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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Neither thick jungles, nor hard core criminals from
exotic, remote lands, nor the dangers of crocodiles and
poisonous snakes can deter the dauntless Rabbi Shlomo Klein
from achieving his sole aim: to release Jewish women from the
shackles of their status as agunos. For nearly three
decades, Rabbi Klein has been fulfilling this sacred mission,
far from the eyes of the media, and without any publicity,
all for the sake of Heaven. Scores of women owe their lives
to Rabbi Klein -- women who were on the verge of despair, and
who thought that they would never be freed from their
situations. All know the address of the rabbinical court of
Beersheba, but not all are familiar with the hair-raising,
fascinating stories in Rabbi Klein's pouch.
Of late, as for scores of years, every misfit
and castaway feels qualified to discredit and belittle the
Torah and the halocho. Many defamatory remarks focus
on one of the most sensitive and painful topics facing modern
Jewish society, the problem of agunos. Anyone who
leafs through the response literature of the rishonim
and acharonim, will easily find many halachic rulings
which deal with the freeing of agunos. It is difficult
to describe how much effort and toil our dayanim
invest in order to free a woman from the shackles of her
status of an abandoned woman. However, nothing will help.
Those who consider it a calling to raise their hands against
Toras Moshe will not be deterred by this article.
Rabbonim and many sincere Jews dedicate themselves with
tremendous mesiras nefesh to this sensitive and
painful issue. But there is no doubt that the most
outstanding expert in this area is the director of the
Rabbinical Court of Beersheba and the Negev, Rabbi Shlomo
Zalman Klein. From all over the country, complicated and very
problematic cases, which demand much personal and dedicated
attention, are referred to him. All know the address, and it
is not in vain that for decades he has been considered the
central headquarters for handling the problems of
agunos in Israel and throughout the world, and that he
has succeeded where may excellent activists have failed.
To the Far East
Very often, as he did immediately after this Pesach, he packs
his bags and sets out to various destinations all over the
world. He has already gone to the Far East, India, Thailand,
and even to Moslem Pakistan, not to mention closer
destinations in Europe, where he spends days and nights, not
relenting until he has succeeded in fulfilling his mission
and freeing yet another woman from her status as an
aguno.
In difficult cases, he makes full use of his powers of
persuasion, and of various stratagems and strange devices,
sometimes speaking gently, and at other times very sternly
and sharply, until the husband gives him his signature and
authorizes him to hand the bill of divorce to the
aguno in question. Moreover, he always has to balance
all this against causing a forced get which is
invalid. Here we are not dealing with the halachic aspects of
the issues involved, but just presenting a few of the more
exotic stories of the mesiras nefesh of this
extraordinary man. It is difficult to describe the extent of
the physical and emotional efforts this sacred and important
mission involves. We will present only a few stories from the
hundreds in his files but they will suffice to illustrate the
difficult and dedicated work Rabbi Klein has been doing for
many years.
A few years ago, he won a lawsuit against the newspaper,
Koteret Rashit. Three of the reporters of this paper,
among them Nochum Barnea, described Rabbi Klein as a "black-
bearded, red-faced midget with a large silk yarmulke
on his head." Rabbi Klein received 5000 shekels in
compensation (after a four year wait). However, he decided to
continue his battle against the paper, and appealed to the
Supreme Court
Humiliating and Racist
Amazingly, the judges of the Supreme Court decided to
increase the compensation to 25,000 shekels. They determined
that the amount the lower court had awarded him was too
little, because the description of the newspaper was
"humiliating, degrading and racist." Those reporters will
never forget this affair.
At a later stage, they asked their deputy, the attorney Mivi
Mozer, one of the most important jurists in the country in
the field of claims, to apply for an additional deliberation
on the issue in the presence of five judges. However, Mozer's
request wasn't accepted, and this was one of the rare times
in which a chareidi Jew succeeded in winning a lawsuit in
which reporters were charged with defaming and humiliating
him. Quite possibly, the religious judge on the panel, Tzvi
Tal (now retired), had a decisive influence on the verdict.
