By Rabbi Yisroel Besser for this weeks Yated Ne’eman (USA): It was the night before Yom Kippur. I made my way up the steps of many Montreal homes, accompanied by a new friend, Meir Simcha Rubashkin. Warmhearted Yidden welcomed us, understanding that we were there for a cause.
As soon as my companion, Meir Simcha, said his last name, they understood. That Rubashkin. Our hosts involuntarily squirmed when he said who his father is, confronted – despite themselves – with the deep discomfort engendered by the name. Was it guilt about not doing enough and not caring enough?
Meir Simcha, with trademark Rubashkin buoyancy and cheer, smiled brightly and explained why we were there. A child of wealth and privilege, married just eighteen months, sixteen of which were spent back in Postville helping his mother cope, Meir Simcha asked Yidden to open their hearts and wallets for his father.
To all those Yidden, thank you for your warm response. You understood how hard it was for him. You saw that underneath his confident smile was an inner world torn asunder by the painful ordeal. You reached into your pockets and withdrew more than you could afford, hoping that perhaps, this way, He would be merciful on the impending Day of Judgment.
I learned, during the few nights that I was privileged to go around with Meir Simcha, just how deeply you really do care. Once the initial skepticism imposed on you by the silence of the Jewish establishment and the vicious hatred of bloggers faded away, you were more than generous.
Rabbi Moshe Sherer zt”l is famously quoted as saying that we have an achrayus to care not just about Klal Yisroel, but about Reb Yisroel.
Allow me to paraphrase the words of this great man. In this case, the Reb Yisroels have shown they care. It’s the ‘Klal Yisroels’ who have fallen short.
I know that things look bleak right now for Reb Shalom Mordechai, but the way they look mean little to people who inhabit the world that he does. It’s a sublime place, one that, if we’re lucky, we get to visit just before the tekiah gedolah at the end of Ne’ilah. It’s a place of true, unwavering bitachon, or clarity, vision and security that there is a Plan.
One has to see him and sit with him to understand it. It’s almost tangible. No, he doesn’t do the hyperbole thing, letting pesukim and optimistic phrases fall from his lips even when he doesn’t mean them.
I saw him. I sat with him. He’s for real.
The bloggers think his smile is one of smugness. It isn’t. He is smiling – even after the verdict – because he believes. He believes! They are the smug ones, sitting and passing judgment when the Mighty Hand of the True Judge can come expose them in a moment!
It’s entirely possible that the many guarantees and promises made to those who choose the path of bitachon will be fulfilled in Reb Shalom Mordechai, and we may yet see some surprising developments. He may just win on appeal and then we will have the seudas hoda’ah that we are so anxiously awaiting.
Do you know who the mechutanim will be at that affair?
It will be the yechidim, the Reb Yisroels out there. The hartzige Yidden who clipped the ads from Yated and mailed in a check. The rabbeim, actuaries, grocery clerks and everyone else who was touched and moved to contribute. It will be the children, like my own nine-year-old daughter, who asks me each day when she comes home from school, “Totty, what happened with your friend? Will he have to go to jail? I davened sooo hard!” It will be the ones who opened their doors wide to Meir Simcha and his siblings – who have spent most of their lives doing the opening- smiling broadly, and saying, “Come in.”
They – the individuals – will be the true mechutanim.
And the groups? The ones with large legal departments and media connections and massive banquets and conferences with the stated goal of helping Yidden? They will scratch their heads and try to explain where they were when the Ribbono Shel Olam was accepting partners.
The fact that someone has a beard and peyos doesn’t make him a victim of anti-Semitism if he finds himself on the wrong side of law. The United States government, for better or for worse, allowed Reb Shalom Mordechai due process. He had a hearing and a lawyer and was found guilty by the jury. They were doing their jobs.
No one says that the government has to love Yidden, to be moser nefesh for them, to believe in them. I am not disappointed in Uncle Sam. He has no mitzvah to love Yidden.
