“Chained Woman” Wants “Get” and Custody
Posted on Dec 28, 2010 11:35am PST
If you are an Orthodox Jewish couple seeking a divorce, the religious divorce decree, called a "get", is needed before either party can remarry. In a current case, as reported by Washington Jewish Week, not only involves the couple - that already have a civil divorce - but hundreds of supporters, and protestors, that recently held a rally outside a Warwick apartment complex in Silver Spring.
Aharon Friedman is a resident at Warwick. He is also one half of the estranged couple headlining the news.
Friedman has refused to grant the "get" - a religious divorce decree - to his ex-wife Tamar Epstein. His refusal marks her as an "Agunah", also known as a "chained woman", and her religion bans her from remarriage until she attains the get.
Those that support Epstein contend that Freidman has only refused to issue the get in retaliation against a Maryland's court ruling on his child visitation. They have further accused him of withholding the document with the sole purpose of bending his wife to his will.
The civil divorce decree was attained in Montgomery County Circuit Court this past April. The visitation was ruled on nine months later.
The couple's child, a three year old, lives with Epstein in Philadelphia.
In supporting chained women, the director of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, Jeremy Stein, spoke to the picketers outside of the Warwick apartments, "We simply will not tolerate that type of abuse, we won't tolerate it as a Jewish community."
An e-mail from Epstein to Washington Jewish Week explained Friedman's motivation as being only about "spite and control."
Friedman's supporters believe that he is well within his rights to withhold the get until he gets the vitiation rights he is after. They contend that Friedman's job as a congressional staffer doesn't allow him the ability to leave work early enough to make the 6 p.m. visitation time on the Friday Sabbath in the winter months.
According to court documents Epstein moved out of the couple's shared home in April of 2008. She brought her daughter to her parent's home, in the Philadelphia area, and lived with them until the end of June.
But Friedman maintained that the reconciliation agreement was not adhered to. When the child wasn't returned to the Washington area he filed emergency court papers to prohibit Epstein from removing the child again.
On August 1, 2008, the couple was awarded joint legal and physical custody.
But by 2009 Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert Greenberg criticized both parents and awarded primary physical custody to Epstein. Greenberg noted in his ruling that Epstein had "an indifferent approach" that was "mutually rewarding" to all parties while Friedman "has yelled at [Epstein] in the presence of the child during drop-off for visitation and has expressed his dislike of her relatives."
Rabbi Eliyohu Ben Dahan has stated that the visitation is "not acceptable at all" for a Jew that observes the Sabbath. And another supporter of Friedman, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, said, "The scheduling of weekend visitation is non workable and a travesty."
A dean of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, said that since the civil divorce is final that Friedman, in essence, is just holding Epstein hostage.
The get is to be given voluntarily according to Jewish "Halacha" law. A "beit din", known as religious court, hasn't ordered that Freidman issue a get.
Picketing protestors believe that their rally should shame Friedman into action.
If you are in the midst of a divorce, or custody battle, whether or not ruled by a religious court, click here to contact a family law attorney for help.