Upstate New York - The touchy question of which Chabad family - the Borensteins or the Burstons - is authorized to run Jewish outreach programs in Orange County on behalf of their Hasidic movement seemed to be settled.
Pesach and Chana Burston are the valid representatives, a spokesman for the worldwide organization declared in a story about the Monroe couple in the Sunday Record on May 28.
But that statement has incurred the wrath of the Rabbi Yakov Borenstein and his wife, Hindy - installed as Chabad emissaries in Poughkeepsie 20 years ago - and reopened an ugly internal spat between them and their organization leaders.
Chabad still feuds over who’s boss
And the “feuds” continue, for all the world to see!!
Upstate New York – The touchy question of which Chabad family – the Borensteins or the Burstons – is authorized to run Jewish outreach programs in Orange County on behalf of their Hasidic movement seemed to be settled.
Pesach and Chana Burston are the valid representatives, a spokesman for the worldwide organization declared in a story about the Monroe couple in the Sunday Record on May 28.
But that statement has incurred the wrath of the Rabbi Yakov Borenstein and his wife, Hindy – installed as Chabad emissaries in Poughkeepsie 20 years ago – and reopened an ugly internal spat between them and their organization leaders.
It’s a tangled fight over turf and legitimacy that predates the Burstons’ arrival in 2004 and that the Borensteins are waging, in an almost identical fashion, with another Chabad couple in Woodstock.
The gist is that Chabad leaders say Yakov Borenstein is a renegade and irritant they fired several years ago for outlandish behavior. They drove home the point a week ago with a letter saying Borenstein – along with three other rabbis – can no longer use the Chabad-Lubavitch name.
Borenstein – who has installed his nephew in Goshen to represent Chabad in Orange County – disputes nearly everything his critics say, even that he was ever fired. He claims his attempts to bring the matter to a neutral rabbinical court have been rebuffed.
“You can’t just tell me, ‘Close down your shop,’” Borenstein says, referring to Rabbi Yisroel Rubin, the Chabad regional director in Albany. “He doesn’t pay me.”
His defense is a 2004 letter from the Beth Din (rabbinical court) of Brooklyn, which prohibits Rubin from appointing emissaries in Orange County and bars the Burstons from settling there until a neutral court rules.
Chabad spokesman Zalman Shmotkin replies that the Brooklyn Crown Heights court is a neighborhood panel with no jurisdiction over Chabad.
The upshot? Orange County has two Chabads, one run by the Burstons, the other by Yakov’s nephew Rabbi Meir Borenstein and his wife, Rivkie. Each runs its own Hebrew schools, camps and Jewish activities and followers, regardless of what the other side says.
A BURSTON FAN
rabbi burston.. what you did for us, (orange county) no one else could do.. we dont want any other RABBI.. YOU ROCK
Shlomo
Did Borenstein go to the Crown Heights Beis Din? Does he side with the meshichistens?
trouble
yet another fight in lubavitch.
why cant we all just get along?
not from around here.....
I don’t understand how a fired Rabbi thinks he has the right to assign his nephew to a post and call it Chabad without going through the proper channels.
embarassed
a bushe
son of a shliach
some people use there time out to fight the other side
and some just say "Im not intrested in fighting, Im not getting involved, I have shlichus to take care of.
there was a shliach named RT who by the shluchim convention was sitting at a table with the other shluchim from all over the world and over heard this conversation.
"you know last wednesday morning my car wouldnt start
so i got my car towed to the local shop and they told me it would be $350 to fix".
blablablah he went on and on until he finished off, "by the end of the day I finaly found a shop who did it for $175 there for saving me $175 Oh those mecanics how they can Rip you off…
The shliach RT couldnt belive his ears, this shliach wasted a HOLE day to save $175, meanwile he himself
had just had a very similar story the differance is he got his car towed then got into a cab and went on his way, yes he spent alot on the car repair, and alot on the cab
BUT
he had a few important meetings, put on tefilin with a kakafta, gave 3 shuirim, sent out a mailing, scedualed his next day, went shopping for his wife who was sick in bed, then took a cab to the auto shop and picked up his car in time to come home and do some home work with his kids…
the point once again for those who missed it the first time
fighting, fighting, and fighting can go on
you can waist your time doing that or trying to save money
ultimitly you are wharever you are to help jews
that is your shlichuis
KEEP DOING!
