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Among the Rabbis arrested by the FBI in the ‘Forced Gittin for Agunos’ scandal that has captivated the nation is a young Crown Heights husband and father, a Dayan and Sofer who is experienced in Hilchos Gittin.

Appeal for Young Father Caught Up in Get Scandal

Among the Rabbis arrested by the FBI in the ‘Forced Gittin for Agunos’ scandal that has captivated the nation is a young Crown Heights husband and father, a Dayan and Sofer who is experienced in Hilchos Gittin.

After his arraignment he was released on $500,000 bail, which was posted by his family. He remains under house arrest as he awaits his trial.

A committee consisting of community leaders and activists has issued an appeal for funds to help with his defense. They have released the following letter urging everyone to open their hearts and wallets to keep him out of Federal prison:

To Crown Heights Community Rabbonim & Synagogue Leaders:

We are writing to you on behalf of a Crown Heights resident, a young, Torah scholar who has devoted himself to matters of Halacha and especially Gittin during the last few years. Because of his well intentioned activities he is now facing a very serious legal challenge and must put together a capable and respected Defense Team to help clear his name and exonerate him.

His family has put together the necessary securities in order to obtain bail. However, the Judge has decided that he must be kept under house arrest.

At the request of his family and community leaders a Committee has been formed to work together with the family and the Legal Team to be of assistance in the fundraising, distribution of payments and other proceedings that will evolve in this ongoing case.

Here are the facts of the story as they stand today:

1. This Yungerman has been an experienced witness for several years in Gittin. He has worked with Crown Heights Rabbonim on Gittin and has also worked with several Batei Dinim outside of Crown Heights. Because of his experience and knowledge, he has not shied away from difficult cases. In the current case, he was not knowledgeable of all of the details involved at the time that he joined together with the other members of the Bais Din to effectuate the Get.

2. He has currently been released on $500,000 bail. Securities have been provided by the family and he is being held under house arrest. The bail lawyer has been paid. The family is currently in the process of hiring a team of lawyers to defend him in the ongoing case. The minimum amount that will be needed for the retainer is $50,000, but it may be more.

3. The family has been able to put together, from their own resources, $15,000 but the total $50,000 is needed by Monday, October 21, 2013.

4. Knowledgeable people in these types of cases estimate that the legal fees could rise to $200,000 or $300,000.

We request from the Rabbonim and the community leaders to kindly hold an appeal in all of the Shuls of Crown Heights on this Shabbos Parshas Vayeira. The undersigned Committee will oversee the receipt and distribution of the funds in a proper fashion.

The National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE) Pidyon Shivuyim Fund is a recognized 501c3 organization and therefore all donations made to NCFJE Pidyon Shivuyim will be tax-deductible. The “Committee for 5774 Initiative” will make sure to oversee the distribution of all of the funds donated for the purpose of the defense of this individual.

The Prosecutors are trying to make this a case which could involve a sentence of “Life in Prison.” We appeal to your Congregants to be generous and donate as much as they possibly can so that we can help the family in their time of need.

Please give your kind donations to the Gabbai of your Shul on Sunday, October 20, 2013 or deliver it direct to the NCFJE offices at 824 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213 in order to be deposited on Monday 10/21/13.

The check can be written out to: NCFJE-Pidyon Shivuyim. Please deliver it to the NCFJE offices on Sunday between the hours of 12:00 to 2:00 PM.

Donations can be made online: www.ncfje.org/Pidyon or click on the “Pidyon Shivuyim” tab on the www.ncfje.org website.

Good Shabbos & Besuros Tovos.

Sincerely,

Committee for 5774 Initiative:  Golan Benoni, Lipa Brennan, Sholem B. Hecht, Shea Hecht, Yosef Orenstein, Moshe Pinson, Yoni Raskin, Benzion Stock.

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29 Comments

  • I DONATED

    The link works very well. If everyone gives at least $100 we can get this young guy a top notch lawyer. Even if you can only give $5, do it & have a share in the mitzvah. It all adds up!

    • I asked the same question

      now I feel bad cos i found out the full story. It sounds like he was just there because they needed an aid anf ound him somewhere. I saw his name online but I don’t know who he is.

  • #2

    If you were the person the community is collecting funds for how would YOU feel seeing your name on this sight??? Thought so. now gei shlofen.

  • CHT

    Never touch the skunk. I know these type of people. They would use Jewish law for whatever they need and would use dina medina for whatever they need. They would go to one Rov to tell one story and would go to another Rov and tell another story. Hashem, have mercy for Jewish women that were unfortunate to marry them. And have mercy to those that got into trouble trying to help these women.

  • YMSP

    He learned Kav Noki. He never learned the laws of Get Meuso and the gittin were posul. At least more should be known of the situation before running to publicly help him (what people do for him privately is different).

    That said, I take back what I said not to help. Someone on another board posted how the Alter Rebbe helped even a Jew who committed a great crime. He caused mamzerus with his gitei meuso (which are posul midoraisa), and he should certainly not remain a dayan or a sofer in any way, but pidyon shvuyim is a different story.

  • to # 2

    why r u withholding your name?
    The names listed at the end of the article should be enough of an assurance 4 u that this is a VERY worthy cause.
    p.s. when u write your check don’t forget to put/sign your name on the bottom right hand corner!

  • YMSP

    Taking it back even more now. I don’t know who’s writing these appeal letters though. Just found out that he was only an eid that one of that “Bais Din”‘s gittin, possibly at a kosher (i.e. non-forced) one, and that the FBI found that and charged him. wrongly, as a “co-conspirator.” The appeal should say as much and people should certainly help him.

