Rivky Stein and Yoel Weiss Divorce: An invitation to both sides to present the facts

updated 6/29/2014 Up until now I have not made a post regarding the Stein Weiss divorce case. Having spent a week trying to get a clarity of what is going on - I have still not gotten a clear picture. There clearly is a major media blitz by Rivky Stein and her advisors (I was told that Shira Dicker of Dodelson's pr battle is a major factor). I have seen the documents and heard the charges - but on a halachic level and as an outsider - I still am not sure what the issues are.

Since neither side has responded to my invitation I will simply post their statements that they have made on the Internet.

update - Below are  their statements

Yoel Weiss statement from  Redeem Rivky Facebook Page.

          Rivky Stein's statement is from the  NY Daily News

Rivky's extensive accusation are also found on the Redeem Rivky website Redeem Rivky website /with documentation and links to article in newspaper and television. These include a statement from her Beis Din of Mill Basin, Mediator's report, court filings and videos.

         There are also various videos on youtube
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Rivky Stein's viewpoint: From the  NY Daily News

An Orthodox Jewish woman who has been unsuccessful in her attempts to secure a religious divorce from her husband has brought her case to social media, hoping to convince him to finally grant her a “get.”

With the help of family and friends, Rivky Stein, 24, created a Facebook page detailing her purportedly nightmarish relationship with hubby Yoel Weiss, 31, whom she married in a religious ceremony shortly after she turned 18 years old, in 2008.

“I want my get very badly,” she told the News. “But this is not just about me. It’s about fixing the problem so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

They had two children together, but Stein left Weiss after a series of alleged abuses, which she says included raping her and punching her in the stomach while she was pregnant. She says she never sought to have him criminally charged, but is now speaking to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.

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Yoel Weiss viewpoint
My name is Yoeli Weiss. Unfortunately, I'm involved with a messy divorce and custody battle widely publicized by my wife Rivky Stein. On the advice of an adam gadol I stayed silent for the past two years, not responding to the many false ugly accusations she concocted against me and my family. Recently however, she caused an outrageous chillul Hashem. She launched a website exposing herself-- posting seductive pictures of herself, sharing false stories, with delusional graphical bedroom scenarios, inciting men and women in our frum community to be busy debating it. I was told, that her website was negatively circulating among the hottest topics in the mikva, beis hemedrish, at home, at work, and of course on the social media network. The website is nothing but a fabricated story caused by her desperate need for attention. Not satisfied with the massive feedback and the amount of money she raised through her website, she moved her chillel Hashem to the next level, when she shared her false website story together with some family photographs to the Daily News. I spoke to this adam gadol again yesterday, he voiced his great concern for klal yisroel. He is currently engaging other rabonem making them aware of this new chillul Hashem through social media, a dangerous tactic invented by Rivky Stein. This is a ''kosher porno website'' camouflaged under a ''free aguna site''. This adam gadol urged me to respond and obey the positive commandment of the torah ''V'huyesem Nemeyiem M'shem V'myisroel Amo''. Accordingly I am writing this letter.

Minus some minor discords that occur among most newlyweds, after being happily married for 4 years, out of the blue in the spring of 2012, being under the spell of some demon[s], she suddenly decided to destroy her family and did not return home. Without ever mentioning before a single word about demanding a divorce, she initiated an aggressive and hostile (secular) court proceedings against me and my entire (extended) family, which included obtaining an order of protection against me totally under false pretences. Thereafter, over the next few months she caused me to be arrested 5 times, again with false accusations, and each time after spending the night in jail, her allegations were dismissed by the court as meritless. Eventually, the court realized her viciousness, terminated all orders of protection. In her litigation, she concocted the most ludicrous horrifying illogical accusations, all with the hope of a single goal to secure full custody of our two children, while at the same time seeking a money judgment reward of nothing less than 480 million dollars. I hired an attorney who is representing me in this messy litigation process, and the courts are slowly chipping away from her story and realizing the truth. As well, members of my family have had to hire an attorney, at the cost of tens of thousands of dollars.

Notwithstanding her accusations, the pain and shame she brought onto me and my entire innocent family, neither ,I nor anyone in my family ever retaliated in any way shape or form against her, not even by saying one bad word against her. After all, she is the mother of my two children. While I have enough unpleasant information about her and her family, and specifically about the two acquaintances, responsible for wrecking my home, I decline sharing this or any other lashan harahs with the public, simply because this is not the derech haTorah, and then again she is the mother of my children and I wish to spare my children this pain. Sooner or later, my children will be able to understand it all, and it’s my hope and desire that when they grow up, they'll realize that their father sacrificed his own pride by not divulging and exposing their mother, all in order to secure their well being. Rivky, on the other hand, seems not to care about the children at all. Her stability has been on a seesaw, and is, unfortunately, on a constant decline. The judge presiding two years on the marital case finally got the gist of what's really going on, recently ordered a complete psychiatric evaluation on her. Her impulsive and outrageous behavior with her website and the media speaks for itself.

As a father of two adorable children, I'm sincerely concerned that she can Chas vesholem end up harming them either physically or emotionally or both. That's why I am now fighting for full custody before it’s, chas vesholem, too late. Once the custody issue is resolved, she will receive her get with pleasure, and she can go l’chaim ve-l’sholem wherever her heart desires. Rivky does have issues: she is desperately seeking attention. And yes, she is a great actress, very convincing, believes in her own lines and her own illusions, therefore she comes across sincere and honest. I perfectly understand how some of the public is being swipalloeded away by her website, becoming quickly judgmental without giving me the slightest benefit of the doubt that perhaps there is something wrong with her story. Wouldn't you ask yourself, if her story would remotely hold the truth, why would the judge dismiss her allegations along with the orders of protection, and award me equal custody rights? I am certain you all recall the name Susan Smith. She too put up an act that the public was so convinced, but not the professionals. She too cried in front of the cameras attempting to convince the world that a black man killed her children. However, despite all her acting talents, the truth in the end always prevails, however it was too late -- she already killed her two children.

