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Rabbi Dovid E. Eidensohn/Jewish Outreach Congregation/Monsey, NY 10952/845-578-1917
Ami Magazine:
I am a Talmid of Geonim Reb Aharon Kotler, Reb Moshe Feinstein, and Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashev zt”l. I have spent the last few years of my life fighting tooth and nail against invalid Gittin, as the Gedolim instructed me.
1.
The Gedolim in Israel, including Reb Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and others, have stated that any Beth Din that coerces Gittin not in accord with the Shulchan Aruch loses its right to give Gittin, and all Gittin it issues are not accepted. I heard this in person from Reb Elyashev zt”l and it has recently come out in a Sefer Mishpitei Yisroel with signed letters from the greats of Israel and dozens of other rabbis throughout the world.
2.
Coercing a husband to divorce has three levels: One, if a husband marries a woman forbidden to him, such as a Cohen who marries a gerusho. Such a person can be beaten until he says “I want the GET.” Level two is a husband who is not a man, and the Talmud requires him to divorce his wife. But the only coercion permitted is to tell him that he is wicked for not obeying the Talmud. Rashbo VII:414 clearly states that humiliating such a husband is forbidden. The Gedolim in Israel have stated based on this and other sources that anyone who humiliates a husband and produces a coerced GET, that the GET is invalid, and children born from it may be mamzerim.
3.
The third level is a husband who marries a woman legally, and is not lacking in manly abilities. Such a person cannot be coerced, period. See Even Hoezer 77 paragraphs 2 and 3 and Rav Elyashev’s teshuva in Kovetz Teshuvose #174. Even if a Beth Din states that the man must give a GET Chazon Ish says that the GET given is invalid for two reasons not just dirabonon but even diorayso. (EH Gittin 99:2)
4.
If there is an argument among the authorities whether to coerce a husband and one rabbi or one Beth Din then coerces him to give a GET, the Chasam Sofer says that the GET is invalid by the Torah and the children are mamzerim diorayso. EH 28 and 116.
5.
When ORA turns loose the multitude to humiliate a husband and terrorize his parents and children, we have what Rabbeinu Yona in Shaarei Teshuva 139 a situation where “humiliation is worse than death.” This is surely a coerced GET and the GET created by ORA is invalid. All women divorced through ORA’s coercion or even through its threats, are required to have a kosher GET from a recognized Beth Din not one that accepts ORA.
6.
You may or may not agree with anything quoted here, but the children born from ORA and many of them will gravitate to Haredi institutions and eventually seek a shidduch, must be protected from the consequences of ORA doing its “good deeds.” Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik has said, “We must learn about haredim, because our children are going there.” And will they find somebody to marry after ORA “helped them”?
7. There is more, and if somebody is really interested in this topic, contact me.
8. I have a copy of the AMI article about ORA that states that ORA works in accordance with halacha. What halacha allows husbands to be humiliated and forced to divorce, which is exactly what ORA does?
9.
The picture in AMI of Rabbi Elyashev talking to Rabbi Schechter, the rabbi of ORA, implies that Rabbi Elyashev approves of ORA. I spoke to Reb Elyashev about coerced Gittin and he definitely dot agree with Rabbi Schachter about forcing a GET.
10.
The huge lettering in AMI about ORA “A GET cannot be used as a weapon” is simply part of the ORA lie that all men who don’t give a GET are demons. If so, humiliate them, and find as Rabbi Schechter does, inventions in halacha to break them. I know after years in this field that many husbands are not demons and have various situations where they fear to give a GET or because they have legitimate custody demands, etc. Once you demonize a whole class of people you can do what you want, and ORA does it.
11.
A disciple of Rabbi Schachter, at a mass rally to torture a husband, found one of my people, and began cursing me out. My friend called me up and told me what was happening. I told him, put that fellow on the phone. The person told me off and when he was finished, I said to him,”Everything you said about me is true, but for one thing. I have sources for forbidden coercing husbands and your rabbi Rabbi Schachter does not. I want you to call him up right now and get the source for his support of ORA. The person did it, and was told that his support was Rabbi Gedaliah Schwartz and the rabbis of Washington, DC. Eventually, this person called up my friend said that he was wrong. His rebbe was wrong, and Eidensohn was right. He became a good friend of mine and backs me completely. Of course, he looked up the sources. But if you lead with demonizing, you don’t have to read very far.
12.
Yes, I have the sources: The Shulchan Aruch EH 77 paragraph 2 and 3, the Shulchan Aruch, the Ramo, the Beis Shmuel, the Chelkak Mechokake, and the Gro, who says that nobody disagrees that coercing the husband to divorce is wrong. And the Rashbo VII:414 who forbids humiliations even for men who are not men and commanded by the Talmud to divorce, and the Radvaz IV:118 and the Chazon Ish 108:12. But if I don’t talk about demons, who cares?
13.
One thing is for sure. When that child born from an mother with an ORA GET goes to the Haredi Shadchon, nobody will erase the Shulchan Aruch because the husband refuses a GET and is therefore a “demon.”