  • YMSP

    The appeal should be rewritten. He was an eid and actually knew nothing about the case. But someone reading it from the sidelines, who wasn’t in a shul that mentioned it, would think it’s an appeal and justification for a Wolmark type. This is not the case. The appeal really needs to state that “he had no knowledge of the crimes committed by Epstein et al”. It’s actually counterproductive for people without knowledge of this specific case that the appeal wasn’t written this way. For broad results it needs to be redone. Just saying he’s a “talmid chacham” when he’s (apparently falsely) accused of participation in what Epstein and Wolmark were doing doesn’t fly. His particular case is very different.

  • Anonymous

    He is an amazing husband, father, friend and individual as a whole. Give everything you possibly can.

  • stardom

    A Pattern Emerging?
    All this bashing, sinas chinam, jealousy, blogs, comments and mesiros in the U.S. and all over, by our own people and by the goyim against Jews for anything and everything seems to have a negative effect. Hashem is reminding us of all lessons throughout history and Torah. Lack of ahavas yisroel only brings tsoros, which is escalating.
    Rabbi Akiva’s students, all great in their own right, brought calamity upon themselves, when their ahavas yisroel was not up to par. How do we learn and apply lessons from them, korach and the 10 shevatim. We must stop bashing everyone and increase in ahavas yisroel.

  • YMSP

    It’s a disservice to trumpet him as some kind of wonderful individual. He must have known something, if he went to a warehouse to act as an eid, but he doesn’t deserve life either. He shouldn’t be a sofer or dayan anymore and he would be responsible for mamzerus in a case of a get meuso (and it’s become common practice to defame husbands for money or for kvod from fools). The reactionaries who brutalize people in divorce cases break some of the worst halachos. He shouldn’t be used as a dayan or sofer unless he was 100% innocent, which is very, very unlikely. He was probably just dragged in by Wolmark without giving it thought and he should be helped legally, but what he did was a serious disregard for some of the most important halachos.

  • I donated

    Hope he is exonerated very quickly.
    BUT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HELP THE AGUNOT???
    There are several women in Crown Heights who are being help captive by evil vindictive men.
    The least you can do is daven for these women. Ask Hashem to heal their husbands from their evil ways.
    What happened with these rabbonim is terrible, and now it will give more power to the men who are withholding gittin.
    So please, please daven for the women who need to be freed.

  • epstein

    Mendel Epstein and his divorce attorney daughter batsheva hersko are the big fish.

    the CH dayan had no idea what was going on.

    • YMSP

      Exactly, and those trying to (falsely) connect the two are hurting the CH dayan without cause (even though they clearly don’t want to), while helping a fiend like Epstein.

  • mendle

    Please give generously!
    Hashem always repays the Tzedakah you give.
    Imagine this was your Husband, brother, father..
    Help a fellow yid!

  • To YMSP

    What kind of heartless wacko are you? Who do you think you are to judge others so quickly and harshly? With all the halachos you write others breaking, you certainly should know a basic concept like “dan l’kaf z’chut”. May you never be in his shoes.

    • YMSP

      1) I differentiate between Epstein and this dayan and said to support and donate to this dayan’s defense.

      2) In general, I have more compassion on the husbands who were falsely massered, or who wanted to save a marriage or who had all their assets taken shelo kedin by wives who refused to go to Bais Din – most of Epstein’s cases fell into these categories.

      3) Not sure what your problem is since we agree that people should donate to him and that he does not deserve the threat of prison R”L, but curse me out if you must.

      4) There are people on this board who are actually hurting him by promoting the actions of Epstein (see the “what are you doing to help the ‘agunot'” comment for one). Epstein’s actions were disgraceful, denounced by many leading rabbonim (who actually quote and source Shulchan Oruch).

      5) It would be far more effective to state the truth, that he did not know about the beating, did not support anything and was asked to go with Wolmark to act as an eid in a get. That he shouldn’t have just taken their word, but that he did nothing to merit incarceration, R”L.

      May none of us ever be in his shoes. May none of us ever be in the shoes of Epstein’s victims either.

  • YMSP

    Help him. He did not do what Epstein did.

    Don’t make a hero out of him – just state why he’s innocent (the truth helps him – he went to witness a get at the behest of Wolmark’s group, which does kosher gittin too, without being told anything else). Defending Wolmark has no place here and he never defended Wolmark’s actions.

    But….it’s shocking to see the amount of am haaratzus and total disregard for morals by some posters, especially since there’s no reason to delve into these issues in a simple appeal for help and attempting to defend the actions of Epstein in any way can hurt the person in question significantly, chas veshalom.

    It’s one thing to say that he relied on people without checking into the situation, didn’t know anything about Epstein’s tactics and should be saved, especially from the threat of a life sentence, Rachmono Litzlan.

    It’s far different, and a big chilul Hashem, to defend Epstein and any comments suggesting same are unhelpful.

    First of all, if you look at the comments about the Epstein case in the secular media, you see people comparing frum Judaism to radical Islam, R”L, over this. This is the embodiment of “chilul Hashem.”

  • WOW!

    Why dont you publicize a fundraiser for parents that cant afford tuition??? Why are we always trying to help criminals? Its shocking, but this criminal will outraise JCW!

  • Criminal Lawyers Who Are Friends of Lubavitch

    There are many criminal lawyers who are Friends of Lubavitch. As a community, why not ask them to help and offer assistance?

  • WAIT A MINUTE

    Pardon my “Am Haaratzos.” Didn’t Epstein and the Rabbis actually do the right thing, al pi halacha? Now, I don’t know the details of how far they can go to force a get, but, nevertheless, the halacha allows the use of force to obtain a get.

    As far as “din malachuscha din,” it’s, nowadays, “din malchuscha SIN!” With these creeps shoving every stinkin abnomination down the throats of the American people, everything is legitimate (incest, adultery, znus, cohabitation with the youngest age allowed by the Rabbanan, etc.)