Thread by @RStomel

Buckle up and get your barf bags ready, because it's time for another episode of #RealStoriesFromTheRabbinicCourt, #InternationalWomensDay2020 & #AgunahDay edition. This morning, the State Rabbinic Court published a new decision (by the Petach Tikvah Rabbinic Court, 4.3.20):
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Case details: A young woman married 3 years ago. Shortly after the wedding, she discovered that her husband was schizophrenic and had actively hidden that fact from her—as well as from their matchmaker and rabbis—before the wedding.
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She describes his troubling and violent behavior to the court, corroborated by professional psychiatric reports (which also note his refusal to take his prescribed medication following the wedding).
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The final straw came when she was 5 months pregnant, and her husband woke her up in the middle of the night holding a flame to her face. She immediately fled the home, fearing for her life, and did not return.
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Fast forward to today: The husband refuses to give her a get and is demanding “shlom bayit” (reconciliation).

The Rabbinic Court rules that the woman has no grounds for divorce and reprimands the woman for leaving:
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“Instead of emotionally supporting him while he underwent treatment, she filed for divorce.” They remark that the woman *claims* that the “fire incident” was an act of violence that prompted her to flee for her life, but wonder whether she was simply “looking for an excuse.”
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He might not have behaved the way he did, they reason, had she only worked harder not to provoke his anger. They argue that “had the woman stayed and supported him, despite the difficulty, perhaps the entire situation could have changed for the better.”
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They add that the halakhic concept of “mekach ta’ut”—a “mistaken transaction” in which a partner is deliberately misled before the wedding, rendering the marriage invalid—does not apply to women:
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“The halakha does not apply to a woman the same way as it does to a man; there is no claim of mekach ta’ut against a man who hid his defects because, as it says about a woman, ‘A woman is prepared to live with any man.’”
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Therefore, declares the Rabbinic Court, the husband does not have to give a get and they will certainly not force him to. They rule that the woman forfeits financial support because she was the one who left, and will only be entitled to it if she agrees to reconciliation.
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Of course, she loses her ketubah payment as well.

Her choices, according to the Rabbinic Court, are to either return to her violent schizophrenic husband who lied to her, or to remain an agunah* forever, without entitlement to financial support.
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I added an asterisk bc according to the Rabbinic Court, this woman is not actually counted as an agunah--there is no judgement for the man to give her a get. Keep her in mind when you read the official stats by the Rabbinic Court about the low number of agunot in Israel.
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Why do we need #AgunahDay? The Rabbinic Court is here to remind us why.

Want to see this change? Stand up for women's rights by supporting @cwjisrael, the boots on the ground fighting for agunot today and every day. Donate here: secured.israelgives.org/donate/CWJIsra…

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