Dr. Patricia Lucard (pictured, left) was married in a civil ceremony abroad in 1982. But when the couple separated in 1995, her husband – an atheist – turned to the Israeli rabbinical courts. Why? First of all, extortion: he conditioned her divorce on being exempted from paying child support for their two children and on receiving half of her apartment’s worth. Second of all: simple malice. “He told me that I would remain a chained woman forever,” relates Patricia.
Patricia underwent an emotionally and financially-draining, years-long process of rabbinical court hearings and appeals, only to be turned down in a 2001 Supreme Rabbinical Court ruling which stated that by not accepting her husband’s demands, she was “chaining herself”. Meanwhile, her husband, a professor at a US university, remarried and became a father again…
“I would like my story to serve as an inspiration and to offer hope to all women who have married in a civil marriage, in Israel and abroad,” said the excited Patricia last night, adding: “I feel compelled to share with everyone what Yad Laisha has done for me.”