New storm over get: Rav Sternbuch - "newborn is a mamzer"

A new storm around a recalcitrant in the United States reached the doorstep of the Av Beis Din of the Eida Hareidis, Hagaon R' Moshe Sternbuch – a rabbi in America issued a renewed permit for a married woman whose husband is recalcitrant, to throw off the shackles of aginut without a divorce. As soon as the case came to the attention of Rabbi Sternbuch, he denounced it sharply.

The reason of the heter was mekach ta'us (bad bargain), despite the fact that the woman held a normal life with her husband for a long time during their life together, and they had a daughter too. The renewed 'heter' was given to the woman obviously as a rare case out of consideration in the woman who is chained by the cables aginut five years, and her husband refuses to grant her a divorce.

Details of the incident reached the ears of Hagaon R' Moshe Sternbuch who hastened to publish his protest strongly against the renewed permit to annul a marriage after living together for several years without a divorce, and even expressed himself in a harsh letter- "I have no peace that one does not hear a protest for the honor of Hashem and his teachings."

In the special letter he published, Hagaon R' Moshe writes: "Regarding what was published her about a psak of one of the greatest Roshei Yeshivos in America along with one of the poskim in America who, G-d forbid, permitted a woman without divorce who already lives together with her husband for a while, and she already has a child from him, and now according to the doctor he is suffering from a mental illness, and they paskened that it became clear that this was a 'bad bargain' and she can get married right away, and they arranged chupah and kiddushim for her without a divorce ".

During the letter, Rav Sternbuch avoids addressing the reasoning of halacha on the matter - "I heard from Maran Hagaon of Brisk zt"l, that when there is a malfunction one forbids without reasoning, for if he gives a reason he can be refuted, and I came here not only to strengthen those who protest and are mekashesh shem shomayim, whose reward is very great."

He continues to express his opinion - "this way one can spoil all the Family Law in Israel, and for example a cancer patient, G-d forbid, in whom the disease always remains in his body long before it becomes clear, one can say it was a bad bargain, and likewise in thousands of cases, and in many divorces a woman brings opinions from doctors that (the husband) suffers and has suffered from a mental illness and according to these rabbis one can say that she did not need a divorce, G-d forbid, and this is the destruction of religion and spoiling of dinei ishus (matrimonial law) in Israel.

Hagaon Rabbi Moshe concluded by adding that by the essence of the law, it was worthy of doing kria at the distortion of Torah words - "At the time, when a certain Rav had allowed one mamzer, the Minchas Yitzchok, Harav Weiss zt"l demanded that all the G-d fearing Haredim should gather together and sit on the ground and everyone tore kria properly."

The statement is concluded by Rav Sternbuch that "The entire nation must publish that their psak has no basis, and she is a married woman in every sense and the newborn is a mamzer".

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!