But they, the organizations and foundations and conferences of kiddush Hashem-worriers, do. At this point, it makes no difference if Reb Shalom Rubashkin made mistakes, if he is guilty and if he should have accepted a plea bargain. At this point, the only thing that should concern any feeling Yid is that Reb Shalom Mordechai is facing a bitter punishment. He may, chas veshalom, never again see his children not behind bars. He may miss out on their chasunos, and he may never again learn a blatt Gemara in the yeshiva he loves so much. That’s what’s important now.
I think that deep in their hearts, the professional askanim feel bad. They feel that maybe they should be doing more to help him…but how can they? How can they allow the blemish of association onto their impeccable résumés? What of the public, looking on?
So we are left with the yechidim, the heroes of this campaign, the anonymous army of Yidden that has nothing to lose by being associated with this unpopular cause.
It’s true, an organization that publicly stands by him may suffer from it, from the message they are sending, but what of the message they send by ignoring him? What of the message that it’s acceptable to watch a Yid flounder and fall?
And to those who feel that they can’t afford to take the chance, that to put their legal teams and public relations committees at his disposal would hurt them, allow me one story.
The bochur, Yankel, was nervous, very nervous. His entire future was literally at stake. Everything had been going so well. He had been learning well, growing and developing, and a bright future had seemed assured. That had all been before the dreaded envelope had come. Once it had come, and with it the ominous draft notice, his world had grown dark. The prospect of being forced into the army, of facing many, many years with virtually no hope for any sort of spiritual growth, was a horrible one. He had immediately left yeshiva and headed for Warsaw, where he planned on using every bureaucratic means at his disposal to earn an exemption.
It was on the train to Warsaw that he caught a glimpse of the noble face. Could it be? Was the great Brisker Rov, Rav Chaim, on his train? He took a few steps back and looked again. Yes, there was no doubt about it. It was Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk.
He timidly approached the gaon and shared his predicament with him. “Could the Rov possibly help me in any way?” Rav Chaim told Yankel that, while in Warsaw, he would be meeting with several influential people and he would try to help. “But please come to where I am staying and remind me,” he said.
Yankel took down the address and returned to his seat. The train arrived in Warsaw and Yankel set out to do that which he had come to do, meeting with whomever he thought could help him. After a few days, he decided to go remind Rav Chaim of his promise to help and made his way to Rav Chaim’s lodgings.
He arrived and was greeted by a large crowd in the waiting room. It seems that Rav Chaim was in the middle of meeting a large group of gedolei Yisroel, great rabbonim, roshei yeshiva and rebbes, along with the most prominent activists and askanim, discussing issues of importance to Klal Yisroel. The crowd outside consisted of attendants and gabbaim to the illustrious personages in the room with Rav Chaim.
Yankel wasn’t deterred. The prospect of spending the next few decades fighting for Russia, marching across the freezing wasteland, eating vegetables for sustenance in the company of uncouth soldiers, was a lot more unpleasant than having to fight for an audience with the Rov. He approached the door of Rav Chaim’s room and asked the attendant if he could just, for a moment, go in and remind Rav Chaim about his predicament. The attendant informed him that there was no way he would be allowed entry. Yankel argued back, insisting that Rav Chaim had told him to come and that this was true pikuach nefesh. The attendant was adamant; no one was to disturb the gedolim.
The shouts grew louder. The noise reached the great men in the room and, finally, Rav Chaim himself appeared in the doorway. The embarrassed attendant indicated Yankel and Rav Chaim took in the situation at a glance. “Ah yes, the bochur from the train. Indeed, I told you to come. Step inside the room.”
Rav Chaim excused himself from his distinguished colleagues and sat down with Yankel in a corner of the room, listening closely as Yankel filled him in on the progress of his mission. He asked and advised, finally hitting on a plan of action and promising Yankel that he would do his part.
