During his visit to Argentina this week, Rishon LeZion HaRav David Yosef shlit”a personally intervened to free a woman who had been an agunah for approximately twelve years.

The incident unfolded suddenly during Rav Yosef’s packed official visit to the Argentine Jewish community. Local rabbanim approached Rav Yosef urgently, explaining that a woman in their community had been waiting over a decade for her husband to grant her a get. The husband had stubbornly refused every appeal and attempt at resolution.

Despite a tightly scheduled itinerary that included official state meetings and community events, Rav Yosef immediately canceled a government engagement and traveled without delay to the place where the husband was staying.

Witnesses described how the Rishon LeZion spent many hours in conversation with the man, urging him to do the right thing and release his wife from her long and painful agunah status. The meeting extended well into the evening, with the Chief Rabbi’s aides forced to cancel most of his remaining appearances for the day.

Baruch Hashem, the following day, after much persuasion and discussion, the husband agreed to grant the get. A qualified sofer gittin was promptly summoned, and the get was written and delivered according to halacha. Rav Yosef later met again with the man, offering him chizzuk and hadracha.

The Rishon LeZion explained that this episode reflects a broader policy he has embraced since assuming his current position — that of personal involvement and direct intervention in cases of get refusal, wherever possible.

“I go to prisons to meet with those who refuse, especially when it’s nearby,” Rav Yosef shared, noting that he views it as part of his responsibility to personally involve himself in every opportunity to help bring relief to women chained by injustice.

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