Machransky v. Machransky (31 Ohio App. 482, 1927)

Mauck, J.

Israel Machransky, defendant in error here, by his petition in the common pleas court, alleged that he and Leah Belle Machransky were married in Russia about 1901, and that shortly thereafter they were divorced, by what is pleaded to be a Hebrew rabbinical GET, that after the divorce plaintiff migrated to the United States, and that for many years the defendant has pursued him through various courts upon various charges con-' nected with their former matrimonial relations. Plaintiff further pleads that the’ defendant has been guilty of various acts, which, if true, would constitute extreme cruelty, and prays that the court determine the effect of the GET to.be an absolute divorce, or, in the alternative, that he be now divorced from the defendant. Personal service was had upon the defendant, but she made default, except that she did file an application for temporary alimony, which was never disposed of. The defendant ■ not appearing, the trial court heard the case and granted all the relief that the plaintiff prayed for, thus somewhat incongruously finding that the parties had been divorced in Russia some twenty years ago, and then proceeding to again divorce them.

The wife prosecutes error to this decree, the main contention in argument here being that the case was irregularly tried in the absencé of her attorney, and upder such circumstances as to be so unfair as to require a reversal upon that ground-. It appears in connection with this claim that she filed a motion to vacate the decree the next day after its rendition, and that that motion was heard upon testimony and overruled. The testimony upon the motion has not, however, been brought in the record by bill of exceptions, so the question is not adequately presented, and is not open to review by us.

There is before us, however, a bill of exceptions taken on the hearing upon the plaintiff’s petition. It is argued that from this bill of exceptions it fairly appears that the plaintiff was not entitled either to equitable relief, establishing the efficacy of the Russian divorce, or to a divorce under the statutes of this state. The record shows that the parties were Jews, and we take judicial notice of the fact that they had very limited civil rights in Russia in 1901. The plaintiff testifies positively that he procured a rabbinical divorce some time thereafter. The record further shows that the defendant had expressly admitted that they had been divorced.

The word “GET” among the Jews signifies a divorce. It is usually prepared by a scribe employed by the husband, signed by the latter, and witnessed and delivered by the husband to the wife. Standard Dictionary. It announces in unequivocal terms that the parties are divorced and that the wife is at liberty to remarry. Under Jewislx jurisprudence, the husband’s right to divorce was absolute. The wife had the right to compel the husband to give her a divorce on certain grounds, and in such case was entitled to the return of her dowry. Kadashin’s Jewish Code of Jurisprudence, page 513 et seq. Nothing appears in the record about the law of Russia at the time in question, but the record does disclose these facts: Both parties were resident in Russia and were there married. Thereafter the husband divorced the wife and she received the return of her dowry of 300 rubles. Thereafter, in Russia, the husband remarried, his second wife bore him a child, and this family moved to America. It might be that the testimony establishing these facts was not the best testimony, but it was unobjected to, and is sufficient to establish all that it purports to prove. The intimate relationship between the Jewish law and the church is well known. When, therefore, it was shown that the parties had a rab binical GET, or divorce, we understand it to hav