Woman Receives Her Get after 4 Years of Waiting—ORA Resolves its 93rd Case
Leah and Dan were married on July 31, 2002 in Israel. Just a couple of months after the newlyweds settled into their home, the emotional and psychological abuse began. When she was eight months pregnant with their son, Dan threw her out of the car and abandoned Leah in the middle of the street. With a young son to support, Leah realized that she couldn’t stay married to Dan any longer. She filed for divorce in Israel, and on March 3, 2005 the formal verdict was passed down requiring Dan to give Leah a get.
Click here to read moreLeah contacted ORA in March of 2006, a year after the ruling had been issued by the Israeli Supreme Court. Dan had fled Israel in order to avoid the alimony and child support payments and was living with his mother in Boro Park. An ORA case worker attempted to make contact with him, but each time he ignored the calls and letters. ORA members finally staked out his apartment for hours, waiting for him to emerge in order to serve him with papers; however, Dan still remained recalcitrant and refused to give Leah the get.
Since he was not part of any local community, public protests and pressure served no use. Instead, we found a law firm that would sue him for his back payments that he owed to Leah in order to pressure him to give her the get. This tactic worked and for the first time in 4 years Dan finally contacted ORA to negotiate a settlement. After having lawyers in the US and Israel review the agreement, Dan wrote out the get yesterday and it is currently en route to Israel where Leah will receive it and become a free woman.
For more information please see this article from the Jewish Press (link).
ORA: The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot is a not-for-profit organization which assists disputing couples in resolving their differences and effectuating a timely Jewish divorce. For more information please visit their website: link.
