The 2013 New York divorce torture plot was a sting operation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation against a gang that had been torturing Jewish men into granting their wives religious divorces. It culminated in the arrest of a group of rabbis from New York and New Jersey under the direction of Mendel Epstein, including Jay Goldstein, Binyamin Stimler, David Wax, and Martin Wolmark, who were involved in the planned kidnapping and torture of a fictitious Jewish husband in Middlesex County, New Jersey, with the purpose of obtaining from him a get. Epstein and his men were found guilty of attempted kidnapping in 2015, and were sentenced to prison.
Contents
Background
A Jewish man is allowed to divorce his wife for virtually any reason by first receiving her permission, and then giving her a get. If she is unwilling, and his complaint against her is substantial, he can pursue a Heter meah rabbanim and remarry, although one is rarely awarded.
A Jewish woman seeking a divorce from her husband must present her complaint to a Beth din with the implication of a serious physical blemish or character defect. The husband must be willing to divorce his wife, for if he gives the get unwillingly, the divorce is invalid, and any future offspring of the wife would be considered mamzers. If the circumstances truly warrant a divorce and the husband is unwilling, the dayan has the prerogative of instituting community shunning measures to "coerce him until he agrees," with physical force being reserved only for the rarest of cases.
It was in this grey area of halakha that in the mid-1980s a rabbi from Brooklyn, New York named Mendel Epstein began to advocate for women seeking religious divorces from their husbands, often coercing these men through the use of violence. In 1991, men's rights activist Monty Weinstein staged a protest with 25 people outside Epstein's home, with some carrying signs that read "Stop Mendel Epstein!"
Victims
FBI sting operation
In the summer of 2013, a woman dialed Martin Wolmark, an accomplice of Epstein, and told him a story about a husband who refused to give her a get. Wolmark said:
On August 14, 2013 she visited Epstein in Lakewood with another man she said was her brother. Epstein said to the two visitors:
The man then asked about Epstein's effectiveness, to which he replied:
Epstein explained he would need $10,000 to approve the coercion at the Beth-din, and $60,000 for the "tough guys", one of whom was Epstein's son David, who would use karate, rope, a screwdriver, and plastic bags over the men's heads to get them to cooperate, and then:
The man and woman were undercover FBI agents.
Criminal trials
On October 9, 2013, 8 men wearing Halloween masks, ski masks, and bandanas came to a warehouse in Middlesex County, New Jersey. As they waited for the "husband" to arrive, federal agents burst in and arrested the would-be kidnappers. Epstein was arrested separately in Brooklyn.
On April 21, 2015, Epstein and two accomplices, Binyamin Stimler and Jay Goldstein, appeared before District Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Trenton, whereupon they were convicted of conspiring to kidnap. On December 15, 2015, Epstein and Stimler were sentenced to 10 years (120 months) and 3 years (39 months) respectively. One day later, Goldstein was sentenced to 8 years (96 months) imprisonment. Six other co-defendants also pleaded guilty before trial, and were sentenced to up to 48 months.
On January 12, 2016, David Wax was sentenced by Wolfson to 7 years imprisonment.