As result of the decision, many newspapers have been very
wary about criticizing the decisions of the Rabbinical Court
of Beersheba when Rabbi Klein is involved.
The fascinating stories which led directly to the freeing of
many tormented women from their status as agunos can
fill a thick tome. One time, he even found himself face to
face with a gun wielding divorce "refusenik." Yet even in
such a situation Rabbi Klein remained calm. "First give me
the get, and then shoot me," he said, and managed to
crack that hard nut too.
Superior Worker
The story begins many years ago. Rabbi Klein, the oldest son
of Rabbi Elozor Klein, arrived in Israel with his family,
from Rumania. At first they settled in Kfar Gidon, and
afterward, in 5717 (1957), in Beersheba. At that time the
city lacked all the facilities of Torah-true Judaism.
With great efforts and exertion, Rabbi Elozor Klein laid the
groundwork for the chareidi community. He established the
city's first cheder al taharas hakodesh, as well as
the Beis Hillel yeshiva. He also published Mishnas
Elozor on the Shas, as well as Kiryas Arba
and Zichron Shlomo on the Torah. For many years he
served as the rav of the Kehillas Yerai'im Federation.
In such a home, his son Shlomo Zalman developed a sensitivity
for the suffering of his fellow and the trait of mesiras
nefesh on behalf of all those in need of help. This point
highlights the droshos he delivers in the shul in
which he presides as rav.
In 5730, he began to work in Beersheba's
beis din. One bright day, the director of the
rabbinical courts asked him to locate a husband who had
abandoned his wife 30 years ago. Rabbi Klein set out across
the seas, and at the end of a three week effort managed to
locate the husband in Brazil and to return with a broad smile
on his face, and a happy heart. From then on, he frequently
"disappears" from the beis din, for a few days or
weeks. Only after securing a get for the aguno
in his care, does he return to Beersheba.
Because of his dedicated efforts, the administration of the
rabbinical courts cited him as the court's finest staff
member. (Of course they had other reasons too, which include
the dedicated and efficient manner in which he runs the
botei din in Beersheba and Eilat.) The personnel of
the beis din presented whom with a scroll, which bore
a citation expressing their appreciation of his tireless
efforts. Alongside this, they noted that he maintains set
Torah-study hours, and is an outstanding talmid
chochom who is beloved by all, genial and companionable,
and at work likes order, and is very meticulous and
precise.
In Freezing Snow
For nearly two hours, Rabbi Klein stood in the frosty snow in
the small French village of Lyle. It was early in the
morning, and no one was seen in the desolate street. He
knocked on the door, and with loud shouts called to P, a
former resident of Ashkelon, to open the door. But P
pretended not to hear. Rabbi Klein, who had been trying for a
long time to locate the man who had abandoned his wife for
more than 20 years, did not give up. After a prolonged vigil,
he noticed the newspaper deliverer, who arrived every morning
at the same time, knocked on P's door and threw in the
paper.
The following day, he disguised himself as a newspaper
deliverer, and before P realized who he really was, he
stepped inside the house. "Twenty years have passed, and you
still haven't given your wife a get. You've caused too
much suffering and pain to your abandoned wife. I've come
here, as the deputy of the beis din and won't leave
until I receive the get for your wife," he said.
The startled P remained glued to the floor. He had been
certain that no one would locate him in that remote and
isolated place.
At a certain point, P regained his senses, and tried to throw
Rabbi Klein out of the house. But he found himself face to
face with a resolute and stern person, who had come to
fulfill, at all costs, the mission placed on his shoulders.
It turned out that during the war of 5727 (1967), P fled the
country in order to avoid being drafted, and left his wife
and two children behind. Rabbi Klein began with the carrot,
but when he saw that he wasn't succeeding, he made use of the
stick in his possession.
A Carrot and a Stick
"I made it clear to him that nothing would help, and that he
would have to give his wife a get. I told him that if
he persisted in his refusal, I would cancel all of the
diplomatic services he received so that his passport would
not be renewed. The beis din exacted a very high
alimony, and that if he ever returned to Israel, he would be
arrested at the airport, something which is not very
pleasant, to say the least."
