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Used to grow strawberries or marijuana? The quarrel closet that cost dearly

The rabbinical court in Tel Aviv was recently required to file for divorce between spouses who revolve around a home closet for hydroponic growing. The husband claimed that it was a closet for growing strawberries and cherry tomatoes, but the court preferred the woman's version that it was a closet for growing cannabis - a "hobby" that consumed the husband's money.

• divorce
• Cannabis

David Rosenthal

This is the story of a couple who were married for only three years. Such a period of a short relationship is not uncommon, but the circumstances that led to it were special. The two appealed to the rabbinical court, at the center of the discussion was the husband's obligation in the ketubah he signed at the canopy ceremony, in which a sum of NIS 180,000 was set.

Among her other allegations, the wife claimed that the husband used to smoke drugs and even mixed them with pills of various kinds in a way that would cause him to lose control of his actions, and that he used to spend fixed sums of hundreds of shekels every week. The wife further claimed that the husband purchased a special cabinet for growing marijuana in the house, and even caused the parties high financial expenses for the electricity bills of the air conditioners that cooled the room where the heated cabinet was placed. She presented pictures of the coffin and the crops found in it, but the husband, for his part, claimed that it was a coffin purchased for the hydroponic cultivation of strawberries and cherry tomatoes.

When the husband was questioned in court about his version, he found it difficult to provide explanations as to the viability of growing strawberries and cherry tomatoes at a cost of thousands of shekels a month, and even refused to seek a polygraph test to support the court's vigorous denials.

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The clear impression is that the divorce came from the husband and "motivated" the process. Adv. Ohad Hoffman (Photo: Yael Cohen)

In a long and reasoned ruling, the judges of the Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv analyze the parties' claims and explicitly state that the husband's claim for growing strawberries and cherry tomatoes "raises ridicule and is not worthy of response," since growing drugs directly spoiled family life. "It is clear," the dayanim write, "that in these deeds the husband brought the marriage to an end." The fact that the husband was consuming drugs and raising them in his home led the court judges to compel the husband to pay his wife her full address, despite the husband's claims that he was on the verge of enforcement proceedings due to poor financial situation. The judges based the decision on three reasons: one - the spoilage of family life, the second - waste of financial resources, and the third - the fear of danger to a woman due to loss of control and violent and extreme behavior due to drug use. The judges again mentioned that a woman does not have to live with someone whose presence threatens the peace of her life and personal security.

Attorneys Daniel Friedenberg and Ohad Hoffman, co-founders of the Hoffman & Friedenberg firm, which specializes in family and inheritance matters, explain that Departed from the husband and his deeds with those who "motivated" the process and put an end to marriage, then this is a justified demand on the part of the wife. The rabbinical court mentioned the Talmudic rule according to which "woman - for life was given, not for sorrow"