Israeli Police Halt Wedding Of 14-Year-Old Hasidic Girl

By JTA August 30, 2017

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel Police halted a Hasidic wedding in the central Israel city of Lod because the bride was 14 years old.

The groom, reported to be in his 20s, and the girl’s father were arrested on Monday night prior to the ceremony, Israel’s Channel 2 first reported. The men later were released to house arrest with restrictive conditions.

The father of the bride, from the Breslov Hasidic sect, is also the rabbi of the community and was the rabbi slated to perform the ceremony, according to the Channel 2 report.

Allowing an underage child to marry is a serious criminal offense in Israel.

Police were informed about the wedding by city welfare officials, who told the news channel that it would be difficult to ensure that a secret religious wedding ceremony is not held in the coming days or weeks.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO