'It was clear to me from the start that it wasn't for me.' (Illustration photo)
Photo: Shaul Golan
Match made in hell
‘Iris’ says her rabbi forced her to get married at age 16, despite her objections and those of her family. Now she's 21, a divorced single mother; says Rabbi Eliezer Shick turned her life into a nightmare
"The marriage ruined my life. From the first moment, it was clear to me it wouldn't last, but Rabbi Shick forced me to get married. He said it was a match made in heaven."
This is the story of Iris (not her real name), who claims she was forced by Rabbi Eliezer Shick, a leader of the Breslev Hasidic sect, to get married when she was 16-years-old.
Police interrogated Rabbi Shick earlier this week for four hours; he denied any connection to marrying off minors.
Wouldn't take no for an answer
"It was clear to me from the start that it wasn't for me, but Rabbi Shick took me to his study, where I sat with him for two hours," says Iris, now 21.
Hasidic Sect
Yaron Druckman
Hasidic rabbi is suspected of performing marriage ceremonies for 13 and 14-year-old girls, despite the State Law that prohibits women under 17 years of age from tying the knot. Men are allowed to get hitched after reaching 18
"He pressured me and said the marriage must go forward, and that the rabbis had made their decision. He told me over and over this was a match made in heaven."
Iris was pressured into marrying another minor, also from the Breslev community. The couple divorced after eight months, but she had a child from the marriage, now three. They currently live far from Iris' ex-husband and she is expected to be a main witness for the prosecution when Rabbi Shick goes to trial.
Iris' father, also a member of the Breslev group, remembers the pressure placed on his family by Rabbi Shick to convince to agree to the marriage.
He says he and his wife had several heated conversations with the rabbi at the time.
"Our daughter went out with this boy three times and told us she didn't think he was for her. But Rabbi Shick wouldn't let up. He summoned her to his office and started to shout at her and at my wife, and told us that this was a match made in heaven, and it must go through.
"We had no choice but to agree, despite the fact that our daughter had already met another boy she wanted to marry. But the rabbi refused to introduce them and demanded she marry the boy he chose.
Rabbi knows best
“The rabbi kept screaming that he knows what must be, and that he knows who is appropriate for whom.
"The day of the wedding, Iris cried all day, saying, 'I'm getting married, but I don't want to marry him.' It lasted all of eight months, and they got divorced."
"The rabbi started pressing us to marry off our daughter when she was 14," says Iris' mother. "I refused, so he backed off. We opposed this match from the outset, but the rabbi forced it on us. He yelled and screamed at us that if the marriage falls through, we would have problems finding matches for our other children. Then I burst out in tears.
"Rabbi Shick is the nightmare of our lives," she says. "He destroyed our lives. Now, our daughter is divorced with a child, and it will be very hard for her to find a husband."
Shotgun marriage
Another minor, Ofer (not his real name), was also forced into an unwanted marriage by Rabbi Shick when he was just 16.
"I had been in the United States for three months," he says. "The day I got back, the rabbi forced me to get engaged to a 17-year-old girl. Three days later, he married me off.
"I tried to protest, but I had no chance. There was simply no one to talk to about it. From the first second I knew this wasn't 'it', and we got divorced several months later.
Ofer, now 20, also has a son from that marriage. The child, four-years-old, lives abroad with his mother.
Evidence and investigation
Police opened an investigation against Rabbi Shick Monday, and denied the allegations against him. Following initial questioning, he was released on his own recognizance but forbidden from mixing in the community he heads. He is also forbidden from leaving the country without police approval.
Police say dozens of Breslev minors have been married off in Yavniel, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, and say they have plenty of evidence that Rabbi Shick and two other Breslev rabbis have conducted illegal marriages, included signed marriage documents (ketubot) and wedding videos.