Those threats eventually penetrated the blocked ears and
heart which had, over the twenty year period, collected much
dust. "He still made certain conditions, but in the end, I
had the kisvu utenu in my hand." Rabbi Klein hastened
to phone Israel, and to tell the aguno the good news.
Immediately afterward, he returned to Israel.
Since then, Rabbi Klein has been in nearly every country in
the world. One day he's in Thailand, another day in India, a
month later in Paris, Australia or the United States. He has
even reached the thick jungles of India and musty prisons of
remote lands, in order to free yet another woman from her
status as an abandoned woman.
Rabbi Klein will never forget what happened to him in
Australia. He relates this story, as if it occurred
yesterday, and not for nothing. It is not every day that a
rav must face a gun-slinging criminal from the underworld. In
this case, the search for B wasn't simple at all, especially
since Rabbi Klein had no address, and actually not a thread
of information which could lead him to the man. He only knew
one detail. B was Australian, and would apparently flee to
Australia.
A Drawn Revolver
The story of B began many years ago. B made aliya to Israel,
and married a woman who gave birth to a girl. However one day
B simply disappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him. "I
checked the border police, and to my amazement was told that
the man hadn't left the country. In the end, I decided to try
to locate him in Australia. I roamed the Jewish centers, and
showed every passerby an old picture of B but no one
recognized him. At a later stage I learned that in Australia
B was registered under a different name."
Rabbi Klein didn't give up this time either. Throughout his
searches, he met a local rabbi who was involved in
kiruv work. The rabbi didn't recall the name of the
man, but when he looked at the picture, he thought that the
fugitive might be someone who had turned to him the previous
Pesach with the request that he find him a place for the
Seder. "We tried to locate the man, and after great
efforts, I reached his neighbors, and through them, a grocery
store where he worked. When I arrived at the store,
identified him immediately, and asked the local rabbi to
summon him for a talk."
B arrived at the rabbi's home, and when he learned why the
rabbi had summoned him, grew very angry. "I'll never give my
wife a divorce. I fled to the end of the world, in order not
to give her a get," he said and ran out. The rabbi
pursued him, and brought him back to the house, and for a
long time, he and Rabbi Klein tried to persuade him to give
the get, but to no avail.
In the morning, Rabbi Klein returned to his hotel, and a few
moments later heard a knock on the door. "I opened, and saw B
in the doorway. As soon as he began to speak, he drew a gun
and said: `I'm a member of the Mafia, and if you don't leave
me alone, you won't leave here alive.' I replied: `Do
whatever you want to me. I'm in the hands of HaKodosh
Boruch Hu, and not in those of flesh and blood.'"
Even when faced by a drawn gun, Rabbi Klein did not lose his
cool. Quite to the contrary, during those terror filled
moments, he continued in his efforts and attempts to persuade
the man to give the divorce. "I tried to persuade him to take
stock of his ways, and in the end he left. The next morning,
I returned to the grocery store, and this time he had
softened a bit, and agreed to negotiate. For a full week --
nights and days which were filled with threats, outbursts and
arguments -- the local rabbi and I sat with him. Finally, a
short while before Shabbos, the negotiations were finalized
in the best manner possible, and he signed the
get."
India
Rabbi Klein hasn't forgotten his trip to India either. It
took place less than seven years ago. A young woman from Lod
wanted to marry. However, the rabbis learned that when she
was very young, she had been kidnapped by a local Jew who had
consecrated her for marriage in the presence of witnesses.
Rabbi Klein traveled to Calcutta, and tried to locate the
man, eventually finding him by means of a Jewish pita
merchant, who told him that the man he was looking for
was lying ill in an old age home. Rabbi Klein went to see
him, but at first the man didn't even remember he
incident.
