A dramatic scene occurred here in court today just after a magistrate sentenced a group of thirty-seven young Polish Jewish men and women to prison sentences and deportation for having entered Palestine illegally.
As the group was being led off to prison, Yerusham Shermeister of Haifa, ran to the side of one of the girls and in the presence of witnesses asked her: “Will you marry me?”
The girl answered: “Yes.”
Shermeister then pronounced the Jewish ritual formula. “You are consecrated to me by the law of Moses and Israel.”
Immediately thereafter Shermeister demanded that his wife be released. Prison officials asked him to produce a marriage certificate. He procured one immediately, since according to the Jewish law he was legally married even though a rabbi had not performed the ceremony.
The girl was released on the ground that she was the wife of a Palestinian citizen.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
