As Trapped Wife Sobs On Witness Stand, Recalcitrant Husband Yoel Weiss Laughs, Drawing Reproach From Judge

[Yoel] Weiss chuckled throughout [his trapped wife Rivky] Stein’s testimony, causing Judge Esther Morgenstern to reprimand him. “There’s nothing funny here. I don’t see any humor,” said the judge, who had difficulty obtaining her own get when her marriage dissolved in the late 1980s.

 

The NY Post reports:

An Orthodox Jewish woman, desperate to obtain a religious divorce, broke down and sobbed on the witness stand Thursday as she accused her husband of raping and starving her.

“The night of the wedding, he made it clear that he owned me and that night he forced himself on me. I didn’t even know what happened. I felt stuck. I had nowhere to go back to,” testified Rivky Stein, 25, who was 18 when she married Yoel Weiss, then 26.

Stein also described in Brooklyn Supreme Court how she is currently trapped by Weiss’ refusal to give her a “get” — a document allowing her to divorce under religious law — which would let her restart her life.

“[The get] enables me to move on with my life instead of being stuck and chained as I am now…[Without it] I can’t get remarried. I can’t date. I don’t have that hope for the future of the family I always wanted.”

Stein’s lawyer said that by withholding the get, Weiss is keeping Stein from ever remarrying and so he should support her “for the rest of her life.”

“The oppression of women by perverting religious principles is a story that is as old as time,” Michael Stutman, of the firm Mishcon de Reya, said in his opening statement in the civil case that will determine custody of the couple’s two children, child support and alimony for Stein.…

“There were two rabbis that I constantly went to about the abuse and bruises from Yoel,” Stein testified.

“I would ask them what I should do and if I had permission to call the police. They told me that I can’t. They wouldn’t give me permission to.”

Stein also claimed Weiss would punch her in the stomach when she was pregnant, locked her out of their home in the freezing cold, and didn’t give her and the children enough food.

Weiss chuckled throughout Stein’s testimony, causing Judge Esther Morgenstern to reprimand him.

“There’s nothing funny here. I don’t see any humor,” said the judge, who had difficulty obtaining her own get when her marriage dissolved in the late 1980s.

“To see him laugh it off, it was very painful. He still continues to abuse me by not giving me my get,” Stein told The Post outside court.

Morgenstern has pressured Weiss during the proceedings to give Stein the get.

Weiss’ attorney said in court there was no proof of any abuse.

[Hat Tip: Sfek-Sfaika.]

Comments

[Primetrades]

This case is very suspicious.

Her claims of abuse / lack of food / being Locked up etc, seems way over the top. Not excusing his poor judgement and stupid behavior, he should give her the stupid get and both should move on with their lives.

But her stories seem very much over the top.

[jancsibacsi]

This is what happens when 2 mentally disturbed youngsters get married,they get much more disturbed and this is the result.

[Singlemalt]

Too bad they locked up all the rabbis with the cattle prods. Good Shabboss.

[Dave]

why do jewish men die before their wife ...............they want to

[anchell]

oh, the drama . . . two children and at 25yrs of age she is willing to spew excrement over everyone including the children. So that from now on his children will only known him as daddy-pockets and keseff will be the operative word in every conversation.

[chaim]

Did anyone mention to the judge that Weiss lied about her bais Din which is non existent?

[Another Holocene Human]

This is what happens when you put your trust in religious leaders. Won't give "permission" to go to authorities about spousal abuse. Sounds like Catholics. Spousal abuse not grounds for an annulment. How is that a marriage? More like master slave relationship. And that is not a sacrament.

Sounds like poor Rivky did not have the shekels to hire the cattle prod rabbi or to bribe a Beis Din to rule in her favor.

primetrades, you are quite the fantasizer. You know nothing about domestic abuse. Keep your head planted firmly in the sand.

[Another Holocene Human]

Yoel Weiss' immaturity and sociopathy are chilling.

His ex-wife would do better to go OTD but probably has limited means and her family is in the cult and really doesn't know what she will do if she leaves.

But it's sad, wasn't her family and community supposed to vet potential marriage partners? And they pushed her into this union?

Walk away. No, run!

