As attorneys focusing their practice on divorce, we are often involved in trying to procure a Jewish divorce, also known as a “Get” for our clients. Why does this issue arise during a civil divorce and what can be done when one spouse refuses to give the Get?

Although parties can be civilly divorced, a spouse’s inability to obtain a Get will nonetheless bar remarriage under Jewish law, thereby, rendering that spouse unable to move on with their life. In the case of S.A. v. K.F., Judge Jeffrey S. Sunshine, J.S.C., set forth many of the issues facing women of the Jewish faith who are unable to obtain a Get. During the trial, a Rabbi, who also served as a judge in a Rabbinical court testified that the “effects of a barrier to remarriage are not restricted to the inability of a spouse to remarry; this also limits her social life, because she cannot relate to married couples, nor can she freely interact with single men. She would be unable to go to ““single’s’ events or date and is consequently unable to find another potential spouse and remarry. The Rabbi further testified that according to Jewish history, ‘a woman who does not receive a Get is considered as if she’s in mortal danger of her life because she has no ability to act in a normal fashion.’”

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