“Serial adulterer, womanizer” — that is how the Rabbinical Court in Rehovot described a man who admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife. Judges Yehuda Shachor, Yair Lerner and Yaron Navon recently ordered him to pay 180,000 shekels, part of the ketubah he signed at their wedding.
At the time of the marriage, the husband signed a ketubah for 520,000 shekels. In February 2023, he filed for divorce, prompting a counterclaim by his wife that included a demand for payment of the ketubah.
Her main argument was that her husband had engaged in serial infidelity and was therefore responsible for the breakdown of the marriage. As evidence, she submitted photographs taken by a private investigator, proof of virtual relationships with other women, images from dating websites and written correspondence in which he explicitly admitted to cheating and asked for forgiveness.
The husband, for his part, claimed his former wife was to blame for the divorce due to what he described as “violent and rebellious behavior,” and argued that he was therefore exempt from paying the ketubah. He also insisted that she had been unfaithful, noting that she listed herself as “divorced” on Facebook before the divorce was finalized, which he said showed she was “not committed to the framework of marriage.”
The judges rejected that argument, stating that the change in social media status occurred during the divorce dispute and did not indicate infidelity. They accepted the wife’s claims regarding the husband’s affairs, citing his explicit admissions.
In one message from March 2019, the defendant wrote to his eldest daughter: “An act of Satan came over me that should not have happened. This woman tempted me, I fell. I certainly do not justify the act. I love your mother and you very much. The most important thing is that it was not meaningful, I have no feelings at all for that woman.”
The ruling stated: “There is no other interpretation for these words other than infidelity. Had these been innocent exchanges, the husband would not have used the dramatic term ‘I fell,’ which indicates sin and a breach of marital fidelity.”
In another message from April 2019, he wrote to his wife that he was “confessing, admitting, I made a mistake, I am very sorry, God is my witness. I ask forgiveness once again. P.S. I love you and the girls.”
Attorney Marina WeisfelnerPhoto: Yehuda Nahum ShakedIn a further text message from the same period, he asked for “a chance,” adding: “What happened, happened. Every word I say on the matter is unnecessary. You are right about everything. Sorry, I made a mistake. I am deeply sorry. I hurt you and the girls. I am ashamed of myself and of you.”
Under Jewish law, the judges defined the husband as a “roeh zonot,” a term referring to a habitual adulterer. They accepted his ex-wife’s claim that he was a serial cheater who repeatedly asked for forgiveness and then returned to his behavior. The panel unanimously ruled that he was in principle obligated to pay the ketubah, although in a reduced amount because the original sum was deemed excessive. They were divided, however, on the exact figure.
In a minority opinion, Rabbi Lerner held that he should pay half the original sum, 260,000 shekels. The majority opinion, by Rabbis Shachor and Navon, set the payment at 180,000 shekels to his former wife and the mother of his daughters.
The article was produced in cooperation with the Israeli legal website PsakDin.