[Another Holocene Human]

If Ms Stein was making everything up, if she was emoting for the stand, then why was Mr Weiss sniggering and laughing? Wouldn't he be angry and taking furious notes with his lawyer? Of course he would.

No, he is sniggering and laughing because he tormented her and he loves the fact that even though he isn't currently still physically abusing her she is still mentally anguished.

He is, in short, acting like a sadist, and a very stupid one.

[S M L]

This comes of an excess of religion in the absence of true religiosity. Makes me want to puke.

[jake]

He is laughing because he finds her story ridiculous.

And if she wanted permission to go to secular authorities and report him to the police she would go to a bay today and consisting of three rabbis. Not to two rabbis.

I'm the only thing holding her back from marrying someone else is her own buying in to the Jewish wedding concept. Despite what most of you here think Jewish divorce is not on demand. My wife my demanded an immediate divorce however what happened was four months after she ended our marriage without any discussion she shacked up with someone else and the couple of years later took on his name as if she was married to him . And because she's now legally officially a bigamist,she may spend 2 to 4 years in an Israeli prison for the felony of bigamy . It is also a felony in the state of New York .

And today she lives as a as a Zionist ultra orthodox woman in Jerusalem with her hair covered no longer wearing pants regularly having newly repentant Jewsfor meals to see what a real Jewish family is like . A man and woman shacking up together engaging in immoral sin. Of course most of the people at her Shabbos table don't know the story yet,some do though,have fun Sharon.

[Head of Broccoli]

A laughing moron.

[Another Holocene Human]

Jake, what on Earth does your bitter, party of one personal story have to do with this case?

Are all women Borg, connected to the hive mind? Are they an amorphous fungus spanning the world and only their spore stalks above the surface providing the illusion of individuality? I mean, what are you trying to say?

Surely, by drawing parallel to this case, you are not saying you are a wife beater?

[Jeff]

"He is, in short, acting like a sadist, and a very stupid one."

Precisely. He isn't even bright enough to feign remorse, or even empathy - and this in front of a judge who had trouble obtaining a get of her own. She should throw the book at him merely for being an imbecile - but then, I suppose you'd have to lock up most of the frum world.

And the comments posted here by the frummies are predictable and telling. You people disgust me. I wouldn't be one of you even if I believed an eternity of bliss WERE at stake. I'd rather go to the hell you psychopaths so dearly love fantasizing awaits us.

[Alter Kocker]

First, may he get a particularly painful form of cancer. May he cry out for mercy from his hospital bed, and may Hashem giggle, I recommend that Rivky go OTD, because she will get no justice in Jewland. Ma'am you need to forget about Judaism. Judaism will fuck you in the ass at every turn. Judaism in this form is nothing short of organized misogyny. Find yourself a nice non-jewish man and make a REAL life. If your friends object, they were never your friends in the first case.

[Isa]

She should find herself a Reform convert and marry him, though she have to move away from the Orthodox community.

Any more children will NOT be mamzereem.

[Jessica40]

No sympathy whatsoever for agunot. Live by the sword, die by the sword. If she thinks she's entitled to a divorce when she wants, she shouldn't have gotten married in an Orthodox ceremony. And her false claim that she can't get married and have a family without a get are rubbish. Lots of sane, normal people would be happy marry her. Just look for one next time.

[Grant]

The misogyny of the commentors on here is just as bad as the misogyny of the frumma. Victim blaming motherfuckers.

When a woman is talking about how she was raped and abused, you do not doubt her or say it was her fault. Your opinions, made public, cannot affect the case, they can only make a survivor feel invalidated and worthless. Can you not understand how horrifying it must be for her to say these things in public, in front of her rapist? Learn to shut your mouths occasionally.

Scum of the fucking earth.

[Refugee from Boro Park]

"No sympathy whatsoever for agunot. Live by the sword, die by the sword. If she thinks she's entitled to a divorce when she wants, she shouldn't have gotten married in an Orthodox ceremony. And her false claim that she can't get married and have a family without a get are rubbish. Lots of sane, normal people would be happy marry her. Just look for one next time." -- Jessica40

Wow, Jessica40. I hope you get raped within an inch of your life. It only seems just.

