Gett Page #2

her husband's conditions

and he doesn't do his part!

But they live together now?

- Yes, as requested.

- Then what's wrong?

Everything is wrong,

that's why we're here.

Why are you fanning the flames again?

The husband's behavior is infuriating.

How long must my client wait?

Look, I stand by my word,

although I repeat:

I cannot force him to appear.

Why not, Your Honor?

His refusal to answer your summons

constitutes valid grounds.

- What are you waiting for?

- You're out of order, Carmel.

I will do so

because this poor woman

fulfilled her obligations

to me and to her husband.

If the husband doesn't appear

at the next hearing,

in three months...

Three months, Your Honor!

Three months?

Carmel, shut up!

You're annoying me!

If the husband doesn't appear

at the next hearing,

three months from today,

I will take exception

with the law

and suspend

his driver's license for a year.

Really?

He doesn't have one.

He doesn't have one.

No license?

I see.

- Was it revoked?

- No, he never had one.

His credit cards will be blocked.

He doesn't use credit cards.

His bank account will be blocked.

A joint account?

Even if they're separated?

My client deposits her salary

into their account.

They're still paying off

their mortgage.

How many years are left?

11 years.

You want us

to threaten him with jail?!

Precisely, Your Honor.

He wants reconciliation,

it's she who refuses, not him.

Bring him here,

and we'll try to appeal to him.

He won't appear,

the last four hearings are proof!

What's going to change?

Your Honor...

Just a minute.

Let me hear her now.

Your Honors,

I upheld my side of the bargain.

Make him appear.

You, as promised.

Haim, bring the lady some water.

I don't want water.

You promised, Your Honor.

Let's not mince words.

I'll do all I can to make him appear.

THREE MONTHS LATER - A YEAR

AND A HALF SINCE THE TRIAL BEGAN

Welcome, sir.

Thank you, Your Honor.

We've waited for you a long time.

Your refusal to appear

shows contempt for this court

and wastes our precious time.

Fulfill this court's orders

or we will harden our hearts.

Understood?

Yes, Your Honor.

Have you any regrets?

Yes, Your Honor.

What have you come to tell us?

Your wife fulfilled your every wish,

yet your marriage

is not working.

Have you made up your mind?

Will you grant this woman

a divorce?

No, Your Honor.

- You won't grant her a divorce?

- No.

Then why are you here?

To say no?

Yes.

Do you realize

that if you continue to refuse

I can force you

to grant her a divorce?

On what grounds, Your Honor?

On what grounds?

Yes, on what grounds?

After driving your wife crazy,

you want to drive us crazy too?

Your Honor,

we can't live together.

We aren't compatible.

Be quiet!

No court in the world can oblige

this woman to live with that man.

Do you hear?

She doesn't want to live with you.

It's my punishment.

It's in His hands.

If you see her as your punishment,

grant her a divorce

and free yourself, too.

No, Your Honor.

I don't want to live with him.

I don't want to.

Listen, in 15 days you will

bring witnesses before me.

If they don't provide me with cause,

you will be sent home

to work it out!

I need grounds!

- I can't talk right now.

- Goodbye, Your Honors.

TWO WEEKS LATER:

Hello, Carmel.

Hello.

It's been a long time.

- Is Elisha here?

- Yes, he's in the restroom.

If we keep this gracious,

it'll be all right.

How's your mother?

She's fine, thanks.

Your father was...

What a prodigy.

He always knew...

Knew what?

He knew a lot...

A lot of things.

Yes.

He knew many things.

Amsalem?

The husband.

Leave it to me, don't talk.

Didn't we say

that you'd bring witnesses?

Your Honor.

We couldn't gather them,

people work, they're busy.

I'm here on behalf

of my brother,

and may my sister-in-law

pardon me,

I have no intention to slander.

Your qualities are well-known,

Rabbi Shimon. Speak.

This is my brother,

ten years my junior.

Back in Morocco, he was

a respected and admired man.

Your Honor,

we are a family of scholars,

people of the Book.

And in my humble opinion,

perhaps the couple's incompatibility

stems from the inability

of my sister-in-law, Viviane,

to run a kosher home

and observe Jewish law,

as my brother would like.

If she'd only follow the laws,

as my brother wishes,

he would give her the world.

And yet you demand

that this man grants her a divorce?

What for?

What for?

Your brother didn't appear in court

when summoned

and he forced us to be

heavy-handed with him.

What do you ask this man to do?

To renounce his Torah?

She doesn't allow him

to wear a skullcap outside.

And that hurts my brother.

He wishes to return to his roots.

Which should he choose:

His religion and faith or his wife?

He refuses to give up either,

which is commendable.

It's a serious problem.

That's my opinion.

Do you think that herein lies

both the problem and the solution?

The beginning of a solution,

Your Honor.

I won't bad-mouth this woman,

but my brother too,

suffered from his wife's wrath.

And kept silent.

Your Honor, if I may...

What does observance

have to do with incompatibility?

Carmel, your late father...

My father has nothing to do with this,

please leave him out of it.

How can we not mention and praise

Rabbi Sasson Ben Tovim,

venerable as he was,

when his son stands before us?

Not before you, Shimon.

Your father was a guiding light

to many good men.

Many good men.

I'm not standing before you.

We're standing before

these honorable Rabbis

to find a solution for this couple.

True.

My client is a secular woman.

And when they married?

When they got engaged she was 15,

and came from a religious family, too.

But she knew she was marrying

into a renowned rabbinic family.

Her family is just

as respectable as his.

Thank God.

I'm certain that for another man

my client would even wear a wig.

If she left religion,

it's because of him.

Because of him!

He and his deeds

ruined religion for her.

Carmel, be brief.

We have no need for theories,

just facts.

It's a fact.

What did he do, God forbid,

to make her hate her faith?

Why doesn't the husband

have a driver's license?

- Driving can desecrate the Sabbath.

- Not on a weekday.

My brother is afraid

that if he had one

his wife would make him

desecrate the Sabbath.

Many God-fearing Jews

have driver's licenses.

My brother never had great eyesight,

which is another reason

to avoid driving.

We are men of Torah, why "excuses"?

- Excuses...

- Why excuses?

Excuses are a dime a dozen,

Shimon, my friend.

What does this court prefer,

observance or domestic harmony?

Without witnesses,

we won't continue.

Why? Even with 10 witnesses,

no grounds will be found.

This hearing is now adjourned.

A notice will be mailed to you, go.

You're wasting the court's time.

Excuse me.

After you.

We don't want witnesses either.

TWO MONTHS LATER

They're both stubborn.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes