who got the go ahead from a rabbinic court wandered from town to town and from one country to another with a letter from a and had to plead his case with every town rabbi to get his approval. Later on, written permission by mail was accepted and sometimes an intermediary was used to plead his case. In the last century with the ease of communication, it has become a more formal process in which the takes the lead and secures the one hundred signatures required. Situations where the might see a justification which warrants this process include: Where (Jewish religious law) requires a man to divorce his wife and she refuses to accept it (e.g., some situations of adultery). Where the wife has abandoned her husband and steadfastly refuses to accept a . Where the wife disappeared and her whereabouts are unknown. Where the wife is mentally unable to give consent to receiving a . Where the wife has fallen into an irreversible coma due to illness or injury. In the last two of these cases, the will, as a condition of the , demand a binding undertaking from the husband that he will continue to provide for his wife's care. The is a source of controversy for religious Jews today. In 2014, the New York Times reported on one man, Meir Kin, who refused to divorce his first wife but then married another. In 2019 the media reported that the Chief Rabbi of Israel delayed the funeral of Meir Kin's mother, until he agreed to divorce his first wife. Sephardic Jews Ashkenazic Jews have followed Rabbeinu Gershom's ban since the beginning of the 11th century. Some Sephardi and Mizrachi (Oriental) Jews (particularly those from Yemen and Iran, where polygamy is a social norm) discontinued polygamy much more recently as they emigrated to countries where it was forbidden. The State of Israel has forbidden polygamous marriages and adheres to the ban, but instituted provisions for existing polygamous families immigrating from countries where the practice was legal. References External links Beth Din of America Standards and Guidelines with respect to Get Proceedings at the Beth Din of America Agunot Jewish marital law Divorce in Judaism