WHAT COMMUNITY SANCTIONS CAN BE APPLIED AGAINST A PERSON AGAINST WHOM A SERUV HAS BEEN ISSUED?
Once a seruv has been issued, the mesarev’s home may be picketed and/or that person’s workplace may be picketed. If the husband is mesarev, his congregation may be asked to deny him the honor of being called up to the Torah (however, as indicated previously, this particular sanction can be applied even without a formal seruv). If the mesarev’s business needs a hechsher, the hechsher may be refused or withdrawn after a seruv is issued. All requests for sanctions must be initiated by the aggrieved party or someone acting on his/her behalf. The beit din and/or local rabbi are unlikely to initiate sanctions unless asked to do so by the injured party. The sanctions are sometimes applied by individuals and sometimes applied by the community leaders, institutions or organizations. For example, the Jewish Press, a weekly New York-based publication, will list individuals who are mesarev Get. Another list of mesarvei Get may be found at www.getora.org.