As for others making nasty comments, you are either ignorant or sadistic. You either haven't ever experienced domestic violence, or you enjoy dishing it out. Get fucked, hard.

[barry]

Jake, her shacking up with someone and living with him as if she is married does not make her officially a bigamist. By definition a bigamist must be married to two people and not just living as if married. Besides which bigamy is seldom prosecuted unless it is part of a fraudulent scheme to get another's property or some other felony.

[ah-pee-chorus]

While I have some sympathy for the plight of agunot and disdain for their recalcitrant husbands
that sympathy is lessened somewhat by the fact that it isn't really her husband who is preventing her from going on with her life. She is free to marry. The problem is that SHE is refusing to divorce herself from her conception of god and his wishes. Once she hands god his divorce papers, she is completely free and his get loses all significance.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

++ah-pee-chorus | January 23, 2015 at 10:46 PM++

Thank you for organizing my thoughts into one concise paragraph.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Everyone should spend a day in Family Court, just to observe what goes on, whether you're male or female, religious or not, any religion.

You will go home that day with extreme nausea and you will vow never to get married. It should be mandatory for all young couples looking to get married to spend an entire week sitting in the courtroom to observe.

Religion only adds an extra layer of problems.

[Another Holocene Human]

WSC, so are you saying that love doesn't conquer all after all?

Okay, in all seriousness, there are some terrible people out there. And then some people become terrible people just because they get a divorce. That's why many states, sadly not all, moved to no fault. In at fault the only winner was the attorneys.

[Another Holocene Human]

ah-pee-chorus,

There's not telling at all what she thinks about god or religion.

It's the community she's enmeshed in that's the problem.

This woman has no real understanding of or contact with the outside world--by design.

She's too scared to step outside her community. She probably also lacks a lot of marketable skills, which is also by design.

Our world seems quite nice to us but we knew from a young age to study hard, get into a good school, and seek a remunerative profession.

There isn't exactly an excess of menial, low skill jobs out there and poverty in the US can be quite brutal. So, she holds out hope that she can resolve this situation, I think. Perhaps it's a false hope, but it's human nature to choose the 'devil you know'.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

AHH 2:21, good points.

A lot of matrimonial attorneys love to encouraging angry clients to make charges, even though the attorneys know it will not lead to anything substantive, and will only cause countercharges, more back-and-forth letters and filing of motions, etc., all to churn the file for more $$$ for themselves.

The only winners are the matrimonial attorneys.

Unless there is genuine evidence of physical assault, or you can prove serious psychiatric 'injury' from extreme mental abuse, these accusations will lead nowhere, except to drum up more money for the attorneys' fees. "He abused me" means nothing to a Family Court judge, unless there is evidence of physical assault or psychological damage, in which case the abuser can be punished via a Tevis claim (you attorneys out there, correct me if I'm wrong). Yelling at your spouse, insults, and treating her (or him) like crap is the reason why you're getting divorced. It will not result in more $$$ for you, unless you can successfully do a Tevis claim.

Emotionally overwrought clients can't see past this, and, combined with friends and family encouraging the anger towards the ex-spouse, it's a toxic result.

http://www.nadinemaleski.com/papers.asp?page=13

http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/suing-for-domestic-torts-in-new-jersey

[Runner1983]

Some of the comments posted here are absolutely outrageous!! Like the rabbis to prohibit her from going to the police to report the abuse is a sin. How do these rabbis atone for their sins during Yom Kippur? Untra-orthodox Judaism is a cult. This is not Judaism but something else. I would never want my children to go near it. Never.

[Runner1983]

CORRECTION

Some of the comments posted here are absolutely outrageous!! Rabbis prohibiting her from going to the police to report the abuse is a sin. How do these rabbis atone for their sins during Yom Kippur? Untra-orthodox Judaism is a cult. This is not Judaism but something else. I would never want my children to go near it. Never.

[Jeff]

"Untra-orthodox Judaism is a cult. This is not Judaism but something else. I would never want my children to go near it. Never."

I couldn't agree more. I refuse to recognize it as Judaism.

How often do I say it? We now have two utterly distinct religions. It is way beyond time for us to acknowledge it and to move on.

