Woman granted religious divorce after husband refused for 14 years

Vicky Tzur’s ex-husband filed for divorce in 2006 and left the country, leaving her unable to remarry; she won over $200,000 last year in lawsuit

By JTA and ToI Staff 9 June 2020, 8:27 am

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Vicly Tzur, left holds her writ of divorce with Tamar Oderberg of Yad La’isha, after a 14-year battle to obtain a get from her husband, undated. (Courtesy of Ohr Torah Stone via JTA)

An Israeli rabbinical court granted a religious divorce to a woman who was prevented from marrying for 14 years after her husband moved abroad.

Vicky Tzur was granted a Jewish writ of divorce, known as a get, in Netanya on Sunday.

In 2006, Tzur’s husband filed for divorce and left the country but refused to grant her a get. Under Orthodox Jewish law, that rendered Tzur an agunah, literally a “chained woman” unable to remarry.

Issues of personal status, such as marriage and divorce, are controlled in Israel by the Chief Rabbinate. Men who refuse their wives a religious bill of divorce can leave them in legal limbo for years, preventing them from remarrying in the Jewish state.

In 2019, Tzur filed a civil lawsuit against her husband for damages resulting from his refusal to grant her a divorce and was awarded over $200,000.