 According to "halakha" (Jewish law) when a couple gets divorced it is the man who has to present the woman with a bill of divorce, called a "get".Without one, the couple is still viewed as married, whether a civil divorce is obtained or not.In the past, if a woman was refused a divorce because a man would not give his wife a "get", the rabbis of the local Jewish community were authorized, under certain circumstances, to force the husband to do so (e.g., his refusal to be intimate with his wife as well as not giving the "get", or other such serious matters).