A Yemenite rabbi was sentenced to 50 days imprisonment today for performing a marriage ceremony in which the bride was a 15-year-old girl. Israeli law forbids the marriage of women under the age of 17.
The defendant, Rabbi Gedalyahu Agancy, a resident of the Azaraya settlement, told the court that he was unaware of the Israeli law and that in his native country he had officiated at a number of ceremonies in which the bride was a young girl.
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