When Kotler traveled from their home in Israel to the US to visit his ailing father, his wife refused to join him. While Kotler was in the US his father died, and Kotler succeeded him as rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha. Hinda Kotler refused to join her husband in Lakewood or accept a  (Jewish divorce document) without a rabbinical court in Israel hearing the case; she refused to submit to an American rabbinical court.
Kotler's journey from Israel to the US to visit his ailing father, his wife's refusal to accompany him, his father's passing while he was in the US, and Kotler's subsequent appointment as rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha are all key events.