[anonymous]

Runner 1983 try finding any movement without a few bad apples. I don't understand your speed at condemning an entire nation. Even the polite secular have been known to do nasty things. You'd need to overlay a claim about something institutional about the refusal for her to contact authorities. The response will be that the various stories on this site add up to a portrait of institutional abuse. But in a world with thousands of independent actors, sometimes the cohesion is overstated. But if you're saying your going to walk privately in complete fulfillment of your duties to providence - I'm with you.

[FL]

Regardless of the god conundrum;I do know both sides. Both are Meshugga. I would say they are both equally ED in their own way. There is no excuse for Yoel not to give her a Get.

[gree]

The only winners are the matrimonial attorneys.

Yes, this is the only thing we can be sure of if we are not intimately involved with the case.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

@Isa >"Any more children will NOT be mamzereem."

Because Reform converts are automatically presumed to be goyim. #lolz

[Jessica40]

"Wow, Jessica40. I hope you get raped within an inch of your life. It only seems just.

As for others making nasty comments, you are either ignorant or sadistic. You either haven't ever experienced domestic violence, or you enjoy dishing it out. Get fucked, hard."

Refugee from Boro Park-

My comment said I have no sympathy for agunot, not victims of domestic violence. An aguna is a woman who can't re-marry under Orthodox principles because they don't have a get from their husbands. I repeat that I have no sympathy for their plight because they willingly entered these marriages then complain when the terms and conditions that they agreed to work against them. The answer is to not be Orthodox. This issue has nothing to do with domesttic violence whatsoever.

[nachos( the original one)]

Jessica40:
Who said these woman willingly entered these marriages? These are arranged marriages.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

It's going to take a few courageous women to lead some kind of liberation movement in Jewland.

I just don't see it happening.

[Jeff]

Government intervention, WSC. It's the only way.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

That will never happen, Jeff.

The frumma have 2 things every politician wants: money and votes.

Besides, meaningful change in any group must come from within. Neither our government nor our armies can successfully impose a new form of administration on any other nation or group, unless there are enough people within who will step up, recognize they were wrong, and lead the way towards change.

[Jeff]

I disagree that change can only come from within (an idea that's become popular over the past few decades as a result of the influence of the New Age subculture and the influx of watered-down forms of Asian religions), but I agree that government intervention wil never occur on a large scale (small scale, such as enforcing educational requirements, perhaps).

[Jessica40]

"Jessica40:
Who said these woman willingly entered these marriages? These are arranged marriages."

Nachos- They may be arranged in the sense that they were set up by a matchmaker, but there was no gun to their head to go through with it. Even if there was, they can leave. The woman in this article can re-marry anytime she wants. She just has to stop being Orthodox. If she thinks she's entitled to a divorce, then she isn't Orthodox anyway, so what is she complaining about? I can't attest to the veracity of her claims of domestic violence at all, but it sounds like she's making this up to try to pressure her husband into giving her a get. She should just be honest and follow a moral religion, like NOT Orthodox Judaism.

[Jeff]

Jessica, I dislike Orthodoxy as much as the next "self-hating Jew", but you're simply wrong here. These women have metaphorical guns put to their heads every day - and leaving that world, when one has no marketable skills and has never been beyond a six block radius from one's parents' home, is frequently not an option.

[nachos( the original one)]

Jessica
Some of them were born in the united states and do not even speak English, so they really don't have a choice.

[Milhouse]

Posted by: Jessica40

You are not being honest.

[CHAIM G.]

I KNOW YOILY HE DOES NOT SOUND AT ALL LIKE WHAT SHE SAYS

[FL]

Chaim G. Then you must be referring to a different YOILY. The Yoel she is describing is very much (although not 100%) as she puts it. Yet she is as culpable and deceiving too.

[greps vasser]

Who is Luzy? How does he coach women to fabricate such stories?

[CHAIM G.]

YES YES I MEAN YOILY WEISS OF WHOM YOU ARE TALKING YOU DONT KNOW WHATS TRUE TILL YOU SEE IT WITH YOUR EYES

[tag]

WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed,
Why is court so terrible?

[anchell]

oh, the horror!