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Sholom Mordechai Rubaskin's wife Mrs Leah Rubashkin speaks out

Video – Mrs Leah Rubashkin Speaks Out

Sholom Mordechai Rubaskin’s wife Mrs Leah Rubashkin speaks out

Sholom Rubashkin and his family will soon know where he will spend the rest of his life.
It all stems from the Postville immigration raid heard around Eastern Iowa nearly two years ago. Back in May of 2008, federal agents swarmed the meat packing plant in Postville arresting 389 illigal immigrants. Former manager Sholom Rubashkin was arrested and charged with 86 counts of fraud. Now he sits in the Linn county jail to await his sentence. Prosecutors are pushing for a life sentence. And now a CBS 2 exclusive, his wife Leah speaks out for the first time on camera.
Brittney Hibbs sat down with her as her husband faces life in prison and she faces a life without him.

Leah Rubashkin hopes to find out her husbands fate by the end of this week.

“To tell you the truth, basically this whole story has destroyed him, has wiped his name off the face of this earth. Its’ destroyed my kids. This whole story has destroyed our kids. When you read the media reports it’s like ‘Is this the same guy that I’ve been living with for 28 years?’“

With her husband facing life in prison, Leah tries her best to smile for her children.

”We have 10 altogether, we are trying to distract them a little bit so they enjoy their time when they can speak with Sholom. But it’s really, really hard. We’re doing the best we could to try and stay focused instead of just lying in bed and groping around in the misery of it.”

She says having Sholom gone has been especially hard on her son with autism.

“He’s always been really close to Sholom and Sholom calls every night to say night prayers with him before he goes to sleep and its’ been really, really hard on him.”

Leah, now practically a single mom, talks about that day back in may of 2008 when her world changed.

“I think a lot of lives changed that day. I got a call from my 16 year old son. He said ‘Ma you’re not going to believe what’s going on out here. There’s like these black cars everywhere out here. There’s like a parade of them.’ Nobody could understand what this was all about. It was like a scene from a movie or something. Nobody could imagine what it could be or what it could be about.”

That day not only rocked the Rubashkin family but the entire town of Postville.
“A lot of change has come over the community, stores closing down all over main street, people relocating. Everyone is trying to pull together the pieces it’s not easy there’s not too much opportunity.”

Now her husband remains behind steel bars waiting to hear the Judges decision.
“What has gone on here has just been unbelievable. I feel that we’ve lost so much already. The whole business, we have nothing left financially, his name is mud. What else do we need to experience here? The stuff that has happened has brought a lot of pain to a lot of people and our hope is that we can pick up the pieces.”

And in the meantime, Leah holds her head high for her children and her faith.
“Knowing that there is going to be a day when this will be over and we will be back together.”
Brittney Hibbs CBS 2 News

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7 Comments

  • Tzedaka on 14 Iyar

    Pesach Sheini is the yartzeit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness. Please try to give tzedaka to a R’ Meir Baal Haness pushka (Colel Chabad as an example) as a zchus for R’ Sholom Mordechai.

  • a member of anash

    Leah,
    we are with you all the way.
    our tefilos and our heart is with you, take heart that we are all there for you. Then entire Yidishe folg is praying and doing in zchus of sholom mordechai. Now pesach sheini should be a yeshua. The aibeshter has made nissim and will continue to make one for your family. Our family and yours go back a long, long way.
    hatzlocha rabba
    yitamu reshoim min haaretz

  • don-t talk to the media

    The close-up shot on her ring finger reminds me why we should never talk to the media.

  • Dovid Labe

    If you look in the maamar the rebbe said on shabbos parshas emor (this week) 1987, the rebbe brings the story of r’ shimon bar yochai, that while in hiding in the cave he did not do mitzvos physically. But because of the high level of his neshoma, he fulfilled them spiritually, which was r’ shimons avoda at the time.(And the rebbe uses this to explain an idea in chassidus, where one can fulfill all 3 paths of life, torah,avodah, and gemillas chasodim, as one path. This being the path of avodah, whish also means masiras nefesh.) And the rebbe finishes off;“and just like r’ shimon had this avodah(of being in a cave, where he could not fulfill all of the mitzvos physically),every person must come to it too. And being that the day of lag ba’omer is the day of r’ shimon bar yochai, he should draw down redemption into our world.” And only later does the rebbe bring the idae of moshiach.
    So lets hope that this is the case, with the geulah now!

  • Sam

    Nat Lewin is the wrong lawyer to handle Sholom Rubashkin case. It’s too big on him.

    Ben Brafman is the best lawyer to handle this. I am surprised that Nat will continue the appeal. This is can be a disaster. have Ben Brafman handle the appeal.