Edited by: TJVNews.com
On Sunday, March 21st, members of both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish communities will be gathering for demonstrations in Brooklyn and Monsey, New York as they continue to protest against those men who refuse to grant their estranged wives a get. This past week in Boca Raton, Florida and in Lakewood, New Jersey, a crowd of demonstrators gathered at the home of yet another recalcitrant husband, Aaron Silberberg.
In the Sephardic community in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, protestors gathered at the home of David Ohayon on West 8th Street, demanding that he give his estranged wife Esther a get. Ohayon is well known in the community in which he resides as someone who is attempting to punish his wife by not allowing her freedom to begin a new life.
According to a source who is familiar with the details of the case and who spoke to the Jewish Voice on the condition of anonymity said that Ohayon has a 94-year old mother who is extremely upset by the negative attention that the family has received. “I spoke to Ohayon’s brother and the guy was literally shaking because of the controversy that has been swirling around their family. Ohayon’s brother is extremely worried about their mother and he does not want any coverage whatsoever about this case.”
Last week, the Jewish Voice reported on the case of Jeff Hafif; the man who was arrested for severely abusing his wife and child in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. He had intentionally withheld a Get (bill of Jewish divorce) for 17 years from his previous wife and finally gave a Get last Sunday morning.
Hafif’s arrest came after a recording was circulated of Hafif verbally abusing his wife and children. According to comments on the SYAlerts page on Instagram, Yvette Khafif was given her get on Sunday morning after 17 long years waiting for it. The alert said” Just got off the phone with Rabbi Eli Mansour. A get has been given to Yvette Hhafif after 17 years. Thanks to the hard work of Rabbi Shaul Maslaton as well as Mr. Joe Alaham, Mr. Jack Saade, Mr. Edmond Nahum! Thanks to our community – She is a free woman!”
The demonstrations scheduled for Sunday at the Sephardic Community Center on Avenue S and Ocean Parkway and in Monsey will focus on the case of Dovid Wasserman. Wasserman lives in Monsey and the demonstration will take place in front of his home, t 4 Hilltop Lane at 8:30 pm on Sunday night in front of the Wasserman home.
According to a report on the Vois Es Nais web site, Wasserman has refused to give his estranged wife a get for the past seven years. Wasserman is now fighting back against a massive social media campaign that was originally orchestrated to shine a spotlight on the plight of Agunos. Wasserman has erroneously claimed that a photo that was posted on the VIN web site of himself was considered “bullying” but that is exactly what he is accused of in refusing to grant his wife a get.
According to the report on the VIN web site, “Nechama Wasserman has made it remarkably easy for Dovid to give her a Get. As soon as they were separated, she arranged a very generous custody deal, which saw Dovid get 40% of custody. Besides for that, she is not requesting any child support or alimony. The only thing she has asked for is the right to move on with her life. Yet for 7 years, Dovid has refused to allow her that right. He also refused to ever come to Beis Din. Multiple Siruvim have been issued to this effect.”
The report continued by saying, “What is perhaps even more disturbing in some ways, is that Dovid’s family has allegedly actively supported him these entire 7 years, without showing any evidence of trying to compel him to unchain his wife. In fact, VINnews was told that they went as far as to ask Nechama to pull out of the court process.”
Anonymous sources have told the Jewish Voice that thus far, very positive results have been achieved in obtaining Gets for chained women in the Sephardic community because of people in the community who have joined forces in unity and have organized daily demonstrations outside of the homes of those men who refuse to give their wives a get. In addition, the community’s use of social media platforms has been yet another decisive tool in achieving results as the messages are going out far and wide and on a continual basis.
