Did broker pray with, bilk clients?

Monday, February 25, 2008

In the past decade, the case shows losses of almost $20 million.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

MIAMI — With a prayer shawl draped over his shoulders, stockbroker Gary Jay Gross cradled the Torah at the Chabad of Boca Raton — praying with worshippers and recruiting them as investors.

One was the rabbi. Another was an elderly widow. Another was a Holocaust survivor who met the broker at a Jewish scholarship dinner.

For their trust, the charismatic stockbroker promised to watch over their retirement accounts — persuading congregation members and others to funnel their money into the brokerage where he worked.

For years, Gross convinced clients he was honoring his pledges — in some cases, boasting double-digit returns on their investments.

But what the elderly clients say they didn’t know: The self-styled investment guru was wiping out their accounts in risky, highly volatile securities — losing millions — while racking up huge commissions for himself, according to arbitration complaints.

Along the way, investors say, he falsified reports to cover his tracks and hide the losses.

The FBI has just begun an investigation into a case that shows losses nearing $20 million in the past decade — the numbers rising with more clients emerging, according to arbitration claims.

Some clients have put their homes up for sale; others are seeking help from bankruptcy lawyers.

“I was suicidal when I found out,” said Sheila Kramer, 72, of Deerfield Beach, Fla., who lost $1 million.

The investigation is a case study of a state regulatory system unable to stop a troubled broker who left a trail of red flags.

Years before the latest wave of complaints, the Florida Division of Securities was warned about Gross — with numerous investors stepping forward — but no disciplinary action was taken, The Miami Herald found.

To this day, Gross has one of the longest records of complaints in the nation.

A Miami Herald analysis of nearly 600,000 stockbrokers found that he had more complaints against him than 99.9 percent of all brokers.

Nearly 100 of his former clients at Boca Raton’s Axiom Capital Management — including actor Henry “The Fonz” Winkler of TV’s Happy Days — are now his creditors.

“I had such faith,” said widow Carol Hoffer, 75, who entrusted her entire savings to Gross before her husband died. “I thought Gary was such a templegoer that he would be honest in his dealings.”

Gross has tried to distance himself from the scandal, resigning in January from the Boca Raton brokerage where he worked for five years. He has not been charged with any crimes.

The firm has paid nearly $3.8 million to some of the former investors.

For now, Gross, 56, says he doesn’t want to talk about the investigation. “These clients had investments that went down,” he said. “It’s that simple.”

But lawyers and investors say that it’s not that simple, that for years he parlayed his position as a member of an established synagogue to meet new customers — and later betrayed them.

Nearly a dozen investors said they trusted Gross, in part because of the devotion he showed to Orthodox Judaism, promoting himself as mishpoche: part of the family. Sometimes, he would wear his prayer shawl to the office, literally cloaking himself in Yiddishkeit.

That wasn’t the only thing that impressed his clients. Gross showed all the signs of success: expensive clothes; a Jaguar XJ; a home and country club membership at the Boca Raton Polo Club.

And he was eager to share with his clients, buying them show tickets and taking them to fancy restaurants, according to interviews.

From hundreds of court and arbitration records, a snapshot of Gross’ career emerges: A business graduate of Hofstra University, he owned dry cleaners before obtaining a broker’s license in November 1993 — shortly before filing for his first bankruptcy.

His first job was with Smith Barney in Boca Raton, and eventually he moved to Raymond James in 1996.

The following year, customers began to accuse him of sinking their money into unsuitable securities — not in keeping with investment objectives. But in each case, the brokerage denied the claims.

Gross moved to his third brokerage, CIBC World Markets Corp., in 1998, incurring new complaints — allegations of unsuitable investments — with his employer making several settlements.

But it wasn’t until he moved to UBS Financial Services in 2000 that the first big wave of complaints began — with investors claiming much bigger losses, records show.

With complaints mounting, Gross was allowed to resign from the brokerage “for conduct inconsistent with firm policies and standard business practices,” industry records state.