"When he finally recalled it, I had to spend an entire day
trying to persuade him to give the get. I brought the
head of the Jewish community of Calcutta to his bedside, and
asked him to threaten that if the man didn't give the
get, he wouldn't be given a Jewish burial. (In India
they cremate the dead, and the heads of the Jewish community
managed to arrange for the burial of Jews in a special
cemetery only after many efforts.) As a result of this
threat, the man signed the `kisvu utenu.'
"The following day, I learned that the man passed away.
Although that of course released the woman, had I come one
day later it would have been impossible to locate him, and
the young woman from Lod would have nonetheless remained an
aguno her entire life."
This wasn't Rabbi Klein's only reason for having come to
India. From there, he continued to the thick jungles in an
attempt to find V of Ramleh, who had abandoned his wife and
children due a battle over a legacy. V's father had owned
coconut plantations near the jungle, and when he died, V
asked for half of the inheritance. But his brother had
refused to comply, and as a result, V set out to India in
order to salvage his share.
A Professional Killer
With the help of the Indian Mafia, V succeeded in gaining
control of his father's plantations. But he didn't return to
Israel and abandoned his family. Before setting out, Rabbi
Klein was warned not to near V since he was known as a
dangerous and professional killer. But Rabbi Klein wasn't
frightened by the warning. Near the jungle, he hired a driver
with a rickshaw, and set out in search of V in the thick of
the jungle. The natives directed him, but when he finally met
up with V he understood the warnings.
Before even hearing why Rabbi Klein had come, V made it clear
in no uncertain terms, that he if he didn't leave him alone,
his end would be bitter. Rabbi Klein felt that he was in deep
trouble. He knew quite well that in the Indian jungle, where
there was no law and there were no police, no one could help
him. But he placed his trust in Hashem, knowing that mitzvah
agents are not harmed, and continued to demand that V give
his wife a get.
"V intensified his threat. He told me that I didn't leave him
immediately, he would throw me to the snakes in th jungle,
and that no one would ever know that I had visited him. I
told him: 1Do with me as you please, but first give your wife
a get.'
"He threw me out of the house, but as soon as I was outside,
I turned to the locals who were nearby, and explained the
reason why I had come. I asked them to try and soften him.
They went inside, and a while later, I again dared to enter
his home. The arguments lasted for hours, until he finally
broke and said that he was willing to give his wife a
get."
A Big Crocodile
But that wasn't the end of Rabbi Klein's mission to the
Indian jungle. The next mission wasn't easy either. After
completing the affair with V, he set out in search of B, a
criminal from Petach Tikvah who had left behind a wife and
three children.
B had escaped from an Israeli prison one day and disappeared.
For 19 years, efforts were made to find him, but in vain.
When the case reached Rabbi Klein, he began to investigate
the whereabouts of the fugitive, and he concluded that he was
hiding out in India.
Rabbi Klein had no precise information about B's location.
But this time, too, he thought that he might be in the
jungle. Once more, Rabbi Klein set out, and when the charted
path ended, he began plodding through the wild vegetation by
foot. From every direction he heard and even saw wild
animals. Suddenly, he lost his breath, as he saw a huge
crocodile gaping at him. Miraculously, though, Rabbi Klein
managed to flee the menacing jaw.
A Shaliach Mitzvah
Rabbi Klein shifts in his seat when he recalls those
terrifying moments. We asked him to tell us the rest of the
story, and were certain that with that, his mission had
ended. But such wasn't the case. "During those moments of
fear, I thought about the fact that I had come there in order
to save a woman from her state as an aguno. The
thought that I was a shaliach mitzvah gave me the
strength and the courage to continue on, despite all I went
through."
Night fell, and Rabbi Klein plodded from hut to hut with a
picture of B in his hand. News of the religious Jew who was
wandering about the huts took wings, and reached the ears of
B too.
He thought he knew why Rabbi Klein had come, and quickly
fled, fearing that Rabbi Klein was trying to return him to
the Israeli prison. Rabbi Klein enlisted the help of local
residents, who in the end were given a detailed explanation
of why Rabbi Klein was searching for B. They then stepped
into the picture, and after pursuing and overtaking B, joined
in the efforts to get him to give the get. After
completing his mission in the jungle, Rabbi Klein returned to
India.
