A Heartfelt Plea To Agunos

We the undersigned wish to state that we sympathize and empathize with the plight of women who are having difficulty obtaining gittin and are trapped in dead marriages by unscrupulous or cruel husbands. There is no halachic justification for husbands to engage in this type of activity, and we condemn it with every fiber of our beings.

lt is our concern for these women that motivates us to speak out at this time about a potential danger to these women that can have serious and tragic consequences for them and for their entire community.

Recently, an individual by the name of Rabbi Moshe Morgenstern, who heretofore has had no affiliation with any recognized Beth Din, nor has recently served in the active rabbinate, has advertised the ability of his "Beth Din" to annul Jewish marriages. He claims to be supported by Gedolai Yisroel in general, and in particular by the eminent Posek, Rav Ovadia Yosef, shlita.

Please be aware that his so-called Beth Din does not follow proper Get procedure. The annulments and/or heterim to remarry issued by his so-called Beth Din are carried out in halachically illegitimate ways. We are certain that virtually no Orthodox rabbi would be willing to officiate at weddings of women who wish to remarry based upon Rabbi Morgenstern's heterim. His claim that he follows the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt"I, is false and misleading. The prohibition of adultery and the stigma of mamzerus for their offspring loom ominously before women who would indeed remarry by virtue of these heterim.

Rav Ovadia Yosef has issued an unusually strong public statement denouncing Rabbi Morgenstern's actions, denying ever having supported him. Furthermore, Rav Yosef requests that the American rabbinate inform the public of the damage that can be done by this type of irresponsible behavior, and to urge women in the strongest terms possible to refrain from going to this so-called Beth Din.

ln conclusion we beseech the public to seek out competent Batei Din for the resolution of these matters, and we implore Hashem to hearken to the tears of anguished women throughout the world and bring about their redemption as well as the redemption of the entire Jewish nation. 

 

Yosef Adler Rabbi, Cong. Rinat Yisrael, Teaneck, NJ Shimon A/ouf Rabbi, Cong. Ahaba VeAhva, Bklyn, NY Kenneth Auman Rabbi, Young lsrae/ of Flatbush, Bklyn, NY Hershel Billet Rabbi, Young lsrael of Woodmere, Woodmere, NY Binyamin 8/au Rabbi, Community & Beth Din, Elizabeth, NJ Alfred Cohen Rabbi, Cong. Ohave Yisroe/, Monsey, NY Reuven Fink Rabbi, Young lsrael of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY Menachem Genack Rabbi, Cong. Shomrei Emunah, Englewood, NJ Shmue/ Goldin Rabbi, Cong. Ahavath Torah, Englewood, NJ Baruch Ben Haim Chacham, Cong. Shaare Zion, Bklyn, NY Shlomo Hochberg Rabbi, Young lsrael of Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Est., NY A vraham Kanarek Rabbi, Cong. Beth Tefi//a, Paramus, NJEfraim Kanarfogel Rabbi, Beth Aaron Cong., Teaneck, NJ Simcha Krauss Rabbi, Young lsrae/ of Hillcest, Flushing, NY Yaakov Lerner Rabbi, Young lsrae/ of Great Neck, Great Neck, NY Milton Polin Rabbi Emeritus, Kingsway Jewish Center, Bklyn, NY Steven Pruzansky Rabbi, Cong. Bnai Yeshurun, Teaneck, NJ Jonathan Rosenblatt Riverdale Jewish Center, Riverdale, NY Asher Schechter Rabbi, Cong. Ahavas Achim, Fairlawn, NJ Fabian Schonfeld Rabbi, Young lsrael of Kew Gardens Hills, NY Max Schreier Rabbi, A venue N Jewish Center, Bklyn, NY Peretz Steinberg Rabbi, Young lsrae/ Queens Val/ey, Kew Gardens Hills, NY Michael Taubes Rabbi, Kehilas Tzemach Dovid, Teaneck, NJ Moshe Tendler Rabbi, Community Synagogue, Monsey, NY Elazar Mayer Teitz Rabbi, Community and Beth Din, Elizabeth, NJ Eliyahu Teitz Rabbi, Community and Beth Din, Elizabeth, NJ Feivel Wagner Rabbi, Young lsrael of Forest Hills, Forest Hills, NY Hersche/ We/cher Rabbi, Cong. Ahavas Yisroe/, Kew Gardens Hills, NY Mordechai Willig Rabbi, Young lsrae/ of Riverda/e, Riverda/e, NY Neil Winkler Rabbi, Young lsrael of Fort Lee, NJ, Fort Lee, NJ Benjamin Yudin Rabbi, Cong. Shomrei Torah, Fairlawn, NJ