In a letter dated today, 5th of Tamuz, Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba writes to the newly elected Gaboim reminding them that the reason the community came out with such to vote was under the promise of the end of secular court actions and infighting, and in his letter he urges them to postpone the actions and ultimately withdraw them entirely.

Osdoba to Gaboim: “You Were Elected Under the Campaign of No More Court”

In a letter dated today, 5th of Tamuz, Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba writes to the newly elected Gaboim reminding them that the reason the community came out with such to vote was under the promise of the end of secular court actions and infighting, and in his letter he urges them to postpone the actions and ultimately withdraw them entirely.

The letter was addressed to Menachem Gerelitzky, Avraham Holtzberg, Yosef Losh, and Zalman Lipsker – who is the only one of the previously elected Gaboim who was re-elected, and is among those who started the court action.

In his letter Rabbi Osdoba offers them an idea of how to go about postponing and ultimately leading to the end of the court actions, and in his letter suggests the proper way of dealing with such issues are in a Beis Din which Rabbi Osdoba expresses hope that with a third Rov it will resolve conflict and offer people an option in Din Torah.

The tone of the letter is that of a suggestion, and reflects the attitude in which over 2000 residents turned out and votes this past Sunday which resulted in the pointed dismissal of the past Vaad including Sperlin, Poltorak and Cadaner.

Full letter in Hebrew:

37 Comments

  • me myself and i

    Powerful

    Simply powerful

    And the community agrees. Just look who got voted out. Like who got under 40 persent.

  • Feh!!!

    You think THESE thugs will listen to the Rav? He**, NO!!!

    Lipskier got re-elected? I don’t trust that count. Seriously.

  • al be shnayim

    whyonly one signiture on the letter thought all letters from now on especially concerning the two camps there are to be two or more signitures

    dont understand

  • good bye and good luck!

    To #2, I am not sure if you noticed, the letter was not a psak, rather a suggestion, an opinion, something a Rov may have!

    You are obviusly somone who is an anti-Krinsky, anti-Rebbe hate monger who wants to see fighting go on and on and on, rather then seek peace.

    We the community voted against that, so good bye and good riddance to you and your ilk!

  • asking the right questions

    What is the primary venue of 770? Is it a yeshivah? Is it a community shul? Is it the headquarters of Lubavitch Inc.?

    Depending on these answers lies the solution.

    Again I said primary venue.

    We all know beis rabeinu etc.

    People should relize that Menachem Brod and Moshe Mayer Gluckowsky, are main actors and have to be involved in any solution to terrorism (tzfatim).

  • the next step

    when are we going to be updated when the second round of voting is going to happen

  • No court = Peace

    I love the headline.
    This new term should start off in peace and remain that way continuously.

  • ?The community has spoken

    There needs to be a way to oust a gabai or a member of the vaad if he is going to court or making maclokois

  • Ahron Yakov

    With all the respect – I never heard any of the gaboim saying that they will take the case out of court. It was only a supporter of thease gaboim which made the promise, not in the name of the gaboim. It was stated on anewcrownheights.com the gaboim themselves never made such promises so there’s nothing they have to live up to.

  • Menachem Mendel Tzemach

    To rabbi krinsky and aguch: fight the mshichitim till the end. Kick out all the terrorists asap. And you are welcomed to bais moshiach on a red carpet. Rabbi shemtov will lead farbrengens with all the chasidim.

    All the above applies of course if the rebbe is not yet back. The thing is, he is on his way, I don’t want to be caught by suprise.

    Ad mosai? Admosai? Admosai? – we want moshioach now, we don’t want to wait!

    Three months left to tof shin ayin.

  • Thank You

    A very big thank you to Rabbi Osdoba for taking bold steps toward Sholom. May he be blessed with all the Kochos to be able to fully implement his new vision of brining true Shalom.

  • surrender

    you can either surrender 770 to rabbi krinsky, or continue in court.

    so rabbi osdoba should we just surrender the shul to 770?

    you can’t just say take it out of court and ignore the only possible outcome of that action.

    if that is your opinion, that is OK, just state so clearly, instead of hiding behind nice slogans of ‘peace’

  • Mendel cohen

    Rabbi osdaba – may we greet moshiach asap.
    Ad mosai? Ad mosai? Ad mosai?
    When moshiach comes there will be no more courts.

    I want – and I know you want – to see rabbi krinsky and shemtov leading 770 with happiness and joy!!!

  • yudel

    May it be the will of hakodosh boruch hu – the antis shall rule bais moshiach.

  • Only Court

    For some reason – some people don’t get it: 770 the Lubavitch World Headquarters is NOT under under any shape or form under the jurisdiction of Rav Osdoba, the Rav of the crown Heights community. People living in Crown Heights had no right to decide who the Gaboyim of the Rebbe’s shul should be. It must be decided by the vaad of Agudas Chasedei Chabad HaOlami. Period.