From there he continued to a number of places, such as
Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Pakistan, returning to
Israel with a treasure: 23 divorce consents for 23
agunos.
We asked Rabbi Klein to tell us what keeps him on the go, and
in the main, how he succeeds at this difficult work. After
all, these people are fugitives, who are filled with
animosity and feelings of revenge. Some of them are in a
constant state of flight form the police and debtors, and the
constant changing of identities and residences has become
their daily fare, each with his own complicated problem.
Nonetheless, the success of Rabbi Klein is evident from the
fact that many agunos have been freed as a result of
his efforts.
Siyata diShmaya
Rabbi Klein: "As one who has been working in the rabbinical
court system for many years, I live the complex aguno
cases day and night, and their difficult plights give me no
rest. There is not doubt that without the siyata
diShmaya which I literally feel with every step I take, I
couldn't have made these achievements.
"My rule in life is: When I enter someone's home, on duty, I
try to feel the pulse, in order to pinpoint the best way to
persuade him to give the get. One has to use the
carrot and the stick method. One begins with the carrot, but
when there is no choice, one must also bring out the stick,
in the form of threats of various sanctions, true or
fictitious, as long as one is able to achieve his
purpose."
In one case, he reached a prison in Thailand, where two
Israelis convicted of smuggling drugs were languishing. "It
is difficult to describe how I found them. They were lying
with criminals in a musty cell, where mice roamed about
freely. It was a shocking scene. The two youths sat there,
broken and dejected. Their sentences had years to go. I
encouraged them, and promised that as soon as I returned home
I would make every effort to secure their pardon."
He also visited a German prison, while searching for YD of
Eilat, a familiar figure to the Eilat police. The
dayanim of the local rabbinical court had tried to
persuade him to give his wife a get for many years,
but to no avail. After countless deliberations, a date for
arranging the get was finally scheduled. But on that
day, he disappeared.
Like in similar cases, the court issued an arrest order. But
all searches for him yielded no results. The efforts of a
private detective service were also fruitless, and the wife
remained an aguno for five years.
In a German Prison
One day, Rabbi Klein received a telephone call. On the line
was an investigator from the nationwide police headquarters.
He related that the police had information about a prisoner
who had been arrested in Germany in the wake of an abortive
hold-up. Even though he had false identification papers, it
was learned that he was YD from Eilat, and that he had
managed to flee Israel with a fake passport and identity
card.
Rabbis from Munich, who had attempted to persuade the
prisoner to give his wife a get, returned from the
prison empty handed. YD stubbornly claimed that they had the
wrong address.
Under such circumstances, it was decided to dispatch Rabbi
Klein to Munich. He entered the prisoner's cell, accompanied
by the deputy commander of the prison and, after talking with
the prisoner for many hours, managed to wear him out and to
secure his consent for the get.
It is possible to continue to relate many more stories of
Rabbi Klein's adventures. Sometimes, he also has to make
trips within Israel, to remote caves in the Galil or in more
complicated cases, to Arab villages and settlements in the
territories.
Rabbi Klein has also undertaken to free agunos from
abroad whose husbands have fled their native countries and
are hiding out in Israel. Once such case involved a woman
from Peru whose husband fled to Israel and left his wife an
aguno for seven full years. In Israel, he disguised
himself as an Arab. Rabbi Klein was asked to enter the case,
and to try and locate the man. But that wasn't easy.
In an Arab Village
"This particular episode took place during the height of the
intifadah, when the danger in the territories was very
real. I still can't explain what gave me the strength to take
on this assignment. I began to wander about the Arab villages
with the picture of the man, until finally locating him in an
Arab village in the northern part of Har Chevron. I began to
speak with him in Hebrew, but he pretended not to understand.
In the end, I asked him to show me his identity card. He took
it out, and showed me that it said that he was an Arab and
unmarried.
