While the tzibur is just beginning to recover from the bochrim in Japan incident, which all continue davening will end soon and end well, there is now a story of a Yerushalmi bachur involved with drugs and imprisoned in India.
Askanim Take Up Case of Bachur Imprisioned in India
While the tzibur is just beginning to recover from the bochrim in Japan incident, which all continue davening will end soon and end well, there is now a story of a Yerushalmi bachur involved with drugs and imprisoned in India.
The bachur is from a respected Yerushalayim family, deciding before his chasnah that he had to fly to India. While he was there, he was in the home of the Shaliach Rav Gavriel Holtzberg HY”D, actually becoming a ‘ben bayis’ in the Chabad house. One night, while there, police came into an apartment he was visiting. They searched the room and found he was in possession of drugs.
A number of friends who were with him in the apartment managed to flee from police while some were arrested, including the bachur.
The young man, the bachur, insists he does not speak the local language and was unable to communicate with police. He denies any involvement in drugs, insisting he is innocent. He feels that his inability to communicate worked against him, and he was arrested and his trail simply vanished.
Rav Gavriel reportedly tried to find him, but he was unsuccessful. The young man simply vanished.
A few short weeks before the Mumbai massacre a friend of the bachur told Rav Gavriel that the bachur was incarcerated. Rav Nachman Holtzberg, Gavriel’s father, was visiting at the time, and he heard of the young man’s plight and incarceration under harsh conditions.
The shaliach updated the family of the young man in Yerushalayim, who apparently was clueless as to his whereabouts and disposition. The young man’s father, a noted talmid chacham, was niftar a number of days after hearing the news. He had a massive heart attack R”L.
The family of the kallah and the bachur’s family teamed together to see what could be done. They learned the young man was being held in one of the harshest prsins in India, far from civilization. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, apparently because he lacked any legal representation.
For Rav Nachman Holtzberg, the story of the young man was forgotten due to the family’s tragedy resulting from the terror attack against the Chabad house in Mumbai. A number of weeks ago however, while learning in a Crown Heights beis medrash, he noticed a yid learning daf yomi by phone. When he hung up the phone, the young man told R’ Nachman that he learns daf yomi with a young chosson imprisoned in India. Once in a while he manages to connect with him and they learn, seeking to assist the pour soul.
R’ Nachman immediately remembered the situation a few weeks before the attack, the young man, and decided to take upon himself to do what he could to assist the young man.
Since that time, R’ Holtzberg enlisted the assistance of a number of askanim in the USA – including the Dror Organization, who are now probing what legal assistance can be offered to the young man. Three attorneys have been hired and an appeal has been filed in India.
R’ Holtzberg seems to indicate that just the fact that the appeal was accepted is a big thing, especially since the sentencing judge is no longer serving on the bench. Therefore there is hope that the appeal may result in the young man’s release and return to Eretz Yisrael.
The family in Yerushalayim lacks the ability to offer any assistance, living a meager existence from a gashmiyus perspective. Anyone wishing to donate, may do so by clicking here – please add in Inmate Account # 684324 – or by phone 718-280-1510.
CR
It should be noted that drug-related crimes in many countries are dealt with harshly; often far beyond what we would experience in the USA. If you travel abroad and someone wants you to carry a “package” be suspicious, no matter who they are or what they look like. I personally know someone who did a favor by carrying “diamonds” that were actually “crack” cocaine and ended up doing a few years behind bars in Europe.
OH L-RD
OMG!!!!
THAT’S TERRIBLE!!
WHY ARE JEWISH PEOPLE ALWAYS ARRESTED?
IT’S NOT EVEN NORMAL!
mashiach ba-everyone is getting freed B
just like all they others may hashem bless this bochur to be freed from the prison.AMEN!
Ad Mosai!
What is happening to this world??
moshiach must be coming!
hope to hear good news soon!
moshiach now!
tzippy
oh my gosh!
curious
Whatdid he go to India for “officially”?
Jason
I have traveled to Japan several times, there are very clear signs that if you carry any drugs, you will be put to death, this is at Customs at Tokyo’s, Narita Airport. This is no joke.