  • resident

    LIPSKE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO RUN THE SHUL UNTIL THE RECOUNT. UNTIL THEN THE SHUL SHOULD BE RUN BY THE OTHER 3 AND THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DO AS THEY WISH

  • i don-t get it?

    didn’t osdoba give krinsky a letter that he (the bais din) won’t handle this case.
    How will the gabboim settle this at a din torah that osdoba won’t even handle?
    take it out of court – but don’t take it to me?!

  • B H

    finaly our rav is speaking up, and the comunity is looking like it is taking a turn for the better BARUCH HASHEM!!!!!!!

  • Dovd

    Wasn’t there a Psak Din from the Zablo of 5 Rabbonim, headed by Rabbi Rosenberg clearly stating that no public (controversial) step should be taken by either Rov (Osdobo or Shwei) on their own until AFTER the election of a 3rd Rov (in Elul)?

    Is Rabbi Osdobo’s letter circumventing this?

  • It-s a political ploy

    My opinion is that this is a simple political ploy/scheme:

    Rabbi Osdobo knows full well that the Gaboim wont do this. He is posturing and positioning himself for the next elections for a 3rd Rov. He wants to align himself with the Krinsky-Shemtov crowd so that they will vote for his nominee as 3rd rov.

    I sure hope that someone in this community can recruit a candidate for rov that is TOTALLY neutral in the Osdobo/Shwei war. We need to turn a page away from this, not dig ourselves deeper into this hole.

    Crown Heights residents: PLEASE don’t vote for PARTISAN candidates for Rov! Let’s finally get a new, neutral voice that will not blindly/politically side with one rov.

  • Is this politics? or…

    It’s very interesting how in politics, things get very twisted. Do you believe that all the voters for Gerlitzky, Holtzberg and Losh want 770 given over to Krinsky???

    Did you see the representatives of Rabbi Osdobo on the “election board”? ALL of them had big Yechi on their Yarmulkes! MOST of his supporters are Mishichistim!

    They blindly thought that they are following the Rebbe’s Rov…. Now it seems they were also following a very shrewd, conniving, POLITICAL agenda and group lead by Katzman…

  • to # 13

    Ruvi, what exactly does it take to gain your respect? to pander? to try to gain political (yes political!) power rather then Rabbinical power that comes for Daas Torah and not pandering to this powerful oe rich Askon or the other???

    Please enlighten me..

  • Levi

    who gave Rabbi Osdobo shlit”o the power to drastically alter the landscape in the Rebbe’s Shchuna?

    he was elected as ONE ROV, part of a 3 Rov beis din, he can give his halachic opinion publicly ONLY if it concurs with the majority of the Beis Din!

    I think that this is how the problem with the Rabbonim began in Crown heights: After the passing of Rabbi Y.K. Marlow, Rabbi Osdobo concluded that he is the SOLE Rov of Crown Hights and therefore it is his opinion alone that counts. he seems to refuse to share that power with ANYONE. yes, he would like Rabbinic assistants and interns, but to work at his direction….

    Rabbi Rosenberg’s Psak clearly stated that non of the 2 Rabbonim should take unilateral steps. does this conform with the Psak?

  • New Crown Heights

    is this part of the psak din ????

    “Rabbi Rosenberg’s Psak clearly stated that non of the 2 Rabbonim should take unilateral steps”

    mr 27 and the rest of the morons the psak din stated only

    that non of the 2 Rabbonim should take unilateral steps
    in issues that deals with the RABONUS or rabinet .

    dont add items to the psak din.

    on a second note i am very surprise at rabbi ROSENBERG that he failed to translate the psak din to english and record it at the court house and publish it to the benefit of the english speakers of Crown Heights.
    so morons like this guys would read and not make up stories

  • Furious and Fuming

    I can’t believe this letter.

    Here is another attempt at fooling the community and misrepresenting the facts.

    This letter is not being addressed to the right party!!! It should be addressed to Krinsky and co. they are the ones instituting this court case, NOT THE GABBOIM. Its not up to the Gabboim to remove it from court, they are the defendants, its up to Krinsky to remove it from court and sit down with a Bais Din over this disagreement.

    Here is another example of the community being mislead, “by a Rov”, non the less, who is being, lead by the nose, by a Baal Machlokes Yossel Katzman, who is now having his 15 minutes of fame feeling as if he is a king maker. He is destroying this community with his relentless Machlokes. Who is he to dictate to the Gabboim and the community? His campaign during the elections, brainwashed the community into thinking that the old Vaad Hakohol are Mossrim and don’t listen to a Psak of Rabbonim, when in fact they did not bring the conflict into court, they just responded. They were doing all in their power to restore peace in the community, its Katzman and co. that were not being cooperative and doing everything in their power to undermine the progress that the Vaad was doing. Its time that the community gets together and shout down these Baal Machlokes. We have to tell them, we don’t want you, or people like you getting involved with our community matters. Maybe then, well have a chance at peace.

