How to Get Gittin

Most marriages are ratified at a glowing religious ceremony, complete with flowers, white bridal gown, and organ chords from Lohengrin; most divorces are carried out in the dry, drab ritual of a civil court.But unlike Catholics and Protestants, Orthodox Jews have their own formal religious ceremony to sunder a marriage.Performing this seldom seen rite is the job of Manhattan's Beth Din (meaning court of justice), which last week completed its first full year of operation as the nation's most unusual divorce tribunal.

Organized by the Rabbinical Council of America, Beth Din is primarily concerned with providing Gittin (religious divorces) to Orthodox believers, although its services are available to Reform and Conservative Jews as well. Beth Din also conducts seminars for rabbis on the complexities of Jewish marriage law and rules on such peculiarly Jewish questions as whether a marriage can be voided because the witnesses did not keep the Sabbath or dietary laws. *

"To the Orthodox Jew," explains Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, 51, president of Beth Din, "a Get is a must. You can never tell when you're going to fall in love with an Orthodox Jew, and when that happens a civil divorce is not enough. You must also have a religious divorce." Rabbis can grant divorces, but this has led to abuses--for example, Gittin from improperly ordained rabbis turned out to be invalid.

Set up by a grant from Philanthropist Gustav Stern, a retired birdseed producer. Beth Din at first intended to take only divorces involving religious problems. But Beth Din's 25 rabbis soon found themselves dealing with marriages wrecked by psychological, sexual and economic difficulties as well. The court does what it can to shore up sagging marriages before agreeing to grant a Get--and does remarkably well. Of the 500 problem marriages handled by Beth Din in its first year, all but 5% were saved. Says Rabbi Rackman: "We have made some contribution to domestic tranquillity."

If all else fails, Beth Din will go ahead with the Get ceremony, originally prescribed by Talmudic scholars of Biblical times. Three rabbis, a scribe and two witnesses are present with the estranged couple. In answer to the rabbis' questions, the couple give their names (in Hebrew), their parents' names, their residence, assurance that both husband and wife freely accede to the action. The scribe writes down the information in Aramaic on a piece of parchment, making sure that the decree comes out no longer than the twelve lines established by custom. When the scribe is finished, the document is handed to the husband, who gives it to the wife. A rabbi then tears the edges of the parchment, and the marriage is sundered. Cost: nothing for the poor, up to $200 for those who can afford it. After that, the two have nothing to do but go get a civil divorce, for Beth Din's Gittin have no legal force in any U.S. court.

* Beth Din's answer: Not on that ground alone.

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