39 Comments

• Just asking

  Question, if he had murdered a Jewish person and “changed” while on death row would these same people have been trying to reduce his sentence?

• simple Jew

  to just asking- very good Question I think the circumstances would have been slightly different

• Eli

  How can anyone even question that he would be treated exactly the same! If you lack Ahavas Yisroel, don’t criticize others for having it.

• I hate hypocricy

  Sadly, I don’t believe that many of those chassidim in the pictures above would have cared much for Mr Grossman while he was alive! Unfortunately that many chassidim consider those who are not up to their religious standards to be ‘goyim’. If they were to perhaps have devoted their efforts to the likes of Mr Grossman during his lifetime, we might have averted his whole sad life episode.
  Have they also expressed any sadness regarding the death of the Park Ranger, any condolences to her family? Or is she just a by-product because of her non-Jewish status?

• someone else

  its been 20 years for crying out loud! people CAN change!

• Just curious

  was the woman in pants, Mr. Grossman’s mother?

• Who Seed Watt

  To “I hate hypocricy”:

  25 years is a long time. A lot of people have come and gone in the past 25 years, wildlife officer Margaret Park among them. 25 years from now, few will remember Martin Grossbaum. This is no slight against the person, their life, or the circumstances of their death, R”L. If we could go back 25 years and change the circumstances of Ms. Park’s death, I’m sure Martin Grossbaum would have been the first in line to go.

• doesn-t matter

  whether he changed or not is between him and Gd.The outpouring of grief for a murderer shows how skewed and insane this all is.yes,he should be buried but now he is made out to be a holy person(look at the scenes here)and it is SICKENING. He took someone’s life!!DO YOU GET IT?

• jax

  The deceased was very a very young and troubled person who committed a horrible and violent act. That being said, 25 yrs is a LOT more than most murderers serve. there are plenty on the street on parole.

  And whether these haredim wd hv liked Mr. Grossmans religous choices during his lifetime is irrelevant. In his death they mourn a Jew, as jewish as they are.

• Just A Sugestion

  To all the rightous individuals perplexed about the reaction of the Jewish community to the unjust murder of Martin Grossman, I humbly sugest: INVESTIGATE WHAT THE HOLY TORAH STATES ABOUT THE ENTIRE AFFAIR! And do not forget the circumstances of the incident. Remember the cognitive state of direpair in which young Martin was at the time.

• .....

  I find the video frightening what is the meaning of it!?

• so what>

  So he changed- and?????It makes the crime any less heinous?Yes it’s been 25 yrs BUT ASK THE FAMILY if the 25 years have diminished the pain of losing their child?????Why don’t you ask them that?The 25 yrs is all relative and since you have not been the one experiencing the loss of a young woman who was tortured and killed-then so what?Not your personal pain and sorrow.YOU PEOPLE are something else……!

• ch mom

  He must have done sumthing good to deserve such an enormous levaya – Hashem works in mysterious ways, who are we to judge?
  May the niftar’s neshama have an aliya.

• AC from Montreal

  To “doesn’t matter”. I don’t agree that he is being made out to be a holy person. Nobody wanted him out of jail, we just wanted to spare his life. Speaking for myself, I do not condone what he did to Ms. Parks, and none of us should ever know of such troubles. But Ms. Parks unfortunately is not coming back, and being that Martin Grossman was a Jew, I feel connected to him as I am sure most Jews do. So having said that, it would have been more comfortable for us Jews to know that he would spend the rest of his life paying for his crime in jail, and dying when G-d had planned it for him, rather than seeing him die when the Governor of Florida decided to kill him. It’s as simple as that. He is by no means a holy person. Just a person like you and I, who committed a terrible crime, and spent the last 25 years repenting for his sin.
  It is the month of Adar, let us all be b’simcha. Wishing you all well.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you

