Most marriages are ratified at a glowing religious ceremony, complete with flowers, white bridal gown, and organ chords from Lohengrin; most divorces are carried out in the dry, drab ritual of a civil court.But unlike Catholics and Protestants, Orthodox Jews have their own formal religious ceremony to sunder a marriage.Performing this seldom seen rite is the job of Manhattan's Beth Din (meaning court of justice), which last week completed its first full year of operation as the nation's most unusual divorce tribunal.
Organized by the Rabbinical Council of America, Beth Din is primarily concerned with providing Gittin (religious divorces) to...