ps my father is RT he is not one of those shluchim who have money falling out of his pockets to be able to do the above, he is one of the shluchim who belive that hashem has to provide and will provide if you make a kaylee, his kaylee…
KEEP DOING
pss if your trying to figur out who is RT ill give you a hint
I made the name up!
friend
goog going meir keep it up
orange county community
rabbi meir and rivkie we are behind you all the way
yungerman
pesach burston if this is true that the CH beis din told you not go out how did u move there?
anonymous
this guy sounds seriosusly messed up. wh ydoes he care if somebody else is out htere doing the Rebbes shluchos.?
ver nisht nispoel
borenstiens ver nisht nispeol you are doing great work
whos making machlokos?
orange county is huge almost as big as nyc in land with over 15,000 jews they live 20 miles apart there is eough room for 4 shluchim in the area look in florida long island people live within 3 miles of each other
burston lives in monroe 20 miles away from the boresnteins but for some reason he keeps trying to make his events in goshen (look at chabad.org hes uner goshen but lives 20 miles away in monroe) while the boresntiens make their events where they live in goshen
now whos is making machloks? whos going to the other to fight??
fact
yankel boresntiens wasd there for the past 20 years under the rebbe not rubin
i agree
pesach u made the bigeest chilul hashem fighting there should be no permit in orange county for any shul as long as the boresntines wont have one
u were willing to close down every shul and lehavdil the church as long as he does not get a permit for a shul
keep it up meir!!!!
meir and rivki keep up the great work from your friends in cali
shmotkin? who u?
shmotkin does say whos chabad and whos not
when the rebbe sent someone out 20 years ago
no yoisher
what is the purpose of printing this article on your website other than to cause further machlokes and spread the fires more? Isn’t it bad enough as is?
moshiach is almost here
How come sometimes people are so ruthless, pushy and USURP territories for their families – and don’t care for the rightness and mentchlikheit of the issue?
These finer details of life are also Judaism.
friend in nj
harav meir keep up the great work
the truth
its about time the paper came out and said the truth about the burstons how they did not want to go to a din torah and that the boresnteines were there before him
thats besides the fact that he promised never to go there unless he worked with the boresnteins
but after his in laws paid krinsky they said they will back him up so he took the chance
im sure the burstons regret it since they have no support
monroe or goshen?
pesach i hope u can do teshuvah and work things out even if you dont want to make shalom stay in monroe where you live and boresntien stay in goshen
and you guys will live in peace
why does burston keep trying to move to goshen f he lives in monroe?
mendy
burston why does it say on chabad.org you live in goshen if you really live in monroe?
BrookAve
Make Sholom over this ugly issue. The Burstons should have the Borenstein’s over for chicken soup this Friday night. It will nourish the neshama and end this Orange County nightmare.
shua
i know pesach from yeshiva and summer camp he was always a quiet sneaky guy making trouble a big instigator with a happy smile putting on a good impression
I’m happy someone is finally putting him into his place
and not letting him get away
Avremel der geler
To Zalman Shmutzkin
Its amazing that a beis din means nothing to you.
It doesn’t matter if a beis din has jurisdiction over Lubavitch or not. What matters is that when you are told by a beis din to do something and you don’t listen, you are hardly in a position to represent the rebbe or yidishkeit for that matter.
First things first. Halacha predates your foolish policies of who is and who is not in your dirty eyes considered Lubavitch.
If you don’t consider halacha then you are not a Lubavitcher or an orthodox jew for that matter.
Chaim
Why would the Badaz of Crown Height ever mix in to other cities?!