Only then, when Yankel felt calm and reassured, did Rav Chaim return to his meeting. As they resumed conversation, Rav Chaim detected that some of the people at the table were puzzled by his behavior; he had kept them waiting, this important group, people to whom every minute was precious, while he had dealt with the yeshiva bochur.
Rav Chaim heard their unspoken question and looked around before answering. Then, he said, “Rabboisai, everything that we discuss, deliberate and decide here is for what purpose? That of Klal Yisroel. We are dedicated to Klal Yisroel and have made the trip here, to Warsaw, to help Klal Yisroel in whichever way we can. Well, rabbosai, that yeshiva bochur, who sits and learn behasmada and just wants to get an exemption from the army so that he can return to yeshiva…he is Klal Yisroel!”
So with you, the organizations and movements that are out there working for the Jewish nation, I plead: Before you set the agenda for your meeting, banquet or kinnus, remember: This unassuming Yid, the one who slept with a thin sheet and had no food this past Shabbos, he, with his wife and ten children, the Yid who is just like us, looking to Heaven and waiting for a ray of sunshine…he is Klal Yisroel.
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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27 Responses
The views expressed here are not just those of the author but necessarily should represent and reflect the views of every Yeshivish Jew!
Well said!!!
i think there is something so wrong with this article – and with the comments on this article and other articles. No one is questioning that he did so much chesed. But we are required to follow the law of the land – he broke many of them – and admitted he made ‘mistakes.’ We are not supposed to judge our fellow Jew. At the same time, we do a great disservice by assuming that because he is a Jew he is innocent. The Yated, from day one, said that Rubashkin was innocent – but there was clear and overwhelming evidence that he wasn’t innocent. As a frum Jew it is worrisome to me that,whether we are talking about child abusers or fraud, we automatically jump to the person’s defense in a way that is not just saying innocent until proven guilty, but innocent because he gave tzedakah, innocent because he is frum, innocent becasue we have to defend our own. As a community we need to look at those who break the law and condemn their actions (not them) and make it clear that we don’t support lawbreakers. Perhaps the leaders of the organizations discussed in this article actually read the overwhelming amount of evidence against Rubashkin and didn’t support him – not because they didn’t want to look bad in front of others – but becasue they realized that there is something wrong with blindly standing up for someone -just because he is frum, just because he has given tzedakah in the past. There is a difference between condemning and judging someone and being objective. Just as there is a difference between blindly supporting someone and being objective.
While I understand his sentiment at what point does personal responsibility start? No one is denying that Mr. Rubashkin is a tremendous baal chesed but even as the author points out, he made these “mistakes” which are criminal and now, unfortunately must serve the punishment for them. To forgive him would send the message that as long as you are a nice guy and a baal chased you can make “mistakes” and there will be no repercussions. It should serve as a lesson to our children that regardless of how much chesed you do and how much tzedakah you give, if you break the law you will be punished.
The silence of the Agudah is deafening
Hmmm… Anywhere here does it state that runashkin did no wrong? If he did, I’m not interested in helping him beat the rap. We have too many people playing shtick to help one of them out.
Sorry to tell you, but I don’t think that one who commits financial fraud and chillul Hashem of enormous proportions IS klal yisroel.
I know that the Yated will never post details about the crimes committed, so that its readers can continue living in la la land, but anyone who has followed the trial through the non-censored media is well aware that there was overwhelming irrefutable evidence of fraud.
Why do you, R’ Besser, have double standards for mitzvos bein adam lamakom and bein adam lachavero?
Would you say that someone who doesn’t keep shabbes IS klal yisroel? Why is dina demalchusa not viewed the same way?
Shame on the Yated for continue to spread misinformation.
Unfortunately, Rubashkin rejected the advice that was given to him to conduct a public relations campaign against the Government and the Union thugs who were out to get him.
Had he followed this sage advice and hired a good PR firm (like OJ), instead of that fancy officious lawyer, he caould have rallied all of us to his side and beaten those low-life criminals who sought to destroy everything he had so paistakingly built up.
