Here is the article:
Here is my comment:
This entire campaign, with its disregard for actual Halacha and flaunting of butts and boobs for shock value, is a gross miscarriage of justice and a disgusting betrayal of the holy Torah.
Adeena Kohn is in fact the opposite of an Agunah. She (or more properly, her mother, I believe) is in my opinion actually the aggressor, attempting to extort a Gett from Stein so that her court case and expensive divorce lawyer can proceed unimpeded.
Here is the logic: To file the divorce case in New York, she was required to attest that she had removed or would work to remove any barriers to his remarriage. Thus we have the Beis Din shopping and the whole pressure campaign against Raphi. If he accedes, he is helping a civil case in which his ex (or his ex’s mother) seeks to strip his parental rights altogether.
Separately, going to the Beis Din AFTER filing civilly was a violation of Arkaos. Stein has a right to request the entire case be moved to Beis Din, which he did. Adeena has ignored this request, of course, because then she (and her mother) cannot feel confident about obtaining full custody.
You omit how it is that Adeena ever got to Monsey in the first place. It was in fact her mother, Rivka, a Monsey resident, who manipulated the family into the situation. After Adeena’s postpartum breakdown, she called Raphi and offered an apartment for a month for the couple to get away from Montreal. That was supposed to be a temporary measure after a postpartum medical emergency. Raphi went along with it, but never intended a permanent move at all. He was open to moving somewhere else besides Montreal, but not to Monsey. And the couple had discussed this and explored options.
Adeena acted deceitfully. I believe her mother Rivka worked on her mentally and prompted this. Adeena stole the children’s passports from Raphi in September 2020 and gave them to Rivka, who hid them in a safe deposit box. Following this, Raphi called the police.
Court records make clear that Raphi and Adeena considered Canada to be their permanent home. Adeena’s stress over wanting to get away from Montreal, and her insistence on staying near her mother in Monsey, was what led to the divorce. They were jointly working on Canadian divorce papers in September 2021.
Then, “inexplicably,” in October, Adeena jumped to New York State courts and demanded full custody. Why would she do that? Because Rivka, again, was working behind the scenes. Adeena clearly, based on her lack of employment, did not have the money to pay for her own divorce lawyer. (The Kohn family obviously paid for this service and had an interest in keeping her and the children in Monsey as an outcome.)
Even after the divorce filing, Raphi tried to reconcile with her. His court filings are a testament to the effort to genuinely help her and repair their family. But someone else had their own agenda, namely his mother in law. Anyone with half a brain can see that Adeena was operating under the thumb of her mother Rivka, who took advantage of her weakened mental state to break apart the marriage and keep the children as close to her as possible.
In any case, the day after Adeena filed for divorce, Raphi moved out, but he continued to be actively involved in the children’s lives. Shortly thereafter, he went to the home to pick up the children. The locks had been changed. Rivka denied him access claiming it wasn’t “his time.” This was not accurate. It reflected her determination to keep him away.
You say that Adeena’s doctor wrote her a prescription in March 2021 for indefinite treatment in New York. However, you misrepresent why the prescription was written. In fact, “At a session on March 17, 2021, which the parties jointly attended, Dr.
Price wrote Kohn a prescription, stating Kohn had to, quote, remain in New York until completion of treatment, end quote. That’s Petitioner’s Exhibit 19. Dr. Price testified he wrote this prescription so Stein and Kohn could travel between Monsey and Montreal without having to comply with quarantine restrictions then in effect in Canada.”
See the court papers for the source information for these facts. The critical analysis is my own layer of opinion. I do not know the Kohn or Stein families and am an outsider.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-7482/363775/20250625094950710_20250625-094311-00000114-00003368.pdf
Separately, Adina Sash aka “FlatbushGirl” does not represent Adeena Kohn in this campaign. This much was stated to me by multiple sources. I believe Sash herself said she is not being paid by Adeena.
The truth is, Sash is using Kohn’s name to build a brand. Just like Rivka Kohn, Adina Sash is manipulating a young mother who is prone to stress. Why? To empower her? No. It is to feed her own selfish need for fame, and her financial stake in her business. As Sash said recently, she will have so many “stories” from the Free Adeena campaign.
Does Sash care about Adeena?
This woman, who is actually very religious, is reportedly totally l embarrassed at the entire nudity campaign and wishes FlatbushGirl would just stop.
I am told she doesn’t have the energy to say anything.
What happened to Adeena’s consent?
FlatbushGirl is a fraud in another way. She has built her business on an inherently religious claim to care about the correct application of Halacha. Accordingly she presents herself as Orthodox Jewish, as on the Mislaibeled podcast.
However, in blatant contradiction to this image, she herself has stated that in a similar situation (eg Gett refusal), she would not bother with Halacha because “I don’t negotiate with terrorists.” This is on video.
Sash also promotes adulterous marriages. Navigating them is a service she provides. This is on her social media bio (Instagram).
Again, not the behavior of an Orthodox woman.
When I commented about Sash’s tactics, she threatened me publicly and privately.
As far as these seruvim against Raphi from the Brooklyn court and then the Beth Din of America, how valid are they?
A basic principle of Halacha is that the case follows the defendant. The couple’s home is Montreal.
Sash has tried to claim that the Seidenfeld court actions are irrelevant because who ever heard of them. Now she says they aren’t signed properly. Based on what
Any divorce is a private tragedy. Unfortunately it looks like Adeena Kohn’s side of the tragedy has been engineered and exploited by some deeply selfish and even wicked women. Their behavior has destroyed the reputation of an innocent man, whose only crime is loving his wife and children, wanting to be in their lives, and trying to be decent.
Feminism is not about using other women to victimize men and get what you want for yourself.
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 