LEV
MEIR AND RIVKIE KEEP UP DOING A GREAT JOB IN ORANGE COUNTY
emes
Borenstein did nothing wrong except try to protect himself from people who do not follow Torah and were creating terrible confusion and trying to hurt him and his fundraising in the community. I know for a fact that both Rabbi Simpson and Rabbi Shwei were called by the paper and interviewed yet their comments were omitted. I guess money and power carry more weight than truth. Do you think the paper is bought off by the huge advertising revenue they get from Burston (Gellman) or do you think they were threatened?
Yossel
Great Article…Its about time…The papers are telling us the reality…Chabad isnt the wild west, we have a system…You may disagee with the Leadership on Chabad…but there is a system that was set up by the Rebbe.
Keep up the Great work Burston, I commend you for doing such a great job amidst all this turbulence.
Borenstein stop making a chillul hashem…
Shimon
Meir Borenstein you rock !!!
Chazak Chazak Venishchzek!!!!
You & your wife should go Michayel El Choyil.
Halt Shtark. ob men iz babunden oibenfalt men nisht unten.
And together we wil Greet the Rebbe MH"M Mamosh now!
peace
Why do you have to print this stuff? Why do you have to bring it to crowh heights?
moish
meir good job
ad mosai?
Somebody has to bring down these sharks from upstairs who think they can do anything they want to anybody without giving any din v’cheshbon-no Jew is above the law.
when will it end?
"the Brooklyn court is a neighborhood panel with no jurisdiction over Chabad" How does Zalmen Shmotkin have the gall to make such a statement? Being that he’s Krinsky’s relative he became a posek? A Jew has to listen to a Bais Din. He just doesn’t like their psak and therefore delegitimizes them. Shomu Shomayaim- the chilul Hashem his words create! Why do they even have a Bais Din of their own (VRL) they only listen if it suits them otherwise they ignore them too (ex. Marina del Rey and Florida, etc.)
chaver
Tell Zalmen Shmotkin to stick to his job- Chabad.org.
p.oed
I hate politics amoung shluchim. It’s not a money making buisness. Your only job is to bring yidden closer to yiddishkeit. Who cares who does the actual work.
Mendy
All Borenstein ever did "wrong" was demand a fair Din Torah- a neutral Zabla. They (the guys upstairs) didn’t like that- what they say goes, Torah or no Torah, as they seek absolute power and control, therefore they are out for the kill.
zalman
rabbi meir borenstien was working in the area a year before burston moved out
bes din
btw the letter against rubin and burston was signed by osdobo and shvei so one thing they both agreed on was that burston cannot move there until he comes to a beis din
Yossi770
I Agree with Rabbi Shmotkin that:
“Crown Heights court is a neighborhood panel with no jurisdiction over Chabad”
Rabbi Schwei has no bussiness mixing in to the Shluchims issues.
Anonymous
"But that statement has incurred the wrath of the Rabbi Yakov Borenstein and his wife, Hindy"
A CHILLUL HASHEM!!!
YONI G.
AS YOU SEE;HES FIGHTING WITH PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY, WOODSTOCK, POUGGHKEEPSIE……
David
Borenstein! Enough with your Chillul Hashems.
Grow up and start dealing with things like a normal mature person.
A fellow Shliach
Why do the burstons have to go through this? Shlichus is hard enough! Why do they have to deal with Aigene Misnagdim???
Anonymous
Pesach Just keep up the good work!
enraged
Where does Zalmen Shmotkin have the chutzpah to call the Crown Heights Bais Din a "community panel"?
chabadnik
i dont understand y they cant just work together. lotsa places have two couples working togehter. if the goal is to bring moshiach, sinas chinam wont get us anywhere. and this definitely isn’t making the rebbe proud.
Chabad Supporter
Pesach and Chana
Keep up the good work!
All of Orange County is with you!
It’s great to see the true colors.
We look forward to continueously supprot Chabad
Steve
SHIMON L
Meir Borenstein Rocks!!!
YAD HACHASIDIM AL ELYONAH !!!
anonymous
This is such a Chilul Hashem, why are you printing such a article? And, takeh, why didn’t Rabbi Rubin come forward to a Beis Din? Isn’t that what halacha mandates? Why do people have to see all our "dirty laundry"?
