THE AGUNAH PAGE  
An Agunah cannot be self-proclaimed. As much as any woman who doesn’t get  everything she wants in civil court would like to claim Agunah status for  sympathy, support, money, or whatever, it just is not part of halacha, and any  Rabbi who says otherwise is not knowledgeable in Halacha.   An Agunah is a woman who is halachacally chained to her husband and cannot  remarry, but that is not the complete definition. Our talmudic sages have been very  clear as to what constitutes such a case. For example: a man lost at sea, or taken  prisoner in battle with no evidence whether he's alive or dead, or a man who  refuses to EVER grant his wife a Get which would then render a wife an Agunah.   On the other hand, any woman who refuses to accept a GET is not an agunah.  Ninety nine percent of the alleged Agunot of today do not fall into any of the  above Agunah categories. Even one of the longest “Alleged Agunah” stories, Meir  Kin, that has gone on for over 10 years, contains no evidence that his wife is an  Agunah or that he is a recalcitrant husband. He is not lost at sea, nor taken  prisoner, is not dead, and has not refused to grant his wife a GET; as a matter of  fact, he has deposited a GET at a local Beth Din. Anyone who has examined the  real evidence knows that his is not a case of an Agunah and a recalcitrant husband.  Since his wife does not want to receive a GET, we wish Meir Kin congratulations  and happiness on his new marriage (March 2014). There is no reason why he  should not move on with his life.   This type of behaviour has been documented extensively and is a growing  concern. According to a recent Haaretz and Jerusalem Post article about Divorce  in Israel, the articles states: "The total number of cases of women refusing to  accept a written Get as a strategy to secure improved financial and visitation  terms from the husband, rose to at least 201 identified cases. This marks the  fourth consecutive year that cases of women refusing to accept a written Get  as a financial strategy exceeded the number of women denied a Get by the  husband.” 
In virtually all of the alleged Agunah/Recalcitrant husband cases, the wife  believes she can get a better deal going to civil court (against halacha) and then  after she gets the house, custody, child support and alimony; to then start  screaming Agunah to try and secure a GET. Husbands and Rabbis should stand  strong and not give in to these non-Jewish money grubbing tactics and demand  that the woman put things back the way they were prior to going to civil court.  Whatever cannot be put back, such as denied visitation or false claims of abuse,  then a monetary amount needs to be set. This is not extortion or blackmail, its  halacha. The Talmud is very clear on damages, and someone who causes you  damages is required to pay for the damages. All issues concerning damages must  be settled prior to the giving of a GET. Never accept the promise from the wife or  third party that damages will be taken care of after the GET. They won’t!! There  are too many stories of men who lowered their guard and gave a GET before all  the divorce proceedings were through and have regreted it. If you live in New  York, where they have an unconstitutional GET law, (See: First Amendment to  the U.S. Constitution), you would be better off moving to California or  somewhere else. I certainly hope Meir Kin has been keeping track of all the  damages in his case, including attorney fees, lost wages, court costs, slander,  defamation and more. Also keep in mind when a wife goes to civil court, she  forfeits her Ketubot. Most likely, as in many highly publicized cases, the dollar  amount grows so large that it becomes totally impossible to ever pay the damages.  I believe in the Meir Kin case, the amount has already grown past $500,000  dollars, and is likely growing daily. Her only option now is to try and falsely  shame him into giving a GET. Shame on any Rabbi who supports this behavior.  Most of the self-proclaimed women we have researched claiming Agunah status  are clearly a MOREDES, a wife who abandoned her husband; and usually  absconded with the couple's child(ren).  With most Beth Dins, a MOREDES simply does not exist, and Jewish women are  never held accountable for their actions. We know for fact that the Beth Din of  America is one such Beth Din and is not knowledgeable about Moredes status. In  truth, if a Jewish wife flees with the couple's child and then obtains court orders in  ARCHAOS (Civil Court), her husband has the right AL PI HALACHA (Acording  to Jewish Law) to demand that the wife nullify the court orders, return the  child(ren) to the father's town, and compensate the father for all his damages. All  his damages includes everything. In a lengthy civil divorce, this can easily surpass  a million dollars. It is very rare to find what we call a Hamanah (female version of Haman) but  occasionally it does happen. A man who married such a woman believes that it is  better that these type of vengeful, hateful and damaged women be left alone and  not EVER receive a GET so that it protects other men from marrying them and  having the same thing happen to them. Best to leave these bitter and loathsome  women alone for the rest of their life to protect the rest of Jewish mankind. The  Talmud states that a dishonest and slanderous wife will be punished by having her  bones weakened in this world and losing her ‘Olem Habah” portion in the next.   If anyone knows a true Agunah, (AL PI HALAHA), we will publish her name and  do everything necessary to help her acquire a  true and quick GET. We will not be  party to any revenge tactics or financial scams to assist any woman to try and  better her position in court or some feminist Beth Din. To this day, we have not  found even one agunah.   AGUNAH LIST 1. ____________________________________________ 2. ____________________________________________ 3. ____________________________________________ 4. ____________________________________________
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