But it wasn’t so easy to move to his next firm. When he reapplied with the state to work at Axiom — a standard requirement — regulators began an inquiry.

Numerous investors were interviewed and hundreds of documents inspected by the state, but no actions were taken — even though lawyers for a half-dozen investors managed to settle more than $1 million in claims with UBS.

Instead of stopping Gross, the state agreed in 2003 to allow him to continue selling stocks. But regulators required him to be placed under “heightened supervision” — a form of self-monitoring in which the brokerage takes responsibility for a broker’s actions.

However, the supervising broker put in charge of Gross, David V. Siegel, had troubles of his own.

In the late 1990s, Siegel was censured, fined and suspended by out-of-state regulators for charging consumers unfair prices, records show. The day his supervisory duties began, he was in personal bankruptcy.

The state’s decision to allow Gross to continue as a broker proved costly.

Over the next four years, dozens of Axiom customers — some recruited at the synagogue — claimed they lost millions of dollars in personal investments turned over to Gross, in some cases their life savings.

At least 23 customers alleging a host of misdeeds — including fraud, mispresentation, excessive trading, and falsifying statements — lost at least $10 million, according to industry records.

Brandeis students raise big bucks for Chabad

Waltham Chabad hosts gala dinner

At its Feb. 10 gala dinner in a large hall at Lexington Chabad
House, nearly 100 Brandeis University students raised more than
$30,000 for the Waltham house.
Run by Rabbi Peretz and his wife Chanie
Chein out of their home across the street
from campus, the Waltham house
operates on a shoestring budget, hosting
crowded weekly Shabbat dinners and
holiday celebrations and offering a series
of classes as part of their iLearn series.
The house was established in 2001, and
the gala was the first of its kind. All
proceeds raised from the event will fund
operating expenses such as the cost of
food and a modest living for the rabbi.
There is a small fee for the popular classes offered at the house
throughout the week in which a reported 90 students are currently
enrolled.
“Chabad House is independently funded and we receive no major
contributions from donors or institutions,” said Chein, whose
students address him by his first name. “The people we serve don’t
have the ability to support our costs and that makes fundraising
extremely challenging.”
Relying only on small donations from people who come to the
house often, Chein said the house has operated under a deficit over
the last few years and there needs to be ways to support the work
they do. The gala itself was conceived and planned entirely by
seniors Cindy Kaplan and Yael Klein with help from other students,
including sophomore Lily Namanworth.
And despite the ice storm that night, close to 100 people attended
the fundraiser, paying the rather steep price of $180 a ticket.
Though shy of the 120 expected, in addition to the $31,000 raised,
someone reportedly made an additional pledge of $20,000.
What’s the attraction?
“Personal relationships and personal interaction,” said Chein, 32,
recalling a recent conversation with a 2004 Brandies graduate who
called to say hello and talk. “It develops and evolves and gets
people interested. That’s why they’ll come in big numbers. Everyone
feels special and important. We’re engaging, speak to important
issues and people of all backgrounds feel comfortable here.”
“We love Chanie and Peretz,” said Namanworth. “Every Friday
there’s a dinner at their house with something like 150 people.
They’re constantly giving to us and being there for the students.”
With a strong Reform, Conservative and Orthodox community,
Chein said Chabad is still able to have large dinners without
decreasing involvement in Hillel and other Jewish organizations on
campus.
“The number of those not engaged far exceeds those that are,”
Chein said. “When Chabad arrived we created a different model
and attracted those who were not engaged.”
He said the model starts with a “principle belief in the innate value
of every Jew regardless of, not despite, their current level of
engagement and observance.”
He said his goal and responsibility is to move everyone who walks
through his door forward from where they were before.
“As long as they’re moving forward, the individual answer is
different for everybody,” Chein said.
Senior Cindy Jacobs, who was raised Orthodox in New York, said
she’s been going to the house for Shabbat dinner and classes since
her sophomore year
“I hadn’t been happy at other places I’d gone before and a friend
told me about Chabad,” Jacobs said. “I’ve never had the experience
where I could consider a rabbi a friend. Peretz and Chanie are
amazing. Their door is always open and it’s a place where I can be
the kind of Jew I want to be. It’s important to have an anchor and
somewhere to go that feels like home.”