Perhaps, it’s not too late to take that advice–who knows?
#3 Thank you for a beautifully said piece.
In addition to the Agudah silence, I find the relative silence of Chabad to be deafening as well. As Torah Jews we must value truth and clarity. I don’t think it is heartless to daven privately for the entire Rubashkin family, but not make ourselves out to be a mob-like community publicly. Did you know there are many Jews in prison convicted of crimes? Is Rubashkin’s blood redder somehow? It’s not right to hold him up as a paragon of virtue in the face of the evidence. It’s even worse to cry out things like “blood libel” over him.
“I don’t think that one who commits financial fraud and chillul Hashem of enormous proportions IS klal yisroel.”–commonsense
UNFORTUNATELY, you have been brainwashed by the carefully-crafted Govt. PR campaign against Rubashkin.
Rubashkin DID NOT DEFRAUD ANYONE. He ran a wonderful honest business, treated his employees with respect and decency, and gave generously to the needy.
This was a Union organizing setup. The Govt. cooperated. They put out a contract on him, and they were determined to find something–anything that could put him away.
Heaven forbid that the Govt. should do this to ANY OF US. Could any one of us stand for such scrutiny of every little thing we do?
Have you ever experienced a shrewish wife, or a supercritical husband? Then you can have some idea of the hell that Rubachkin had to endure.
This was a “Blood Libel,” plain and simple!
#11,
I wonder what you make out of the admission of Rubashkin that he “made mistakes”.
If all charges were false and it was all set-up, why did he have to admit committing “mistakes”?
Wake up and accept the reality.
The man committed fraud, and while I have rachmonus on him, he does not represent klal yisroel.
deepthinker (11),
Even if it’s all true, and it’s a plain old blood libel, there’s no way to know for-certen, and certanly it doesn’t apear to the vast public as clear as it is to you.
Therefor, every yid should definately support and storm the heavens for him, especially for the Chessed he did so outstandingly, but only as Yechidim – single indeviduals. It would be wrong, unsafe and unwise for any community or orgenization to back him.
This is the most eloquent piece I have read in a long time. The author is clearly not saying that Mr. Rubashkin is innocent, however at this point that is irrelevant. If this was Bais Din we could all sit back and relax, not question the legal system and let H-shem decide his fate after 120! But this is a human judge, and not an infallable one at that. We now must respond to the call of the hour and help a Yid in distress. I think it is also clear that the author meant Chabad as well as Agudah.
SHAME on the Yated! How dare they mention Rabbi Sherer in defence of Rubashkin. Rabbi Sherer was a shining example of honesty and ehrlichkeit. How dare they talk down and be “motzi laz” on the rest of klal yisroel for not defending Rubashkin. The gedolim of Agudah and other organazitions recognize that a public defence for a convicted felon would only add to the great chilul hashem already created. What does the non-Jew in Iowa or South Dakota think of a frum yid today? Three non jewish agriprocessors managers plead guilty hundreds of illegal non jewish agriprocessors employees spent time in jail and yet we are supposed to think this is an antisemetic blood libel? Ask yourself is this a paper of Daas Torah? A paper that portrays felons as martyrs? Whose Daas Torah? Whose Hashkafah? Perhaps we need to have a true torah value newspaper one that recognizes that Choshen Mishpot is also part of Shulchan Oruch for chareidim.
Reading the comments has really upset me. How could fellow Jews just not care?
Thank you Rabbi Yisroel Besser for this amazing heartfelt article!
Even I, a member of the volunteer committee helping the Rubashkins am extremely inspired and touched by your amazing words.
After putting in so much time and effort – countless hours – this letter is a tremendous boost for myself and for the others in the committee.
It is special people like you Rabbi Besser that help inspire us to continue and remind us there is still much to be done –
You energize us and prompt us to be aware of the importance to continue with pure and total bitachon!
