Beth Din issues ‘Declaration of Refusal’

29 February 2016

The London Beth Din, the court of the Chief Rabbi, has instructed synagogues to deny entry to a Jewish man who continues to refuse his wife a Get (the Jewish bill of divorce), and asks communities to be wary of social interactions or of entering into business transactions with him until he has relented.

Dayanim have issued a ‘Siruv’ Declaration  (or Declaration of Refusal) identifying Mr Yossi Elkouby as the third recalcitrant husband to be named publicly in the last six months as part of a drive to isolate and marginalise men who abuse the Jewish laws governing religious divorce.

The couple have been separated for 4 years, but Mr Elkouby has repeatedly refused to release his wife, Rifka Meyer, from the marriage.

Until he agrees to appear before a Beth Din in order to grant her the Get, the sanctions set out by the London Beth Din will continue to stand. The London Beth Din and the Chief Rabbi are encouraging members of Jewish communities in both London and Paris, where Elkouby has recently spent time, to share this declaration on social media and elsewhere in order to bring additional pressure to bear upon Mr Elkouby.

Read the full declaration, written in English, French and Hebrew, here.