• Tzivia Tyler

  Michoel Yechiel did a terrible, terrible thing.Why any Jew is using his death as an excuse to not have sympathy for a brother who was SO TERRIBLY MESSED UP that he was capable of such a lifestyle and such an act is beyond me.Obviously it was beyond the courts and Governor to allow 60 more days to allow the bringing out of new evidence to expose his mental defectiveness.
  Now you are using it as an excuse to bad mouth our Chassidishe brothers and sisters as well. This is also beyond me.Don’t worry about what THEY would have done to help the niftar before he died, what would YOU have done or did ANYONE do to help him or his dysfunctional family.And how can we change that for other Martins or Peggys in the future.(or Juans and Rivkahs, chas v’shalom)
  I am so happy that he was finally given what he needed in order to do teshuvah and to face his death.May Hash-m bless the wonderful Rabbis from Aleph institute.
  People are not crying out of lack of sympathy for Peggy or her family. It’s despicable to hear that coming out of the mouths of you and so many of us. Bouch Dayan Emes

• Tzivia Tyler

  I am chosing to speak in a way that I don’t like to, but apparently some people may only hear according to the way they think and speak….
  To “Doesn’t Matter”- He was a sick tortured soul and our brother DO YOU GET IT??
  To“I Hate Hypocrisy”- When a group of chassische bretheren do something beautiful, must you beat them up for it?Perhaps a respectful dialogue with the Nicholsberger Rebbe with your questions might be a healing start for you and a step towards Ahavas Yisrael and bringing Moshiach.
  May we all take something positive away from this.

• Milhouse

  “Just asking”, “I hate hypocrisy” and all the other commenters who think there should be the same standard for all: The Torah says otherwise. There is NOT one standard for all, because we are not the same. We are not created equal. Grossman did a terrible thing but he was our brother and Ms Park was not, and that makes an enormous difference, all the difference in the world.

• A Woman

  A murderer is still a murderer, only Hashem can forgive a murderer, if He(Hashem) chooses to forgive.

  Maybe if our American Judicial system worked according to the laws of Torah, that murderer would have been excuted for his crime and there would not be such a hypocrisy of grief for the murderer.

• Yes you

  Look Ms Tzivia-you can get one thing straight-IF HASHEM WOULD HAVE WANTED it otherwise HE would have intervened.Ob viously it is Gd’s will and I assume you DO accept Gd’s will instead of wailing and crying over this so-called tragedy.I do not know what la-la land Aleph land you live in but in the world of perpetrators and killers, this is not some unique case except he happened to be Jewish.You must live in some magical world where crying and sobbing will erase the ACTIONS of such an individual.WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?Are you an orthodox Jew?

• CHT

  I think the whole cry is that he did full-hearted tshuva for the crime that was done then he was a kid. After tshuva a person is different person.

• ChanahR.

  I cannot believe some of the comments left by my fellow Jews. How can you speak lashon hara about Martin Grossman,your fellow Jew who died al Kiddush Hashem with the Shema on his lips!? May Hashem avenge his blood!!! Were any of us there that night? Can we pretend to know Hashem’s ways? Do you not remember the history of racism and anti-semitism in the South??? Do you not remember the cross burnings and the young Jew who was killed during the civil rights movement in the 1960s? Even Goyim were trying to save Martin Grossman’s life, and you tear him apart with your words????
  How many of us have said, thought or done not nice things to one another w/out being under the influence of drugs?? Any simple person can see that this is a case of a 19 year old who got mixed up with the wrong people, and involved in the wrong things. He did not go out with the intent to kill someone that day! But the governor of Florida, our elected official (who calls himself a “friend” of Chabad – and recently accepted a menorah and mezuzah as a gift, clearly for publicity) allowed this to happen! He should have been allowed to live out his sentence. The death penalty can be horribly cruel and sadistic, and, statistically, it’s impoverished minorities who do not have the means to afford proper legal representation who end up on death row – even if they are innoccent! What a cruel, sadistic notion.
  Do not fool yourselves, my fellow Jews! We are surrounded by wolves in sheeps’ clothing, even here in our comfortable American homes! We must increase our efforts to spread the 7 Noahide Laws. And to the Chabad Shluchim who are “friends” with Governor Crist – I hope this is a wake up call and you will reevaluate your “friendship” with the Governor.