Thanks to Yeshiva World for your ongoing coverage in this case and for bringing forth important issues that affect Klal Yisroel.
Thanks for publicizing the incredible and unprecedented support from Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, Editor of Yated Neeman.
Rabbis Besser and Lipshutz, – Hashem should bench you to continue your great work and enjoy much Yiddeshe Nachus from your entire Mishpachas – gezunter heit!
Shea Hecht
Yidden always choose what individuals or events that will emphatize and sympathize with,, it could be the 3 young men in Japan, Jonathan Pollard, shidduchim, Gilad Shalit, Deal rabbanim, abuse cases, etc. etc. There are tefillah campaigns for different problems and we are not and probably will never be united on what is the PROBLEM of the day.
let me share with you what i heared from R’ Lipa Schmeltzer a few years ago. at the time we were spending a shabbos together in a camp when people started arguing over what happened with new square and hillary clinton. a few people shouted that if they robbed the govt. they deserve to sit and suffer. R’ Lipa jumped up and said” my freinds, dont ever say another yid should suffer. that is for hashem to decide. dont juge another yid. c”v one day you will be driving in 6′ of snow and you will skid off to the side and get stuck. another yid driving by will look and say “the idiot, he speeds in 6′ of snow, let him sit there”.
the bottom line is and has to be for us to survive as a klall: right or wrong we must always be there to help another jew. if hashem decides for him to have it hard, that is hashems decision. if we want hashem to have rachmunis on us then we must have rachmunis on others. can we tell hashem we never did something wrong? an aveyra? untill we can lets not bring midos din in to the picture.
O.K., “flatbusher, et al.
I accept the fact that you did not follow the trial in as great detail as I did, and you may not have as much experience as I do in the innor workings of the legal system.
I sat in a prosecutor’s office and watched him concoct a case, using a fat book of law, simply picking out paragraph after paragraph. It’s a creative exercise. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The judge in the Rubashkin case was actively involved in helping the prosecution, a clear violation of the law. Witness after witness who wanted to testify for Rubashkin, were denied by the judge and called “irrelevant.”
Archaic laws that are no longer in active use were invoked to pile up more and more “counts” against Rubashlin.
The origninal deportations, sanctioned by this judge were illegal–there was no due process.
This was a “hanging judge” in the classic sense of the term.
Law enforcement is an exercise in discretion. Not every law on the books can or should be enforced. There are hundreds-of-thousands of laws on the books–enough to put everyone in jail–and that includes “flatbusher.”–and me, too.
The purpose of these laws is to provide a tool for Law Enforcement to put real criminals in jail when it is REALLY NECESSARY.
“Im Avonos Tishmor K’, Hashem, Mi Yaamode!”
We do not enforce the law that you must hire a man to run in front of your car with a kerosene lamp at night–YES, it’s still on the books.
One of Rubashkin’s indictments was that he did not follow the law that demands payment for cattle within 24 hours, a law that is never enforced today.
So, we see a clear pattern of nit-picking “Gotcha” prosecution, designed to destroy Rubashkin.
The original raid, with guns drawn, on Rubashkin’s plant, despite his willingness to negotiate a solution, as so many other, much larger, plants had done, was unprecedented, and it destroyed his business and his cash flow, which he needed to pay the banks.
This was a vindictive prosecution. It was not “Law encforcement.”
He was targeted by a toxic combination of union thugs and PETA, aided and abetted by those Jewish organizations who refused to recognized that this was a “Blood Libel.”
it is sad that the chareidi community reads only one newspaper and that this newspaper cannot report the news accurately and without bias.
I am reading these comments and it is mind boggling that there are supposedly frum people still out there that question after hearing the facts from reading the Yated and other informative papers that Reb Sholom Rubaskin is guilty at all.What he said he is guilty of is certainly not worthy of even a trial let alone a sentencing of any prison time whatsoever.
