By Marcy Oster

(JTA) – A man whose mother’s burial was delayed in Israel over his alleged refusal to give his wife a religious divorce said reports that he had changed his mind are “fake news.”

He identified himself as Yisrael Meir Kin in an English-language video released to the religious news website Arutz Sheva. He released a similar video in Hebrew to Israel’s Channel 13.

Kin’s mother’s body arrived in Israel on August 16. Burial did not take place until Tuesday afternoon, reportedly until he agreed to give the religious divorce, or get. Kin was not present, reportedly because he could have been arrested for get refusal.

The rabbinical court of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada reportedly had asked Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau to withhold the burial until Kin agreed to the get and noted in a letter to the Chief Rabbinate that the man’s mother supported him in his decision to keep his wife an agunah, or chained woman. Lau announced he would comply with the request.

Lau later said that Kin’s family had placed a $20,000 bond to ensure that he would produce the get in front of a rabbinical court. But Kin denied this was true, and pointed out that Lau is related to his wife and thus had an “interest in doing this heinous crime against my mother.” 

Kin also said that he provided a get for his wife at the Beit Din of Shaarey Mishpat, headed by Rabbi Tzvi Dov Abraham of Monsey, and not recognized by any North American rabbinical organization nor by Israel’s chief rabbinate. The court is “universally reviled as extortionist,” the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles reported in 2009.

The New York Times in 2014 reported that Kim was demanding $500,000 and full custody of their then-12-year-old son in exchange for the divorce.

The chief rabbinate denied Kin’s claims.

Main Photo: Yisrael Meir Kin says he did not agree to grant his wife a religious bill fo divorce after the rabbinate delayed his mother’s funeral in order to pressure him into complying. (Twitter video screengrab)