Rivky's website and u tube comes across sincere and honest. I know it’s hard not to believe her. Were I be an outsider not knowing her, I would probably believe her too. After all, she has fooled me and my entire family for more than 4 years. The highlight of her acting talents was played out during the last few weeks when we lived together. Over that period she secretly made plans and arrangements for an order of protection and to move in with her foster parents, while at the same time being an actress, she played and showed a most peaceful beautiful atmosphere at our home, and a most wonderful romantic relationship between us. So, I am asking the innocent public who is clinging to her website, to please give me the benefit of the doubt. Check carefully with her friends and the court rebuttals. Please don't get caught up in accepting and believing and repeating this lashan harah. I am certain many of her 5 thousand followers (as she claims on her website she has) are voicing their opinions believing its purely l'shem shumayem. I beg you to be careful and patient till the outcome of the court proceeding-- the very proceedings she initiated, before you condemn and slander an innocent person. Ultimately the truth may leave you feeling guilty for jumping to conclusions prematurely.

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Regarding her RICO charges  see this post -   co-defendants lawyers' responses
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Here  is confirmation that Shira Dicker is behind the pr campaign

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Guest post by Recipients and Publicity.

What is the purpose of the PR campaign by Rivky Stein-Weiss?

One possibility may be that Yoel could just throw the towel in and obtain a "heter meah rabbonim" and just leave Rivky to rot on the vine so she is getting in a pre-emptive strike to tie his hands. But there is more, from the RICO complaint it is clear that like the Count of Monte Cristo who was wrongfully exiled to the chateau, she is out for one thing "revenge" at all costs and that is both a high-stakes gamble and a very dangerous thing because it could backfire in unexpected ways. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" they say.

Another possibility may be that Rivky is both short of cash and is hungry for PR. Somehow or other she may have been connected with the Dodelsons or some others with cash to burn on behalf of Agunos and the Dodelsons or ORA-backers who give money for Agunas that are PERHAPS giving her cash and funding this PR campaign.

Every cause needs its martyrs and living examples and right now Rivky is the perfect "poster child" for the cause of "poor little agunos" fighting the "horrible ogre" mean husbands who do not want to give them a get.

So Rivky is perhaps being used by the Dodelsons or some other very rich supporters who help her connect with the Shira Dicker-type publicists and pay for web sites, web hosting and all the PR trimmings by getting her story in the papers and onto online social networking sites and beyond.

What it boils down to is an implied statement by the women fighting for a get, that they have just traded in one set of "fixers" for another.

Now that they do not have recourse to heavy-handed physical tactics they instead are now using PUBLICISTS and the media and the Internet to the same ends, to fight back (as they see it) and "beat up" on the "recalcitrant" husbands.

Now as if to say "you may have stopped us in one way by blocking our access to the rabbis who used to beat you up and force you to sign, now instead we will use the PUBLICISTS and media and the Internet to shmeer you so badly you will wish you weren't born" it's a do or die battle to the death as it were.

After all if some women and their backers could afford to pay $50,000 to have their exes beaten up they can also easily find a willing PR hack who can do the same damage verbally to the reputations, careers, names and families of the get-refusers, because as they say "all's fair in love and war"!

No doubt here may be other reasons but for now this is some food for thought.

How are the battle-lines shaping up at this early stage?

Men: sympathize with the guy (Yoel) she is a liar and manipulative and craves attention. She's from a troubled background what can you expect from a crazy mixed up kid?

Women: what other options did Rivky have? she couldn't threaten to have him beaten up, Yoel's family threatened her, Yoel refused to give a get, he could get a heter meah rabbonim and leave her to rot, and Yoel was abusive to her and the kids and a just a nightmare.

So, people are just basically mindlessly lining up, in a male versus female thing. Women support Rivky while men have a kneejerk response for supporting Yoel.

Take your pick.

Whose is really to blame?

The real parties to blame were the cynical shadchanim who set them up: a guy who left his very chasidish family to be more "modern" (meaning dress and act outwardly "yeshivish" but inwardly he's confused) and matched him up with a beguilingly good looking yet equally troubled teen of 18 (Rivky) looking for a good life who was vulnerable and had been in foster care most of her life.

The problem is that there are currently many off the derech (OTD) or near off the derech kids being married off as a "cures" for their problems which actually only makes it worse because what happens is they then have a kid or two, revert back to their patterns of abusive behavior or manipulation, or passive aggression or what have you and then there is an explosion.

Normal people from normal families don't get it, they project their normal assumptions onto a scenario that is just crazy from the start.

There is no solution really, sad as it may be it's the truth, this is a "war of the sexes" and part of the ongoing "sexual revolution" that has not been tamed and has infiltrated even the best Jewish homes all over, added to the massive breakdown of society it's a high speed downward spiral that will just go on and get much worse until Mashiach comes.

Even in the Talmud there are situations of "teiku" where the great sages have no answers and leave it up to Eliyahu to come up with future solutions, and today there are tragically plenty of "teikus" that only Eliyahu Hanovi could solve for us.