Multiply, Get Fruits

Have babies, get cash

Published: 02/20/2008

A Russian Jewish communal organization will pay Jewish families to have more babies.

At a news conference marking its tenth anniversary, the Chabad-led Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia announced it will subsidize Jewish families who have three or more children, Ha’aretz reported.

"Our goal for the next decade is to create a stronger community of young people and families," the group's chairman, Alexander Boroda, said. "This additional money is sometimes what a young family needs to have another child."

Aside from Chabad's interest in bolstering Jewish population, Russia has been in an ever-worsening demographic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The average Russian family has only 1.4 children, and the average male life expectancy is a mere 59 years. In 2007, President Vladimir Putin proposed a similar stipend for the general population to combat the crisis.

The federation’s stipend will be about $100 per month and is intended to boost Jewish community involvement.

The Jewish outreach absurdity

Instead of competing against each other, Jewish outreach groups should join forces to battle assimilation

Rabbi Levi Brackman

There has been a real transformation of the Orthodox Jewish landscape recently, but until now I have been only vaguely aware of it. Of course I knew that there are many different outreach organizations, all trying to reach and inspire the ever-elusive assimilated Jew. However, the extent of this movement within the Orthodox world—outside of Chabad—was not known to me.


Last week, for the first time, I went to a Jewish outreach convention in Baltimore, Maryland, which was hosted by The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs (AJOP). This convention was attended by over 550 Orthodox outreach professionals with representation from over 20 orthodox outreach organizations including Aish, Ner L’Elef, The Orthodox Union, NCSY, Torah Umesorah and Ohr Samayach. This was an opportunity for me to get a broad view of Jewish outreach and what makes it tick.


Clearly the sometimes insular Orthodox world has woken up and they have begun to organize in a serious way to combat assimilation. In fact it was inspiring to meet at the convention Yeshiva students from the local Ner Yisroel Yeshiva in Baltimore who had already decided to dedicate their lives to Jewish outreach. The ideal within the mainstream Orthodox Yeshiva world to leave the enclave and do outreach is still in its infancy there is no doubt however that the movement will grow both in strength and in numbers in the years to come. With the stunning statistics of assimilation and intermarriage throughout the Western world the awakening to do Jewish outreach has not come a minute too soon.



It seems, however, that there is still a rift between what is now known as the “kiruv world,” or the world of Orthodox outreach professionals, and the community of Chabad emissaries which do similar work. When, for example, one of the convention organizers presented statistics on outreach across the world the Chabad contribution to Jewish outreach was not included.



Considering the impact Chabad emissaries and Chabad organizations have had and continue to have on the Jewish world, the omission was absurd.


Same ultimate aim
Nonetheless, in conversation with some of the pioneers of the kiruv world, I found a dichotomy. When these pioneers got involved with outreach in the 1960s and 1970s, they told me that they took their inspiration from the work of the Lubavitcher Rebbe of Blessed Memory and from Chabad. One such pioneer actually explained to me that the only way they were able to get the rest of Orthodoxy involved in doing outreach was by making as if Chabad did not exist and then doing it independently of Chabad. “Chabad has to be ignored if we are to get the the ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva world to do outreach,” this individual explained.


From my experience Chabad also seems to ignore the good work done by other outreach programs, so this problem goes both ways. But my intention here is to encourage rather than to criticize. Clearly, all groups involved in Jewish outreach are doing important work and have the same ultimate aim, which is to stem the tide of assimilation and to encourage Jews to get more deeply involved with their Judaism. The methods and strategies used may vary slightly, but the resources displayed at both the AJOP and the Chabad conventions show that they are essentially the same. The question then demands to be posed: Why are they ignoring each other?



