Get Refuser Flees Monroe After Satmar Rebbe Issued 24-Hr Ultimatum To Grant A Get

NEW YORK (VINnews) — In a dramatic development that has shaken the charedi Jewish communities in the United States and abroad, a man who allegedly married a second wife while refusing to grant his first wife a religious divorce (get) has fled the town of Monroe for Monsey, just ahead of being formally expelled from the community, according to a JFeed report.

The Satmar Rebbe made a second appearance at the community’s main study hall last night to address the situation. This follows his unprecedented 24-hour ultimatum to the man to resolve his marital status according to Jewish law.

In recent weeks, the Rebbe heard that the man had begun to pray regularly in the kollel headed by the Rebbe’s son-in-law, Shimon Zeev Meisels. the Rebbe called his son-in-law in recent days and ordered him to remove the husband from the study hall. The son-in-law tried to soften the Rebbe, who allowed him to try to convince the husband to grant a divorce through persuasion and dialogue.

After several conversations between the head of the kollel and the recalcitrant husband, he agreed to grant a divorce, but ultimately retracted due to stubborn reluctance. This led the Rebbe to stand in the central Beit Midrash in Kiryat Joel and for the first time publicly addressing the painful affair.

“Here in Kiryat Joel lives a man who married his second wife before he divorced his first wife, and his claim is that he has the permission of a hundred rabbis. I have learned that some of the rabbis have already retracted their signature after learning that the entire permit is based on false lies, some have retracted in writing and some orally even before he married his second wife,” the Rebbe said.

He publicly demanded within 24 hours to receive valid documentation of the 100 signatories of the rabbis, or a religious divorce from one of the wives.

The incident took on an international flavor after Rabbi Avraham Katz, who had supported the controversial second marriage, attempted to sneak out of Israel despite a court-ordered travel ban. He was arrested at the airport and is now under house arrest.

The arrest warrant was issued against Katz in Israel due to the rabbi’s role in officiating at the second marriage of the man, who still refuses to grant a divorce to his wife. Due to his participation in the wedding, the Rabbinical Court issued an order to delay his departure from the country. Security guards who noticed his suspicious behavior in Israel called the police who arrested him. In consultation with the Rabbinical Court, it was decided to allow him to be placed under house arrest, which sparked a protest in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem. Rabbi Katz remains in house arrest in Israel.

According to senior Satmar community officials, the man relocated this week to Monsey “at the 99th minute,” just before the community was set to formally expel him in disgrace after the ultimatum expired. During his address, the Satmar Rebbe acknowledged the man’s departure from Monroe, noting that the responsibility for handling the situation now falls to the rabbinical authorities in Monsey.

“We have fulfilled the biblical command to ‘remove evil from your midst,'” the Rebbe stated, attributing this achievement to the merit of his predecessor who established the Monroe community. “I felt a sacred obligation to handle this matter with the full force of religious law.”

AgunahZamir, who represents his first wife, issued a strong statement: “My client has been an agunah (trapped wife) for 10 years. We petitioned the Great Rabbinical Court, which took the unprecedented step of detaining Rabbi Katz. Surprisingly, Rabbi Katz himself petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Rabbinical Court, but his petition was summarily dismissed.”

The attorney emphasized that they would “pursue all available channels to free my client from her status as an agunah” while firmly stating they “will not cooperate with any extortion attempts.”

Before leaving Monroe, the husband reportedly sent a lengthy letter to the Satmar Rebbe explaining his position and claiming that rabbis supporting his case have faced intense pressure and threats. He also mentioned ongoing negotiations for a divorce settlement through designated mediators.

The situation continues to generate intense debate within the Orthodox Jewish community, highlighting the complex intersection of religious law, communal authority, and civil legal systems in matters of marriage and divorce.