A Hasidic woman who has been fighting for years for a religious divorce from her husband upped the ante this week by publicizing her long-term plight over Brooklyn.
On Monday, the plane circled Williamsburg for three hours, dragging a banner behind it that read, “Release Mrs. Agna Steinmetz Now!!!”
“Agna” means “chained woman” in Hebrew.
The plane was hired by members of the Hasidic community in support of Yenta Leisa Pollack and her ongoing campaign for independence from her husband Eliezer David Steinmetz.
The 26-year-old mother-of-one has been divorcing her husband for seven years, who refuses to divorce on religious grounds, known as a 'get'.
“The purpose is [of the campaign] Adina Miles Sash, a Pollack supporter known online as Adina Miles Sash, is raising awareness of the case, putting pressure on families who “submit” abuse, and breaking cultural norms. He explained that both aims are to make systemic change. flat bush girl.
“In this situation, the abuse exists within the family dynamic,” Miles Sash said. “It's not an isolated perpetrator or a husband, it's someone protected by a father or brother.”
Pollack married Steinmetz when she was 18, but after a year of marriage she requested a divorce.
“He was never home, he was always leaving her, he was missing,” Miles Sash said. “And for seven years he's been trying to convince her to try again.”
The disgraced plane is owned by New Jersey-based High Exposure Aerial Advertising. According to online flight records. Miles Sash said the banner ads cost “several thousand dollars.”
Ms. Pollack's campaign continued Friday, with a mobile billboard truck touring her neighborhood and admonishing her husband and in-laws.
There was also a small protest outside the Hoodoo Kosher Supermarket, with supporters carrying megaphones and handing out leaflets asking the families to remain silent.
They also planned to cancel the Steinmetz family wedding on Sunday.
“They don't understand that we are ready to go nuclear,” Miles Sash said, adding that many in the Hasidic community support Pollack's freedom efforts. “They are holding [the get] As a tool of abuse, it is thus at a loss. He demands that she return to their marriage, but she says no.
Miles Sash said the couple entered into binding arbitration and filed their case with a Beth Din, a rabbinic court committee set up to resolve disputes.
Miles Sash said Steinmetz was instructed by the court in December to give Pollack a “release” within 10 days or be excommunicated.
But Miles Sash said Steinmetz faced no punishment for violating the order because his parents were of high standing in the community. His parents are Ayzek Steinmetz and Shifra Ayzek.
“This is not just about liberating this particular woman, it's about raising the alarm about this abuse. It's happening wherever there are Orthodox women.”
The newspaper reached out to several members of the Steinmetz family for comment.