"With this certificate, he tried, as they say, to shut my
mouth so that I would leave him alone: `You see that I'm not
the man you're looking for. How can could an unmarried Arab
leave behind a wife and children in Peru?' But I noticed that
the identity card said that he had been born in Peru.
"He didn't know that his kesuva was in my possession,
and that I also knew his parents' names. I asked the
policeman who had accompanied me to arrest him. The man burst
into tears and revealed that he was a Jew, and that he had
indeed left a wife and children behind in Peru. We brought
him to the beis din and, within a few hours, the woman
in Peru was freed from her status as an aguno."
Rabbi Klein has often conducted chases in the Lod airport,
sometimes in order to arrest husbands who are trying to flee
the country, and sometimes to detain husbands the moment they
get off the plane upon their arrival here. In this manner' AA
who had refused to give his wife a get for 13 full
years, but had come to Israel for his mother's funeral, was
caught.
Arrest at the Funeral
AA didn't imagine what he would undergo when his case fell
into Rabbi Klein's hands. Rabbi Klein had often visited AA in
his home in Paris, to try to persuade him to give his wife a
get, but it was like speaking to the wall.
One day, Rabbi Klein learned that AA's mother died, and he
figured that AA would come to her funeral in Ashdod. Rabbi
Klein informed the police of his surmise, and they laid in
wait for him in the cemetery.
Immediately after the funeral the police arrested him, and
made it clear that he would remain in prison if he did not
free his wife. The man was brought to the beis din of
Beersheba, and there gave his wife the longed-for
get.
Rabbi Klein also has a number of other stories about
fascinating cases which took place in France, and about a
number of other cases in the United States, as well as some
in the Far East, in Moslem countries.
Rabbi Klein has logged hundreds of thousands of kilometers,
in his efforts to help many families in Israel. Today, the
rabbinical courts of the country may take pride in the very
small number of women in the system who are still
agunos, and in the fact that in recent years the
problems of hundreds of women have been solved.
Immediately after Pesach, Rabbi Klein went abroad to bring
relief to some more women. A small number of the cases,
mainly the criminal ones, will remain sealed because,
although these recalcitrant husbands have probably met their
deaths, this cannot be proven with certainty.
Mesiras Nefesh
In closing, we note that in one exceptional case, Rabbi
Klein, along with the av beis din of Beersheba, Rav
Eliyahu Aberg'el, managed to penetrate the Israeli underworld
in order to secure testimony regarding the murder of a
husband. After supreme efforts, they obtained the evidence
which resulted in the freeing of a woman from her status as
an aguno.
Such mesiras nefesh characterizes the beis din
of Beersheba, and at this point we also wish to cite the
efforts of the prominent dayan, Rav Eliyahu Heishrick,
an outstanding talmid chochom, who is held in high
esteem by maranan verabonon, the gedolei
haTorah and the poskim, and who makes outstanding
efforts to maintain and safeguard the pure halocho.
Despite the tremendous efforts his work entails, Rabbi Klein
tirelessly persists in his sacred mission. All who seek the
services of the beis din keenly sense his attentive
ear and his warm and sensitive heart which is attuned to the
needs of every Jew. His efforts to prevent the suffering and
distress of the litigating parties, who quite naturally come
to the court with pent up anger and frustration as the
results of the terrible crises they are undergoing, are
deeply appreciated.
We close with one story which, more than any other,
illustrates the special mesiras nefesh of Rabbi Klein.
A number of years ago, he returned from a trip to the Far
East, only to be hospitalized after the doctors discovered
that while abroad he had contracted a devastating virus. He
remained in the hospital for six consecutive months,
connected to intravenous 24 hours a day, while the doctors
told his wife, Rebbetzin Bruria, the principal of the Beis
Orlean Beis Yaakov high school, that her husband did not have
long to live.
However, as we have already stressed, mitzvah agents are not
harmed, and Rabbi Klein recovered. Since then, he has been
continuing his sacred task with added vigor. All that remains
for us to do is to wish him success in the great mission he
has been fulfilling for the past three decades, and in
particular the one he undertook immediately after Pesach. May
he be blessed for all of his efforts.
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