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"Hasid Hottie" & Mother Of 4 In Bitter Custody Battle With Orthodox Community
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 19, 2012
Modified Feb 19, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 19, 2012
Modified Feb 19, 2012
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A 30-year-old mother of four, aspiring model, and former member of Brooklyn's Hasidic community is fighting for a divorce from her allegedly abusive husband and for custody of her children. "It was an arranged marriage," Pearlperry Reich tells the Post, referring to her wedding to Sinai Susholz when she was 18-years-old. "We got married and right away we had issues." Reich claims that Susholz "cut up her $4,000 wig and told her mother in front of their children that she was a "slut." Susholz apparently has taken to Facebook to accuse her of "promiscuous sexual activities."
Reich has moved away from Borough Park to New Jersey, but still keeps an Orthodox home for her children. "My dressing in pants and being openly non-conforming to their standards is NEVER in front of my children," she wrote in an email to the Daily Mail. Shusholz's attorney is arguing that because she is no longer personally observant, the couple's children, ages 5 to 9, are at risk. “It’s not in the best interest of the children to raise them other than how they’ve been brought up," the attorney says.
Reich and her family before she left the community
"My father gave me a very hard time. He didn’t want me to get divorced, period,” Reich notes, adding that her father is a prominent rabbi. "They discouraged me from making police reports about abuse—my father, the rabbis and my husband’s family…His parents made a meeting with my parents. They called me a bitch and a whore, and my parents accepted it.”
The custody case is slated to begin in New Jersey Family court in April, and Reich has started a fundraiser on Facebook to, in her words, "Help me retain custody of my children." At least it seems we've moved past "divorce walls."
Tagged
borough park
brooklyn
custody battles
judaism
orthodox community
orthodox jews
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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