• From I hate hypocricy

  I don’t care what you think: Ms Parks is our sister, because she is a human being. She is a US citizen. She is a mother’s and father’s daughter. She too was created b’tzelem Eloykim. It is bechasdei Hashem that such a tragedy did not visit upon us r”l. Please tell me that you do not accept the perverted justice of our tormentors throughout the ages who claimed that beating up and killing Jews would be OK, because we are not part of their ‘goyim’ tribe?
  I believe that we should all be sad for Mr Grossman and how his life turned out. However, he was judged by the US justice system, as system by which all US citizens abide, and received his due lot. With regard to what is in his heart we may not judge, as the Dayan HoEmmess is the only one who can peer into his heart. That is a private affair between them and one which we may not comment upon.
  I know that every Lubavitcher with true Ahavas Yisroel believes that Mr Grossman is our brother – both in life and in death. All my original comment was to sadly abserve that though these (non-Lubavitcher) chassidim now seem to mourn him so profoundly, they would not care for such a person while alive. He would not be welcome in their homes or communities, nor to be a tzenter to their minyonim. And therein lies the hypocricy. Say what they may, for them it is safe to claim him in death, but never in life.

• sad

  If the US justice system was so just then Martin would not have waited 25 years for this sentence to be carried out. He was only killed to further the governers political career and that is WRONG not JUSTICE. He paid twice for this crime.
  Unfortunately all of you who are so quick to pass judgement on your fellow jew would probably be far more lenient if he was not jewish.

• to chana

  Al kiddush H’?????chana I think you need to take medication!!How do you know what is in the heart of a murderer Ms know-it-all!H’ knows and that is about it.I RESERVE AL KIDDUSH HASHEM for the Holtzbergs and you using this term for a murderer makes YOU what??? What a chilul H’ over and over. Maybe to you this person is on the same level as the Holtzbergs and unfortunately there are more of you out there.Gd help us all!

• really

  if this was a non jew who killed someone then evryone would say, yes he deserved death>

• to ac from montreal

  the date and time of martins death is the date and time that god has planned for him…..the governer was jus tthe shliach..

• Ariela Yael

  Why are they giving a murderer a grand funeral–I didn’t know that Grossman was a holy person to get such honors in death as he certainly didn’t honor the life of his victim who he so callously murdered. Remind me not to be buried in that cemetary when my time comes. I’d rather lie in the city dump that to be buried where the likes of Grossman are buried.

• estyshansky

  to zivia teller and the peoplethat writing like her ,dont you think that mr. grossman obm,was sitting in jail enouf, 25 five years its along time ,he regred very much what he did ,became abal tshuva put on teffilin every day ,we did not asked to free him ,but not to kill him , is this hard to understand we are all jewish,sepost to be merachem on each others ,mr grossman did not deserve death ,he was sitting 25 years in jail.in amodern country no body killing people.the governer will pay the price of giving the order to kill mr grossman obm,its reaten yesh koneh holamo beshahah achat,mr. grossman is akadosh he bought his holam haba in one hour ,became abal tshuva compleatly,andsayiny shmah israel kabalat hol malchut shamaim ,we all sure he is now in gan heden and beginig hashem to sent moshiach now.

• ahavas yisroel

  where was Florida when Martin Grossman was living in gehenim and needed help, services, support, family etc.
  yes, unzer also could have had outreach and someone could have reached him, but Florida system failed him too. In a big way.