    To all you lefties that think that the Rebbe did not approve of the Gabboim being installed in 770, you are sadly mistaken. Rabbi Marlow had correspondence with the Rebbe throughout the election process and the Rebbe always gave positive answers regarding the elections… Zalman Lipsker has copies of these letters, which were already presented in court. That is why Lipsker won the first round in court. Now Krinsky is trying again, but this time he wants to try to kick out all Anash from the Shul.

    When will all this end, I ask you. We need the Geulah Hashleima Now.

  • Outraged

    Polterach, Brownstein and company are lobbying Rabbi Rosenberg to illiminate Lipskier’s recount as well as runoff election for Vaad

  • Beis Shmuel-member

    Thank you Rabbi Ozdoba the Rebbes Rov. May you be blessed with all the Kochos to bring peace in the community.

    To All complainers…. I am not sure if you noticed, the letter was not a psak, rather a suggestion, an opinion, something a Rov may have!

    You are obviusly somone who is an anti-Krinsky, anti-Rebbe hate monger who wants to see fighting go on and on and on, rather then seek peace.

    We the community voted against that, so good bye and good riddance to you and your ilk!

    A very big thank you to Rabbi Osdoba for taking bold steps toward Sholom. May he be blessed with all the Kochos to be able to fully implement his new vision of brining true Shalom.

  • Rabbi Butman

    Rabbi Ozdzba the Rebbes Rov…. May you be blessed with all hashems blessings to lead the community in peace

  • I Was Fooled...

    Wow, It seems like the Katzman clan took a page right out of the playbook of Barack Hussain Obama.

    When you have a general population that is fed up with the status quo, not happy with the current situation, you campaign for ‘Hope’, ‘Change’ – ‘fresh new faces’, ‘a new Crown Heights’, new blood, ‘Clean slate’ and the like.

    Once you win, you turn around and claim that the voters gave you a mandate to make ‘radical’ changes to the way of life of our society.

    This is exactly what the Katzman clan did, they campaigned for a fresh, new beginning, while slyly, behind closed doors striking all sorts of back-room dirty deals – ones that had the voters been aware of them – they would NEVER EVER in their right mind vote for these candidates…

    I must shamefully admit: I WAS DUPED :(

  • Confused

    I’m really confused: Did the Gaboim take ANYONE to court? Are they suing anyone?

    I believe they [gaboim] are being taken to court, with Krinsky claiming he wants to EVICT the Gaboim and current shul from 770. Just READ the court documents and you will have do doubt about this.

    It’s like a landlord takes a tenant to court for proceeding to evict him, then a Rov turns to the tenant, demanding that he withdraw the case from court and go to a Bais Din…. Should I laugh or cry?

    If you read any of the court documents, you would have known full well, that the Gaboim REPEATINGLY demanded that the court direct this whole case back to BEIS DIN and the Krinsky group rejects this flat out.

  • rubi

    To # 26

    Who exactly is bowing down to the rich guy of Aguda crown street??? Isn’t it Rabbi Yankel Shwey ??? so stop talking nonsense…

  • Who went to court?

    The content of this letter is absurd, and I’m sure that Rabbi Osdobo had absolutely NO intention that this letter will be followed. It is just that he is attempting to politically position himself for the elections for a 3rd Rov. He is trying to play into the politics of a certain group so that they will come out en mass (some of whom have boycotted the elections even when the Rebbe gave a dolor for each voter!) to vote for his pick.

    For the record: the gaboim NEVER took Krinsky or Shemtov to court!!! And they cant take it out of court short of totally capitulating and giving everything up.

    It’s like a landlord taking a tenant to court to evict him; the Rov comes along and asks the TENANT to take it out of court. Is there something more laughable then this?

  • Dont Place Obsticals Before The Blind

    To comments 29, 34 and 36:

    “Bifnai Iver Lo Titen Mischol” – before a blind man do not put an obstical.

    Each of you are transgressing on that commandment, you are throwing sand in the eyes of those who dont know, leading them to buy into your crock of lies!

    The gaboim INSERTED themselfs into this court case, which was originaly merkos/aguch vs. thaler and co. who vandalized 770, and they sought to stop them from doing so. So the gobim decided that no, they are allowed to do whatever they want to the building becasue 770 BELONGS TO THE GABOIM, right? NO!

    They inserted themselfs by laying claim that merkos/aguch do not own 770 and that CLI [congregation lubavitch inc. – a sham corp that was set up by the gaboim] ownes the premesis.

    Now the gaboim are getting their teeth knocked out in a fight that they will not win, and Rabbi Osdoba is giving them an out, an oppertunity to save face and which will unite the community at the same time.

    And to comment 33:

    You are a fool, if it takes a backdoor deal to make peace in our community, would you not take it? Or would you rather have fights till the end of days?

    If you were as dumb to be duped like that you should have your voter rights stripped!