminist “lenses” as a way to encourage people to go to them. Many dayanim take bribes. It’s very difficult to find a good dayan.

These renegade rabbis, while portraying themselves as pioneers for justice, do not care about true justice. They desire control and want to manipulate the law in their favor. Today’s court system is corrupt regardless of whether or not they are religious or secular. Wealth corrupts all.  Some of this might sound like harsh bias, but this is based on various testimonies of a multiplicity of people that will be discussed later.

With the combination of greedy men and crazy women, the Western Jewish world has created a Pro-Divorce “culture” which is destroying the very fabric of our nation. It is so dangerous that it is even affecting Orthodox Jewish life. Many women, undergoing divorce, have identified with the term “עגונה” even though the authentic definition doesn’t apply to them.

It is interesting to note what kind of people the Pro-Gett movement brings in. You have to be religious enough to want to be married but secular enough to not value a proper divorce. So it caters to a quasi-mixture of people. The Modern-Orthodox Jews are a group of people who fall into this category of people. The most culturally Orthodox Jews are less “busy” with discussing עגונה issues. They have more important things to be concerned about. Quite often, the public can be easily swayed to believe that a husband is needlessly denying his wife a גט that other would be kosher. Thus, they believe it can be forced.

The masses are being misled with biased journalism that does not state all of the facts in the matters of divorce. In the case of many “Gett refusers”, the wife is the one preventing the גט from being kosher because she is actively litigating her husband in civil court in order for her to keep their kids and steal his money. Perhaps, she’s making false claims against her husband in Beit Din. Would you consider such a woman “oppressed” if she is the one promoting false rumors against another Jew? Not every Beit Din is interested in tolerating this type of nonsensical behavior.

And if you had a son going through a divorce, would you be concerned if you didn’t have the right to see his children (your grandchildren) due to the unjust alienation done in secular courts? Would you want him to at least have the ability to justifiably leverage this right in the religious court?

Well, if the above paragraph is something that resonated with you, then you should ask “Why aren’t my local rabbanim doing anything about it?”.