Dovid
Pesach it seems to me that all the articals are in your favor! just proves the truth keep it up you guys are great! a donation is in the mail !!!
Asher
Yankel borenstien, if you were there for 20 years what do you have to show for it? you dont even have a minyan. 20 years???
sholom al yisroel
oh come on why cant they just work it out/ the whole purpose of a chabad house is to bring moshiach closer but when they fight like this it acomplishes the opposite chas vishalom
a friend
What is going on here? Why are you publishing such "shmutz"? Halacha is halacha- and why is Rabbi Rubin excused from a Din Torah- is he above the law?
shalom
as far as i understand they live in 2 diff areas 1 in monroe and 1 in goshen
why dont they just work in their area and they will have shalom
moish
meir and rivki keep up the great work
just focus on the positive like you guys are doing and everything will work out as it did till now
wondering
burston why dont u go to a beis din ?
or is this not true?
Eli Dovid Borenstein
Everybody wants Shalom – but according to their own terms. There is only one way to bring a true Shalom and that is only thru HALACHA. .Both sides have to accept the rulings of the Rabanim – otherwise there will never be peace.
Both Rabbis Borensteins have the Badatz on their side while Rabbis Rubin and Burston have a SIRUV against them and refuse to come to a neutral Bes Din – I repeat a NEUTRAL Bes Din. Rubin has repeatedly written to Rabbis Osdoba & Schwei that He wants to go only to his Bes Din – VRL- where he probably feels that he is guaranteed "victory" .
The Badatz does not claim jurisdiction over Rubin – to judge his case. Rather – all they want him him to do – is to go to any neutral Rabonim in the whole wide world of Lubavitch .and finish this Machlokes. But Rubin refuses. He wants only HIS Rabanim.
When one side is ready to go to Zabloh and the other side is not -then you can never expect peace.
Agreeing to go to a Din Torah – means subjugating yourself to the Rabanim and accepting their rulings. If Rubin was really interested in going to a Din Torah – then he would have Pesach Burston move back to NY – TEMPORARILY- to demonstrate that he is NICHNA to Rabanim and listens to them and Then if he Should win – then Pesach would move back there with his head held high with victory.As the situation is now – Pesach is there with a Siruv against him – issued by his own personal Rov – Rabbi Schwei – This does not do him any honor at all. HASHEM YERACHEM
Mendel
Dear Chabadnik only one of them are fighting and thats meir borenstien, Pesach Burston was sent there legitmatly by merkoz and the head shliach and they were there first.
shimi
wow! the name monroe is starting to be synonymous with duplicates!
Astonished
How Trypical in Lubavitch Now days. What happened to Ahavas Yisroel! EGO EGO!
Shalom
Ask yourself: is the Rebbe smiling? Is this making the Rebbe happy?
A concerned shliach in Florida
Why is shmotzkin allowed to speak such non sense to the press. What ever happened to Halacha?
Is there a system in Lubavitch that doesn’t follow halacha?
Would the rebbe allow a spokesperson for lubavitch to say to the press that we are above the letter of the law?
Shame on you and you should go to the ohel and beg mechila for the chilul sheim lubavitch you made.
Yerachmiel Shaw
Mamash a bushe. Anyone who wonders why I have left Lubavitch and go to a Misnagdashe shul is because of situations like this.
do good
orange county wins, there is room for both.
all the rest is politics
ANONYMOUS
Just remember, you are reading only one side of the story, and a one-sided story at that. And no, the Rabbi was NOT Rabbi Schwei and he is not the only Rabbi that has summoned to court. There have been other.
Not supportive of fight or siding, but want to shed some light on situation and open people’s minds; if the story was that simple, it would not have lasted over 2 years.
Classmate
The Burston’s are real people –everybody knows that, Rabbi Pesach we Love You !!!
Classmate.
Itzik_s
The question is – who is doing the real work out there? If only one – then the other one should move out and do something else, and if they need help being moved out, Merkos should really get involved instead of just talking. If both, then they need to find a way to work with each other.
By the way, is this Monroe as in Kiryas Joel? If so, do the KJ crowd have anything to say about this matter?