The people that actually think that this was not a real 21st Century BLOOD LIBEL are also in need of help within their thinking since the blood libels at the time of the Golem of Prague were about actually spilled blood, but in today’s times the sweat and tears are the blood of yesteryear so YES this was no question a blood libel. As far as believeing any story told over by the reshoyim of the outside media or from the government or prosecutors….99.99999% of the time it is SHEKER. Our hearts and tefillos should go to the Kisei Hakovod and ring out ..ENOUGH ENOUGH… please bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu
The forum of bringing any comments is wonderful , however it should should not have any negative information as it only brings loshon Hora and Moitze Shem Rah for others to read and comment on.
A gutten Shabbos to all.
#24 – he was not convicted on those ‘archaic counts’ the ones involving cattle that had never been previously prosectued.
And the witnesses after witnesses who wanted to testify to Rubashkin were people who wanted to testify about his charity work and other good deeds. Relevant (perhaps to sentencing) – irrelevant to a trial.
What about Rubashkins admission that he has made mistakes – during the trial – with regard to the fraud counts. He called them ‘mistakes’ – he admitted that he did it -only the law doesn’t call them mistakes.
#26 – unfortunately it is not what you deem to be worthy of being guilty that decides whether he is legally guilty. We live in the United States -we are supposed to follow its legal system. And anyway – where were you for Bernie Madoff, defending him – why is he guilty and Rubashkin not??
Agudath Israel Leader Testifies in Rubashkin Federal Court Hearing
January 27, 2009
RAPIDS, IOWA – United States District Judge Linda Reade ruled this morning that the embattled former CEO of the Agriprocessors meatpacking concern in Postville, Iowa, can be released on bond if he meets certain conditions.
Another judge had denied Sholom Rubashkin bail, based in part on his reasoning that Mr. Rubashkin’s Jewishness made him a flight risk in light of Israel’s “Law of Return,” which grants automatic citizenship to any Jew wishing to reside in the Jewish State. The invocation of that point raised strong objections from many corners, including Agudath Israel of America.
Mr. Rubashkin has been in federal custody since November 14. Now he will be a free man as he awaits his trial, currently scheduled for September. He will have to promise to appear at all court hearings and his trial; post a bond of $500,000; surrender his passport and those of members of his family, as well as his birth certificate; submit to electronic monitoring and pay costs for the same; limit his travel to Allamakee County.Iowa; have no contact with potential witnesses in his trial; and not visit the Agriprocessors plant.
The ruling was hailed by Mr. Rubashkin’s attorney, Guy Cook, who said that “Judge Reade protected” his client’s “rights today.”
Agudath Israel’s executive vice president, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, who was part of a rabbinical delegation that visited Mr. Rubashkin in Dubuque County Jail earlier this month, testified by telephone at this morning’s hearing in support of Mr. Rubashkin’s bail request. He emphasized that the continued detention of Mr. Rubashkin was deeply troubling to the full spectrum of the community.
“It is gratifying that the federal district judge recognized how profoundly offensive it was that Sholom Rubashkin was being kept locked up in jail pending his eventual trial,” said Rabbi Zwiebel. “As Mr. Cook told me when the good news came through, justice and prayers have prevailed.”
(YWN Desk – NYC)
Prominent Rabbonim Visit Reb Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin
Jan 14 2009
The scene was surreal. Reb Sholom Rubashkin standing in jail in bright orange prison sweats with the words “Dubuque County Jail” emblazoned across the back, incongruously wearing a borrowed black hat and gartel as he said the words of chazoras hashatz. It was the first time that he was zoche to daven with a minyan since his incarceration on November 14. Reb Sholom, who in an unprecedented and troubling ruling was denied bail by the magistrate, davened with great feeling, as the words emotionally poured from his mouth. “Go’el Yisroel – Who redeems Israel. Ki lishuascha kivinu kol hayom – for Your salvation we hope everyday…”
Indeed, the scene may have been surreal, but the circumstances of Reb Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin’s imprisonment are certainly not. They are downright troubling.
