The Ashdod Rabbinical Court has recently sent a recalcitrant husband to jail for refusing to grant his wife a divorce. The arrest apparently helped change the man's mind, and soon after he agreed to grant the sought-after get.
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About five years ago, the couple decided to separate while their children remained with the mother. With time the husband gradually became religious, and at some point the couple tried to patch things up and move back together.
"I tried going to the mikveh and use a Shabbat stove," the woman told the rabbinical court, but added that eventually she gave up trying to lead an observant lifestyle and told her husband she refused to run a religious household.
The husband, in response, turned to the rabbinical court seeking reconciliation. However, to his surprise, the court ruled that "since the wife objects to her husband's decision to become religious, he must grant her a divorce."
The court further ordered that the woman will be given sole custody of the children, while the husband will receive visitation rights.
Despite the court's ruling, the husband refused to grant the divorce. The court then issued a warrant for his arrest and he was consequently arrested. Following the arrest and a conversation with his rabbi, the man finally conceded and agreed to the divorce.
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