A young mother broke down on the stand on Wednesday as she described being treated like a slave by her husband or face repeated rapes and beatings when she refused to do endless hours of unpaid work - even while heavily pregnant.
Rivky Stein, 25, testified at King's County Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, in a civil case against her estranged husband Yoel Weiss, 32.
Ms Stein sobbed as she recalled how in January 2011, her husband sent her to work in Canada with his brother in an effort to control her. She went but refused to work while there which lead to brutal punishments at her husband's hands, she told the court.
'Whenever I refused anything from Yoel, he raped me, physically hurt me, verbally abused me and threatened me,' Ms Stein said.
Rivky Stein, left, leaves Brooklyn Supreme Court with her lawyer, Joel Banuelos, right, on Wednesday. She testified about the rape and physical abuse she had suffered over four years of marriage
Yoel Weiss, at right, smiles as he leaves Brooklyn Supreme Court with his lawyer Jeffrey R. Berke on Wednesday. His wife accused him of starving her and the children along with forcing her to work like a slave
'He threatened to take my kids away from me. I didn't agree to go to Canada. He held my son against my will and I went with my daughter. He said if I ever want to see my son again, I should do as he says.'
The civil case, which began last month, will determine the custody of the couple's five-year-old son and daughter, four; child support payments; and alimony for Ms Stein.
Ms. Stein said that she wants the court to award her full custody of the children with supervised visitation with their father 'in a healthy way'.
When asked about her concerns over her husband's visits with her children, Ms Stein testified that when her daughter was 22 months old, her husband came out of the shower naked and 'put his private parts in her hand for her to play with'.
Ms Stein leaves Brooklyn Supreme Court after a grueling day on the stand on Wednesday, accompanied by her lawyer, Joel Banuelos
Ms Stein said that she had not witnessed any other similar incidents but claimed Mr Weiss had posted videos of their children on YouTube.
In a separate matter, Ms Stein, who is an Orthodox Jew, continues to seek her get - a religious divorce which can only be granted with her husband's approval.
Ms Stein therefore lives as an 'agunah', a chained wife, unable to marry again in an Orthodox synagogue.
She told Daily Mail Online on Wednesday: 'He has continuously refused to give me a get. I don't know what I can do any more I have tried everything: Jewish court, Beis din rabbis and mediators but he refuses.
'He said he will never give me a Get, and that I will die old and alone.'
Brendan Lyle, CEO of divorce finance company BBL Churchill, is an expert in divorce cases and has met with Ms Stein and her rabbi.
He told Daily Mail Online: 'While the court can not force Mr Weiss to grant the Get, they do have several tools at their disposal to make him think twice if he doesn't provide Rivky with the get that she deserves.'
The 25-year-old told the court that her children meant everything to her - and are the only reason she has kept up her court battle for three years.
'They are the reason that I wake up in the morning. They are the loves of my life. I have been in court for three years and it's very stressful but I do it because they are my babies and I want what's best for them,' she said.
In court on Wednesday, she described the 'escape' from her marriage with her two children on July 2, 2012.
'I made some phone calls which I was scared to do because Yoel checked my phone but I prayed really hard to God that he wouldn't check it until later. I called my former foster mother and she told me to come back to her. I called a car when Yoel went out. I went with a friend to get an order of protection from the court.'
Ms Stein no longer has a court order of protection, but said: 'He has threatened me many times, telling me that he was going to take my kids, break me, put me in a mental institution.'
During a court appearance on January 22, Ms Stein testified that after she married Weiss at the age of 18, he raped her, punched her in the stomach when she was pregnant and locked her outside the home in the freezing cold.
She also told the court that her husband starved her and their two young children while holding them prisoner at her in-laws' home. She says was locked away in a room with her two children. 'We got roughly two meals a day, normally reused chicken soup.'
She testified that she had approached rabbis about the physical abuse by her husband, adding: 'I would ask them what I should do and if I had permission to call the police. They told me that I can’t. They wouldn’t give me permission to.'
In an interview with Daily Mail Online last June, Ms Stein described the years of physical torture and mind games she said she had endured.
She claimed on her wedding night as a naive teenager that Weiss, the ‘charming and spiritual’ man she believed she had married, was a violent and malevolent force who took pleasure in watching her suffer.
'The night of the wedding, he made it clear that he owned me and that night he forced himself on me.'
The young mother's fight to be free of her marriage continues today although the civil court judge who is overseeing proceedings, Esther Morgenstern, has warned Mr Weiss in court that she will order him to pay lifetime alimony if he does not agree to it.
Judge Morgenstern herself says she struggled to obtain a Get before she divorced her husband in 1987.
Rivky Stein, pictured with her two children. She asked the court for full custody of them on Wednesday with visitation rights for their father 'in a healthy way'
The majority of Wednesday's proceedings dealt with years of unpaid wages that Ms Stein claims she is owed by for working from 'morning until night' in her husband's factories, pizza shop and restaurant.
She also testified that Mr Weiss was hiding 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' by relatives' bank accounts and bragged to her about 'beating the system and the IRS'.
