THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Ruling Says Ketubor May Be Enforced by State Court NEW YORK — The state's highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals, ruled Tuesday that Jewish marriage con- tracts (Ketubot) that re- quire spouses to obtain di- vorces from special reli- gious panels may be enforced by state courts. According to the New York Times, in a 4-3 ruling the court decided that ketubot are binding civil contracts as well as reli- gious covenants. Writing for the majority, Associate Judge Sol Wach- tler stated: "That the obli- gations undertaken by the parties to the ketuba are grounded in religious belief and practice does not pre- clude enforcement of its secular terms. "Nor does the fact that all of the ketuba's pro- visions may not be judi- cially recognized prevent the court from enforcing that portion of the agreement by which the parties promised to refer their disputes to a non- judicial forum," he wrote. The Times continued: "In dissent, Associate Judge Hugh R. Jones as- serted that judicial in- volvement in the case marked an unconstitutional intrusion into questions of Jewish religious law and tradition. Granting any re- lief, he wrote, 'would neces- sarily violate the constitu- tional prohibition against entanglement of our secular courts in matters of reli- gious and ecclesiastical con- tent.' "The ruling, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, was hailed by var- ious Orthodox and Conser- vative Jewish groups. They contended it would force re- calcitrant spouses to honor contractual obligations and would make it easier for Jewish couples seeking di- vorces to do so within the faith. "In recent years, Jewish spouses, in most cases the husbands, have effectively prevented their mates from obtain- ing Jewish divorces. The spouses can do so by fail- ing to appear before a special panel, known as a beth din. "Only such panels can ( Activities . in Society Detroiters, including members of Bloch-Rose Post and Auxiliary of the Jewish War Veterans, gathered re- cently at the Spyglass club house in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Among them were Messrs. and Mesdames Morris (Doris) Adelstein, Morris (Rita) Elken, George (Rose) Karden, Harry (Be- tty)._ Katzman, Sol (Flo) Leider, Harry (Marion) Moss, Lou (Janie) Remer, Julius (Phyllis) Siegel, Sam (Evelyn) Skupsky, Bill (Blanche) Yanofsky and Gerry Feldman and Freddie Karden. grant a Jewish divorce, which is called a get. Both parties to the divorce must appear in person before the panel for the divorce to be granted. "Without a get, Jews are unable to remarry within the Orthodox and Conser- vative branches of the faith, even though they have ob- tained civil divorces. "Jewish law further pro- vides that children born to women who remarry civilly without a get are illegiti- mate. The children of men who do so are considered legitimate under Jewish law. For those women who are dedicated to living their lives consistent with the precepts of Judaism, this ruling should allow them to obtain gets with- out the kinds of litigation, harassment and other undue burdens imposed by their spouses,' said Robert J. Jossen of the Jewish Theological Sem- inary of America, which signed a friend-of-the- court brief in the case. "Also participating in the case were the Union of Or- thodox Jewish Congrega- tions, the Rabbinical Coun- cil of America, and the Na- tional Jewish Committee on Law and Public Affairs. "The decision was at- tacked by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which said the court was `enforcing a religious tenet' in violation of the First Amendment. "The court's decision came in the case of Susan Roe Avitzur of Albany, who, though legally divorced in 1978, has since been unable to remarry within the Or- thodox or Conservative branches of the faith be- cause her estranged hus- band would not appear be- fore a beth din. "She subsequently sued Mr. Avitzur for breach of contract, and a state trail court agreed to hear the case. But her suit was later dismissed by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Third Department, which held that the ketuba was a liturgical document with no legal effect in secular courts. "In his opinion, Judge Wachtler stressed that Mrs. Avitur was seeking simply to compel her former hus- band `to perform a secular obligation to which he con- tractually bound himself.' He compared the ketuba to other secular agreements, such as pledges to submit all disputes to arbitration. " 'This agreement — the ketuba — should ordinarily be entitled to no less dignity than any other civic con- tract to submit a dispute to a nonjudicial forum, so long as its enforcement violates neither the law nor the pub- lic policy of this state,' Judge Wachtler wrote." - - Some 1.4 million Jews served in the various armies in World War II. Tuition Tax Credit Issue Divides Jewish Community WASHINGTON — A Minnesota tuition tax- credit law, currently being debated in the U.S. Sup- reme Court, has created a division between the Or- thodox and non-Orthodox Jewish community. The Minnesota law per- mits parents of the students in elementary and secon- dary schools, both private and public, to take a deduc- tion of up to $700 per year, per child, to cover the cost of tuition, books and transpor- tation. Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wiscon- sin all have similar laws. A friend-of-the-court brief filed by the American Jewish Congress contends that such deductions are unconstitutional. A brief filed by Agudat Israel of ADL Mission Monitors Mexico NEW YORK — A fact finding mission of 21 American Jewish commu- nity leaders returned from Mexico last month reas- sured about the situation of Mexican Jewry. The mission spent five days in Mexico investigat- ing two concerns of the Jewish community there: a barrage of anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic propaganda during and after the war in Lebanon and the possibility that Jews would be scapegoated for the coun- try's severe economic crisis. Led by Alvin Steinberg, chairman of the Commu- nity Service Division of the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith, and Philip Aronoff, chairman of the Young Leadership Commit- tee of ADL's southwest regional office, the group met with Mexican govern- ment officials, U.S. and Is- raeli ambassadors and leaders of the "Comite Cen- tral Israelita," the umbrella organization of the Mexican Jewish community. Pregnancy Tests on the Market JERUSALEM — Major strides in pregnancy detec- tion have recently been made by two Israeli laboratories which may soon be competing with each other on the interna- tional market. The two organizations, Zer Science Based Indus- tries, Ltd., and the Teva Group, Israel, have de- veloped pregnancy testing kits which offer very early results and the convenience of performing the test in the privacy of home. The Zer kit, called Pre- gnopost, offers the earliest diagnosis of pregnancy. The Teva kit, as yet unnamed, provides a nearly instant answer. Both are patented, and both have been ap- proved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Both firms are negotiating with American multi-national corporations for interna- tional distribution. America and eight other Orthodox agencies claims that there is no difference between deducations for tuition and other related schooling expenses for pupils of parochial schools, and charitable contribu- tions to such schools and other religious institutions. Agudat Israel has charged that the AJCon- gress, in filing their brief, is guilty of "Irresponsible be- havior" because they are "fighting the interests of Jewish education." The AJCongress re- sponded that the Minnesota law grants tax deductions for parents of children attending both public and private schools, but, since public schools are prohib- ited by law (in Minnesota) from charging tuition, in reality, the law only affects parents of children who attend private schools. Marriages Wallenberg Petition Campaign MIAMI — The American Anti-Nazi Association has begun a petition campaign in support of awarding a Nobel Prize to Raoul Wal- lenberg, the Swedish dip- lomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II. The association is seeking one million signatures on behalf of Wallenberg, who many believe is still held in a Soviet prison following his arrest by the Russians in 1945. To obtain a petition, send a long-stamped, self- addressed envelope to Rabbi Rubin R. Dobin, Free Raoul Wallenberg Campaign, POB 6194, Miami Beach, Fla. 33154. MAG CIAN • Exciting entertainment for your organization. club or private party. 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