On Monday, January 12, a remarkable gathering took place at the Dubuque County Jail. Rabbinic leaders representing a broad range of the cross-section of American Jewry came to the Dubuque Iowa Jail where they met with Sholom for about one and a half hours, after which they held a press conference outside of the jail.
The group included Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Agudath Israel of America; Rabbi Pesach Lerner, National Council of Young Israel; Rabbi Yaakov Wasser, Rabbinical Council of America; Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Rabbi Shimon Hecht, National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education; and Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, Chabad Lubavitch International. Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud Horabbonim, was slated to attend but was unable to do so at the last moment.
In conversations with the Yated, Rabbi Zwiebel, Rabbi Lerner and Rabbi Hecht all expressed the profound feeling of chizuk that they felt Reb Sholom had received from the visit. Most amazing was that they all expressed a feeling of chizuk that they themselves got from undertaking the trip, speaking with Mr. Rubashkin and davening with him. “This was the primary purpose for which we undertook the trip,” said Rabbi Lerner. “To give chizuk to Reb Sholom.”
The second purpose of the trip was to express concern over the reason for which the magistrate refused bail for Mr. Rubashkin. Mr. Rubashkin is being forced to sit in prison because he has been deemed a “flight risk” as a result of the Israeli “Law of Return” that grants automatic citizenship to Jews. This represents a precedent that could conceivably be used in the future to deny bail to any Jew.
The third purpose of the trip was to express their collective feeling that Sholom Rubashkin does not represent a flight risk, and declare their trust in Mr. Rubashkin by publicly putting the reputation and credibility of each of their organizations on the line. “Sholom is well aware of how many people have advocated on his behalf, and a betrayal of their confidence would cause irrevocable damage to himself, his family, his community, and the many honorable individuals who have shown their support for him,” said Rabbi Yaakov Wasser.
“We are just seeking fair and equal treatment, from the justice system, for Mr. Rubashkin, no more and no less than anyone who applies for bail. At the same time, we are here to visit Mr. Rubashkin and hopefully give him strength to get through this difficult ordeal. This continued incarceration, while he awaits his day in court, is difficult for him and his family,” said Rabbi Lerner.
The delegation headed out of New York early Monday morning, changed planes in Chicago and finally arrived in snowy, freezing Dubuque, Iowa, where they were joined by some local rabbis. Although each rabbi was originally to be allotted a fifteen-minute slot to visit privately with Reb Sholom, in the end the prison authorities permitted all of the rabbis to visit together and they were thus able to daven Minchah together.
“It was clear,” said Rabbi Hecht, “that Reb Sholom derived tremendous chizuk from the visit. Nevertheless, Reb Sholom told me and the other rabbonim that although he now seems upbeat, there are times when it is extremely difficult. Being separated from his family, his children and especially his autistic child, with whom he has a special relationship, is very hard.”
“In fact, Reb Sholom is not even allowed to meet with his younger children. Even the periodic meetings with his wife are by video conference,” explained Rabbi Hecht. “The only Jews with access to him are clergy. Yes, his religious needs, seforim and kosher food are provided for, but Sholom Rubashkin belongs at home with his family until he has his day in court.”
Rabbi Zwiebel related that davening Minchah in the jail was something that he was sure none of the rabbonim will ever forget. “It was an extremely moving experience; an experience that simply can’t be put into words… seeing Reb Sholom, nobly serving as chazzan in orange prison clothing… experiencing the heartfelt tefillos of all who were present…”
Indeed, at the press conference following the visit, the rabbis declared “that not only is Sholom Rubashkin not a flight risk, but he wants the opportunity to face his accusers. He wants his day in court to prove his innocence in face of the serious charges leveled against him. The rabbis also argued “that not only would Rubashkin dishonor himself by fleeing, he would dishonor all of the rabbis and organizations who have supported him.”