Ms Stein was questioned by her lawyer Joel Banuelos, of Mishcon de Reya, as her estranged husband, Mr Weiss, looked on alongside his attorney, Jeffrey Berke.
On Wednesday morning, Mr Weiss was reprimanded by Judge Morgenstern to put away his laptop. As his wife gave her testimony, he stared at the ceiling and flashed smiles around the room.
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ShareMs Stein told the court on Wednesday that after they married in July 2008, Weiss put her to work for long hours in a warehouse which was situated inside their Brooklyn home. When she asked about being paid, Weiss refused.
'He said ''no'' or that I'm his wife and he owns me and I shouldn't bring it up again,' she said.
In 2009, while pregnant with her son, she worked in Mr Weiss' Brooklyn fast-food joint, Pizza Express, mixing dough, taking care of the ovens and overseeing workers. Again, she was not compensated for her work and was shuttled back and forth between the takeout and the factory, up to six days a week.
Ms Stein was also made to work in Weiss' Italian restaurant, Burtoluccis, in Coney Island while she was pregnant from June until October 2010.
She testified that she worked from 'morning to night', spending long days on her feet as a waitress before taking care of late-night parties.
Ms Stein testified that she was also made to work in Weiss' Italian restaurant, Burtoluccis, in Coney Island while she was pregnant from June until October 2010. She said she spent up to six days a week working 'from morning til night'
'I was pregnant and I had to watch my son behind the counter. I was sick and it was very, very hard,' she told the court. Once again, she was not paid and warned not to ask, she told the court.
At the same time, she told the court that her husband bragged about the deals he was doing which she claimed were in the tens of thousands of dollars.
She testified that he often carried a roll of $10,000 cash.
Mr Weiss also took his wife to visit his uncle, Sholam Weiss, in prison. The elderly Weiss is serving 835 years in federal prison for his role in a half-billion dollar insurance swindle which cost thousands of people their life savings.
Ms Stein said that she and Yoel would visit Uncle Sholam where the nephew discussed trading stocks for him. She also testified that she believed her husband would operate stock market accounts in other people's names.
Rivky Stein (pictured right) married Yoel Weiss (left) when she was just 18. She has said that the physical abuse and control over her started on her wedding night
The court also heard evidence of large cash deposits and withdrawals made to Ms Stein's bank account which she claimed took place without her knowledge.
For two years, tens of thousands of dollars were deposited or withdrawn on a monthly basis in transactions with Amazon.com, Sears Retail, American Express, Con Edison and the National Grid. Miss Stein said she has never held accounts with any of these companies.
She told the court that her husband often used family members' bank accounts and credit cards, including his sister, mom and cousins.
'He bragged about beating the system,' she said. 'They couldn't catch him because it wasn't his name.'
She assumed that he was the one using her account 'because he dealt in large numbers'.
Ms Stein said that her husband held on to her debit card and her PIN while he also made her sign checks.
She testified that she was unaware he had control of her bank account until January 2013 when she received an alert for a $35 overdraft due to a National Grid payment.
Ms Stein said that she only used the debit card with Yoel's permission and never saw the amounts in her account; a matter which was disputed by Mr Weiss' attorney.
The account was closed and remains under investigation by TD Bank.
No documentation about Mr Weiss' stock-brokering or his businesses has been seen by Ms Stein. Mr Weiss has provided no documents for the court.
Ms Stein said that Weiss owed her $8,990 in back child support, a figure disputed by Weiss' attorney.
Against her will: Weiss raped Rivky on many occasions, she tells Daily Mail Online, claims she has also made in court papers
Loving? She also told the court that Weiss starved her and their two young children while holding them prisoner at her in-laws' home. She says was locked away in a room with her two children. 'We got roughly two meals a day, normally reused chicken soup'
She also described how she had been receiving welfare checks to cover her rent but that as she now works two jobs - as a daycare teaching assistant and as a carer at a home for special needs - she no longer qualified.
Ms Stein and her two children currently live in a one-bedroom apartment. She testified that the children's education, medical care, dental care were all taken care of by her with little input from Mr Weiss.
She said she may have to pull her children out of their strictly religious school because she can no longer afford the tuition - around $7,000-a-year for her son and $500-a-month for her daughter - when her government-funded vouchers are cut in May.
Ms Stein also claimed that teachers at the schools had refused to deal with her and would only discuss matters with her husband. On one occasion, a teacher tried to give her marriage advice, she told the court.
The mother said that she wanted to provide stability for her children but was not opposed to moving them to a more secular institution.
The full custody status of the children is debated by both sides but at present, Mr Berke told the court that Miss Stein has medical and educational custody of the children.
Mr Weiss refused to comment on the trial outside court on Wednesday but offered to share 'hundreds' of videos of his wife which he claimed contradicted the testimony she had given in court.
Outside court, Miss Stein said: 'I just want to move on from this nightmare but I refuse to give up my children in the process.'
Mr Banuelos added: 'It was another emotional day in court but it was an opportunity for Miss Stein to share her story.'
The trial continues on March 16.
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