Beth Din of Crown Heights: “Do Not Let Him Into Your Homes”

In advance of the yomim tovim, the Beth Din of Crown Heights has issued a stern alert to residents: Do not invite Shachar Luz to your seudos, allow him to join your minyanim, or even engage in social activity with him.

The unusually harsh letter comes after years of efforts to convince the 44-year-old Luz, a Crown Heights resident, to grant his estranged wife, Ilana, a get. 

According to the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA), Shachar and Ilana have been separated since December 2021, with their civil divorce finalized in September 2024. Because Shachar refuses to issue a get, Ilana, who lives in Chicago with their children, remains an agunah. 

Due to his refusal, the Beth Din of America issued a seruv (order of contempt) against him in 2023. This order has been endorsed by the Chicago Rabbinical Council (in 2024) and the Association of Chabad Rabonim of Illinois (in 2025), urging Shachar to comply with the beis din and alerting the community to take active distancing measures as required by halacha.

The Badatz’s letter calls upon the community to take care not to:

– Allow Luz into any shuls

– Invite him for Shabbos or Yom Tov meals

– Conduct business with him

– Socialize with him

The public is asked to adhere to the halachah, in the hope that this added pressure will finally convince him to mend his ways.