Yossi
Oy veyyyy!!!!! Adddd mosaiii!!! Moshiach must be coming because a bochur from a good family was in India for no good reason hanging with people who were doing drugs….. Oyyyyy wheres the justice!!!! This is sooo not normal why only the sweet Jews who only have good intentions even when they sin!!!!
I hope he gets out of the Indian prison, but to the gullible sweet hearts above, get with reality please.
In the Know
this is a scam!!!!
Not True
This story is obviously a Bubba Maasa!
Do you mean to say that for “three years”?! nobody knew where he was besides for his Daf Yomi Chavrusa and no one was even looking for him? What happened to the other people that were arrested? A Kallah waited for three years, and didn’t tell anyone about it and nobody helped her? Did people not ask the Kalla – hey, where is your Choson? When is the wedding? His Father died and nobody cared enough to help? Something sounds very fishy here.
Something BIG!!!!! Is missing from this story
This story seems far fetched for many reasons:
1.For sure Chabad would have notified the Israeli Embassy who would have provided a translator and lawyer.
2.His Rosh Yeshiva would have contacted the Rabbinical authorities for help.
3.How does someone from New York do Daf Yomi with someone in Prison in India and not try to get help.
There are more questions than answers. If this story is true there was a major failure within the community.
Besides – why would a Choson“…decide before his chasuna that he has to fly to India…”?! To learn there there Hilchos Nida before his Chasuna??!!
Come on!
My grandmother had wings too.
not so gullible
There is a book named ‘escape from India which is a true story of an israeli drug dealer who miraculously escaped Indian prison after receiving a blessing from some mekubal. The way he describes indian prisons no one is learning daf yomi with overseas strangers through some kiruv program. Why didn’t the chavrusa speak up about this btw?? He let this guy rot in jail for years just so that he would have a phone learning partner for 10 years without having to worry the guy might go on vacation?
Something sounds very very fishy here.
Ami Magazine
In this week Ami Magazine, it’s spreads some light to this bizarre story – with diffrent facts. The story is true – but he is not a Yeshiva Bochur from a respectable Yerushalmei family, but rather a backpacker who wasn’t yet Frum. He and his girlfriend decided to get married and meanwhile made a trip to India for vacation. There he got stuck etc.
yankel
this is a story about a non frum drug consumer a non yeshiva bucher, nevertheless a potential source for shnoring from a good heartened frum jew, i would give my money somewhwere else
His fiancé
To all you people how think you are better than him…I’m his fiancé
This story is true, this guy is in jail in India and you don’t know how horrible it is.
He is sitting in prison for 4 year now for something he didn’t do.
The facts are:
He had a good friend that was in India for 3 month before this happened, he was planning to visit the friend and come back to Israel to get married, I was visiting my sister in the US and we planned that I will go for a month to the US and he will go to India – just for vacation!!! We had plans to get married and start a family. I was talking to him every day when he was in India, and I was in the US.
After one week when he was in India, in his friend apartment on January 7 at around 9:00pm the police break into the apartment and looked for his friend that later we learned was dealing with drugs .The friend was nowhere to be found he left the apartment, the guy was taking a shower when the police came he didn’t understand what was happening and they never never found drugs on him.
The police made up a story that she arrested him on the following day (January 8) in the morning near to a Church – all of it is a big lie that the police mead up because they did illegal arrest and took money from the apartment.
He only wanted a small vacation to visit a friend that left him when he needed him the must.
We did know that he was in prison, the embassy called us about 2 weeks after he was arrested, and me and his mother visit him in jail in the horrible condition you can ever imagine.
If you all don’t have the compassion for an innocent guy that his whole life was ruined for something he didn’t do, and believe me I know him, and know for a fact that he didn’t do this, I feel sorry for you. God help you!
Will God help you to find your compassion and mercy for people in trouble, people that need help that are fighting for their life, like we are fighting for his life.
And for number 13 – Yankel – you can save your money we don’t need help from people like you I hope you will never know sadness us we now it know!
There are a lot of people that help us and donate money to help us save his life and bring him home – a big thanks for all this people – God bless you and your big heart we need you and we can’t survive without you please keep helping us we need you!