• Rabbi

  As a person who was personally involved in helping save martins live, i would like to comment: its a shame to see how our fellow jewish brothers can speak out against a nother jew, the Halacha is if a jewish person is being killed by goyim its considered KIDUSH HASHEM, No matter if he was guilty or not, thus he is considered a KODOSh (Holy man), the fact of his sad childhood physical and emotional indicates that he had no mean intentions at all (as also stated by the doctors he was evaluated), it is also a shame that the governor for personal intentions stated in his letter statements which all of the lawyers agreed that it is in contrary with the true which means he cleaerly lied to the public, What a shame?! and what have we asked the governor to give 60 dayes and rereview this case again with evidence, over a 50,000 people asked for it included officials, non jewish people alike, even the pobe, how could he just be cruel and ignore it??? this guy was poor ineducated had no one to represent him in court during these years how can you dare to harsly kill a person without reviewing this case??? the act it self of killing a person is very bad but taking how in this world could he have ignored all of his closest freinds and even break up with some of them??? this indicates of cruel mean and brutal murder habits, yes this is our elected people what a shame?? another persons live will not bring back the first persons life and not even bring them closer, as the mother of peggy expressed wed. she taught watching martin being executed will bring her closer and make her full more relieved but she dont, now its too late you killed this guy so 2 people are now dead nothing more, martin have showed deep regret and remorse during those years, what else could he have done? we are all humen beings we all can make mistakes? years ago the european used to kill people and not granting anyone today its the opposite yhe democratic america is executing people unfairly without justice, how come the jury voted for his death 12-0 not even one voting against it, is he the worsest murdere??? bigger killers are getting some votes to not, this indicates and turns on the red light of envolving antisemtisim and racisem, its amazing how klal yisroel was unified to help another jew, yes even they are fighting some times you cant ignore the fact that at this time it was a real Kidush Hashem, and you guys out there do NOT sin by mentioning heinious words and portraying your true internel image of hating your jewish brethern, you are rotten inside your souls, there are many more facts that is not made to mention which working closely with this case for the last two weeks around the clock i came across, i can tell you one thing that even the governor is regreting already and we can obviously see that it was a divine decree and thats also why he is considered a KODOS, may gos revenge his blood and shall he be a KORBON for Klal Yisroel and we should all be zoche to continue with the Achdus, Torah, and Masim Tovim we did in the last few days.

• Tzivia Tyler

  Dear Rabbi,
  Thank you for your words.Esty Shransky-please don’t put me in the same catagory as our brothers and sisters on this blog who wanted him killed.If you read what I wrote again you will see that I agree with “Rabbi”, and “Ahavas Yisrael”.The name calling on this blog is horrendous.I tend to agree with “SAD” in his/her last post.I remember a Rabbi’s words, when asked “Why do you think that we are commanded to love a fellow Jew ?” He said, “because it’s somehow harder to have love for and rachmonus on your own, than on others.”Many Jews are and have always been in the forefront of helping and fighting for the rights of all people.When I, with my older and painful back shlepped heavy bags full of clothing and for our brothers and sisters from Haiti in a Haitian neighborhood (for Jew and non-Jew) and my husband and I gave money to the rescue effort, we were NOT ALONE- Not all Yidden are so insular that they forget there are others out there who need our help, because it is the right thing to do,and in order to make a Kiddush Hash-m. It is sad that Michoel Yecheil’s murder by the state (60 days to obtain new psychiatric/medical evidence is all we asked the Governor for!)offended some on this blog.It is sad that his death should NOT bring out the achdus and ahavas Yisrael from some of our people who might do it for others. 60 days for a terribly ignored and underserved Jewish probably brain-compromised kid (below age 18 by possible I.Q. standards!) (and, by the way, knowing how to cover his tracks afterwards (perhaps under advice by a friend)is not a diagnostic proof that he was under control at the time of the non-premeditated murder)This case has broken my heart more, because he was a Jew and because our Jewish organizations so effectively marshaled us and made us aware of his childhood story and his plight. Did Hash-m “OBVIOUSLY” take him because He thought he deserved the death penalty, or was it perhaps because He didn’t want him to suffer in prison any more and took His Michoel Yecheil “home” his teshuvah having been accepted.(or for any other reason/s -I have not been privy to Hash-m’s motives).For sure I know that Hash-m wants something to be learned from all this-Perhaps,how can we speak to one another when we disagree?Perhaps how can we work towards a society where children who are failed by the family and educational and legal systems can get help and prevent such tragedies as Mr. Grossman and the Park family did.(for ALL G-d’s children not just Yidden) Perhaps to see how fallible the Justice system can be and to fight to do away with Capital Punishment.I taught spec.ed in an inner city H.S. for many years-There are Michael Grossmans named Patrick, Jose and Dwayne out there in their own gehennims and who will continue to come across there own Peggy’s. And yes, the Jewish and non-Jewish teachers alike cried for them too!
  The question now is NOW WHAT?Can some helpful ideas come out of this blog?
  P.S. And the answer to one of our fellow writers on this blog is,“Yes, I am an orthodox Jew-an orthodox Jew who has a yahrtzeit candle burning near her Shabbos candles this week”
  Good Shabbos
  Tzivia

