page_title: New York divorce coercion gang
section_title: Assessment
hierarchical_section_title: New York divorce coercion gang / Assessment
caption_attribution_description: English: Courtesy of Yeshiva University
context_page_description: The New York divorce coercion gang was an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that kidnapped, and in some cases tortured, Jewish men in the New York metropolitan area to force them to grant their wives gittin. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation broke up the group after conducting a sting operation against the gang in October 2013. The sting resulted in the prosecution of four men, three of whom were convicted in late 2015.
context_section_description: Rabbinical judge David Eidensohn of Monsey, New York, said, "I'm shocked that people who call themselves rabbis would get involved in coercion." According to Eidensohn, if a woman obtains a get in such a manner and remarries, "Her marriage is not legal, and she would be considered living in sin. If she has children, the children are considered born out of wedlock, and that's considered a disgrace in the community." Eidensohn stated that the organizing of protests against men who refused to give their wives a get, such as done by the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, is too coercive. He accused Hershel Schachter, a founder of that group, of misquoting Maimonides in favor of beating husbands.
  Judy Heicklin, president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, said
   It's not bad enough that these women are abused by their husbands. Then they turn to authority figures who are demanding bribes to solve what should be a fundamental human rights issue. It's heartbreaking, the women who are caught in this horrible situation. And it's a shame. It's a stain on our entire community... We think the halakha is so profound and divinely inspired that solutions can and should be found within halakha... I certainly understand the impetus for those kinds of solutions, and why people are so frustrated with the lack of progress that people are reaching out for those solutions out of frustration." 
  Samuel Heilman, professor of sociology and Jewish studies at Queens College, said, "Using force, that's the way it used to be done centuries ago. Most Jews don't operate like that anymore, but in this community ...  it's a sort of fundamentalist view."
  Moshe David Tendler, rabbi and professor of medical ethics at Yeshiva University, said, "The idea that a beth din can issue an order for coercion is baloney, a hoax." While conceding that he had "been with [Epstein] on matters", Tendler nevertheless considered him "unreliable".
  Mordechai Willig, a leader of the Beth Din of America court of the centrist Rabbinical Council of America, emphasised that rabbis can never do anything illegal, because if one rabbi does something inappropriate, "everyone whose first name is Rabbi is sullied".
  Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, the executive director of Agudath Israel of America, stated that Wolmark's court didn't hear what defense might be offered by the husband who was allegedly refusing to grant the get. Zwiebel, who referred to Wolmark as a "well-respected figure in the Jewish community", "an expert in Jewish law", and a "rabbi of caliber" at the time of Wolmark's arrest, later said:
   There is a considerable body of opinion that you can only take steps consistent with the law of the land... Some would question the validity of a get that was procured in those circumstances... On the surface of the allegations, this particular scenario was beyond the realm of anything the Halacha might countenance. It seems as if the role of one of the rabbis was to determine whether the circumstances justified a beth din ruling that you could force the guy. It clearly was done in a way that leaves a lot to be desired. The whole case was a sham. The rabbi didn't go on more than a woman's crying and signing a check. It's very troubling... The idea that some have put forward that women should have the same ability to initiate the divorce process, just as a man can divorce a woman against her will – it's clearly contrary to halacha."
caption: Moshe David Tendler
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