Interesting Divorcement Case
`Get' Validated in England
An American Jewish Press Feature
Whether Great Britain's civil ing on the uncontested applica-
divorce courts would recognize tion of Mrs. Hannah Har-Shefi,
a religious divorce in England an English citizen, who had
as dissolving a marriage was de- married Elchanen Har-Shefi in
cided last week when a Britain Israel in. January, 1950.
justice made a ruling that a It was September 1951 when
Beth. Din bill of divorcement the bill of divorcement was
was valid under English law.
Justice • Pearce made the rul- made in London, and Mrs. Har-
Shefi was asking Justice Pearce
to declare that she was un-
married under English law.
Acknowledging that it was an
unusual and novel petition, the
woman's lawyer, John Mortim-
er, told the judge: "The impor-
tance of this case to her is that
she does not really know wheth-
er she is married or single, and
she has it in her mind to marry
again if she is free to do so."
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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-9 nized as competent by Israel
an ecclesiastical court set up by
Friday, September 11, 1953
New Year Greetings
either the Conservative or Re-
By a majority, the Court of form movements and composed
To the Community
Appeal had decided that Mrs. of non-Orthodox day a n i m —
Har-Shefi w a s entitled to would presumably not dissolve
FINTEX
bring her problem before the the marriage according to Jew-
ish law now accepted, and under
divorce court.
English law the parties would
In his ruling, Justice Pearce not be free to remarry, unless
CLOTHES
declared that the main diffi- again, of course, they had a
culty that arose was whether civil divorce.
Combined with •
the English courts would recog-
nize a religious divorce in Eng-
FINSTERWALDS
Le Shono Tovo
land as dissolving a marriage.
The judge said that Mrs. Har-
•Michigan's
Shefi's marriage had been short
and unhappy. After the bill of
Largest
divorcement, Har-Shefi got into
trouble with the English police
and in December, 1951, was de-
Clothiers
ported back to Tel Aviv.
34th Floor Cadillac Tower
Mrs. Har-Shefi had an Eng-
15 DETROIT STORES
lish domicile of origin and she
WO. 3-8632
resumed her English domicile
after her divorce from her hus-
band who was domiciled in Is-
rael.
The judge was satisfied by
the evidence that in conformity
L'Shono Tovo Tikosevu
with Jewish law the husband
presented a bill of divorcement
to his wife before the Chief
Rabbi of the Beth Din.
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BROS. & CO.
"I am satisfied by the evi-
dence of the Senior Ecclesias-
tical Judge (Dayan I. Grun--
feld) that the divorce did take
place and that it was valid
according to Jewish law,"
Justice Pearce stated.
`My view is that the court
must recognize the validity of
that divorce."
WO. 1-8640
After referring to a legal text-
book, the judge added: "This
marriage has _been dissolved by
the only form of divorce...which
is open to a person of the hus-
band's faith domiciled in Israel.
That must be a valid divorce
under English law."
A divorce which is valid under
Jewish law is a "Get", and may
be given before any recognized
Beth Din anywhere in or out-
side of the confines of Israel.
In this case, the "Get" was
given before the London Beth
Din, but the whole question
turned upon what was the ,
domicile of the husband—which
was Israel at the time of the
ESTABLISHED 1890
"Get." In order that the deci-
sion be fully appreciated, it
467 Amsterdam
must be stressed that domicile
means a permanent home, ir-
respective of a person's na-
'tonality. Domicile is distinct
from residence, however long-
Best Wishes ;for a Happy .New.Year,
standing.
The functions of the Beth Din
First by Merit
have now become of consider-
able importance in this type of
THE NEW ERA POTATO CHIPS
divorce case.
Until the present time it could
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not be said that any Get given
before it had any validity as a
divorce, according to English
Distributors of
law; at the most, it enabled the
parties to consider themselves
BACHMAN Butter Thin PRETZELS
unmarried only a c c o r ding to
Jewish law—but their marriage
could not be properly dissolved
without a civil divorce in the
English courts irrespective of a
religious divorce.
WA.
1-2700
4801 GRANDY
And this still holds true of
Jews domiciled in England. The
judgement in the Har-Shefi case
IHM141•00•111•11111111111001110110111 4 . 11011141111111411111M1111101111110111100110000•411 has altered the position to a
certain extent only.
1-9000
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A "Get" given in London or
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elsewhere outside the confines
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Din- which would not be recog-
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A
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A Happy, Healthy and .
Prosperous
NEW YEAR
To the Jewish Community
•
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