• YS

  To Ariela Yael:

  I will happily choose to be buried next to Michoel Yechiel ben Avraham if that spot is still available when my time comes. It is the same zechus as being buried next to Elozor ben Durdoi.

• ChanahR.

  It’s so sad and ironic that some of the people on this site are using such slanderous speech about their fellow Jews. The Torah teaches us is that Lashon Hara is tantamount to murder! Please everyone that is saying such horrible things about Michael Yechiel, please review the laws of Lashon Hara!
  Are we only allowed to help “religious” people? Are we not allowed to help and stand up for Jews that were not blessed to have a Torah education from their youth? Are we not allowed to help a Yid about to be killed by goyim? And to “I hate hypocrisy” Please please please do not call Ms. Parks a sister of the Jewish people! If you consider her your sister that’s your business, but I will side with my fellow Jew – May Hashem avenge his blood! Ad mosai!

• Tzivia Tyler

  P.P.S.
  Whoops- I pushed the send button too quickly.I wrote:
  “It is sad that Michoel Yecheil’s murder by the state (60 days to obtain new psychiatric/medical evidence is all we asked the Governor for!)offended some…” I meant: DIDN’T offend some people but asking for 60days DID.
  I’m grateful my cognitive mistake didn’t come with the death penalty, and I had a chance to correct it!

• Milhouse

  To “A woman”: If our American Judicial system worked according to the laws of Torah, Grossman would NOT have been executed. That is the clear halacha.

  To “I hate hypocricy”: What matters is not what I think but what Hashem thinks, and His opinion is clearly written in the Torah. Unfortunately it is the opposite of yours. The Torah says there is an enormous difference bein yisroel lo’amim, and if you are an orthodox Jew, and especially if you are a chossid, you MUST believe that. Grossman’s victim was NOT our sister, she did NOT have a nefesh elokis, and his crime did not deserve the death penalty. Her citizenship is of course irrelevant. That is what the Torah says, and therefore that is what is right and just, and you do not have the right to disagree.

  To “really”: Yes, that is exactly right. That is what Hashem says is right. Do you have a problem with it?

• Tzivia Tyler

  Dear ChanaR,
  I think many of use the term “sister and brother” to acknowledge that Hash-m even called the angels to task for celebrating the drowning of the mitzraim saying“(paraphrase) they are also My children” If we are all Hash-m’s children, then we are brothers and sisters, NO?

• Saddened

  Milhouse: Your comments are sickening. G-d created EVERYONE. Was she on drugs? Did she hurt anybody? What do you know about this woman other than her not being a Jew to say such a terrible thing when her killer was the opposite?!

  A person who can have such an opinion cannot be a light to others.

  It’s this kind of primitive mentality that will never help solve the world’s problems.

  I can’t believe people are still going back and forth about Jew vs. Goyim, etc. He was MENTALLY RETARDED. THAT is partially what matters when it comes to determining punishment. THAT is why so many people were conflicted about his punishment.

  This morning, the first thing I thought was how if everyone on this planet was the same, same beliefs, same customs, we would have no purpose! G-d gave us diversity along with simple rules to get along and take care of each other. Why is this so hard to understand? We cannot be an enlightened people when we put others down.

• Tzivia Tyler

  Hello All,
  Since the petira of Michoel Yechiel, my husband and I have gotten involved with ALEPH INSTITUTE, the organization that works with Jewish prisoners and worked with him for 15years. We are now pen-pals to Yidden in prison. You can send letters through Aleph Institute so that the inmate does not have your address. This mitvah was done for Michoel Yechiel, who is now “free”. If interested Google Aleph Institute.
  Kol Tov,
  Tzivia