Since his detention, they said, dozens of Jewish Iowans have offered their homes as collateral for bail, totaling $2 million, as has a Brooklyn man whose home is valued at $4 million. The court has also received nearly 300 letters testifying to Sholom’s character. Nevertheless, the government continues to insist that he be confined to prison.
The rabbis explained that the imprisonment is unnecessary, excessive and discriminatory against all Jewish Americans. They were highly critical of the U.S. Attorney’s office, which has taken the extraordinary step of classifying Mr. Rubashkin as a flight risk because of his Jewish heritage, arguing that the “Law of Return” would enable him to flee to Israel. During the press conference, Sholom Rubashkin’s attorney, Guy Cook, said that “According to the way the Law of Return has been applied to Mr. Rubashkin, Attorney General Michael Mukassey or Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff would present the same flight risk if indicted for a crime.”
Indeed, in a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukkasey, Rabbi Zwiebel wrote: “It is ironic that the very law of return that was designed to save Jews from oppression was now being used by the American government to treat Jews as second class citizens by deeming them as flight risks. The implications of this ruling are painfully ironic. The State of Israel, shortly after its founding, enacted the Law of Return to assure Jews in countries where they are treated as second-class citizens that they had a home in the Jewish State. Now, under the logic of Magistrate ruling – and the federal prosecutors who advanced the argument – the very fact that the Law of Return exists is basis for treating an American Jewish defendant as a second-class citizen, keeping him confined in pretrial detention under circumstances where non-Jews might well be released pending trial. The implications of this ruling are also breathtakingly staggering. The notion that Israel’s Law of Return makes Jewish defendants greater flight risks than their non-Jewish counterparts could result in wholesale denials of bail to Jewish defendants who would otherwise be eligible for release pending trial merely on the basis of their religious identity. Needless to say, this ruling is both deeply offensive and extremely troubling.”
Steve Savitsky, Orthodox Union President, also wrote a letter to the Attorney General expressing his concern over the troubling use of the law of return as reason to deny bail.
On the way home, the delegation ran into a snowstorm that severely delayed them. At one point it looked as if they would have to spend the night in Chicago. Rabbi Hecht related: “I and the other rabbonim were not very pleased about the prospect of having to spend a night away from our homes and our families. Then, I thought to myself, maybe Hashem is sending us a message. We were disappointed about having to spend one unexpected night away from our own beloved mishpochos. Imagine how Reb Sholom feels – being held, all alone in the Dubuque prison, without bail, for dubious reasons. This is a lesson from Above to all of us, to think about Reb Sholom’s predicament, to gain a sense of imo anochi b’tzarah – I am with him in his time of difficulty – and do all that we can to obtain his release. We must daven and daven. We must petition the proper authorities to release Reb Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin from prison and permit him, as an American citizen, to have his day in court to prove his innocence.”
to 22:
what would happen if his name was Bernard Madoff?
The chutzpah of #5 mar is breathtaking.
I’m inclined to agree with #5, and #31 would likely have a personal axe to grind; after all, #5 is not really saying anything shtarker than Rabbi besser’s article in the first place. I sincerely hope the Agudah will use every resource available to it to be mishtadel for this Yid; while he may have, indedd, transgressed the law, so does anyone who ignores traffic rules. The law is ultimately there to protect the victim. The only victim here is Rubashkin, who went out of business because of govt. intervention, originally purportedly b/c of immigration concerns, which might have a victim at its heart, i.e. the American displaced worker. The fact that they went after him for the financials, and now have dropped the immigration accusations, is, indeed, deafening indications of the govt.’s intentions here. This is clearly an instance of unfair selection by the govt. to prosecute such a trial, and Rubashkin richly deserves all our efforts, both on a personal level, and, even more so, on a broader concern to all Jews, as well as all Americans, not to let the govt. get away with such manipulaitons and intrigues.