The notion that the outreach organizations are in competition with one another is ridiculous. With the high rate of assimilation and intermarriage in the West, I cannot imagine that there could be too many outreach workers in the field. The day that happens will be a blessed one. The battle against assimilation is far too important for its warriors to get embroiled in politics of this sort. Undoubtedly, all the outreach organizations, Chabad included, should put their differences aside and pool together all their resources and ideas to create an even brighter Jewish tomorrow.



Rabbi Levi Brackman (www.levibrackman.com) is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills (www.jitf.org). His upcoming book, about Jewish Business Success, is set to be published in late 2008.

'Laughter yoga' gains popularity in Lower Hudson Valley

Marcela Rojas
The Journal News

DOBBS FERRY - Inside the Chabad Synagogue on a recent Wednesday night, Simeon Darwick encourages a small group of believers to produce what he calls an innate - but little practiced - sound within them all.

With a bit of prompting, laughter, in all its forms, suddenly reverberates throughout the sanctuary. From soft, childlike giggles to loud, infectious guffaws, the merriment is inescapable.

"Laughing is the greatest thing. It's contagious. It crosses all boundaries, religions, sects and genders. There's nothing it can't break through," said Darwick, a holistic health counselor from Hartsdale. "If it's not programmed nowadays in the society we live in, people don't spontaneously laugh."

In December, Darwick, who runs Life Integrated Foods, began teaching "laughter yoga" at Chabad, a relatively new technique now gaining a following in the Lower Hudson Valley. The 45-minute class, also known as the Laughter Club, blends quick laughing exercises with gentle stretching and yoga breathing. The combination is hailed as simultaneously energizing and relaxing.

Along with the enjoyment participants say they experience from a good, hearty chuckling session, research has shown that laughter has tremendous therapeutic value.

"I don't think about pain when you do this," said Bea Gottlieb of Hartsdale, 84, who suffers from arthritis and walks with a cane. "You just feel happy and alert."

"You generate healthful chemicals," chimed in Joel Ross, 58, a retired medical researcher from Ardsley. "There's no reason to go through life sour - might as well laugh."

Indeed, studies have indicated that laughter is a natural healer with several health benefits, including reducing stress, boosting the immune system and increasing the supply of oxygen to the body.

"Stress is the No. 1 killer. It affects your heart. It's bad for your immunity," said Dr. Kishore Ranade, a neurologist at Putnam Hospital Center and clinical assistant professor of neurology at New York Medical College in Valhalla. "One of the ways to relieve stress is to laugh."

Ranade further explained that laughter jogs the internal organs, producing an aerobic activity that stimulates the heart and circulation. One minute of laugher is reportedly equivalent to 10 minutes of jogging or rowing.

Deep belly laughter clears out the lungs, allowing more oxygen into the body, Ranade continued. Laughter also raises the antibodies immunoglobulin A - strengthening the immune system - and releases endorphins, a natural pain killer, he said.

"Anecdotally, happy people don't get sick," he said. "Positive emotion does have a beneficial effect on your immune system."

Laughter yoga, or hasya yoga, was founded by Dr. Madan Kataria in 1995. Kataria, a physician from India and a student of yoga, was writing about laughter for a medical journal when he came up with the concept. Today, there are more than 5,000 laughter clubs in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Chun Kim-Levin of Mahopac, a longtime hatha yoga instructor, became certified in laugh yoga in April. She was trained by Kataria in Niagara Falls. She leads a laughter club session on Fridays at the Mahopac Public Library, and has offered the program at senior centers and women's shelters. In December, she gave an introductory class to a dozen people at the Brewster Public Library and expects to return there regularly.

"In ordinary settings we look for reasons to laugh," said Kim-Levin, who offers several therapies through her LifeSpring Holistic Services. "When we laugh without any reason, then everything suddenly can seem funny."

In Mahopac, she begins the class with enthusiastic clapping while repeating the phrase "HO HO HA HA." She moves into a series of laughter exercises, such as the "lion" laughter that works to release tension in the thyroid gland, she said. There's the greeting laughter, shaking hands or bowing while chortling, and bicycle laughter, air peddling to a vigorous har-de-har-har. Each of the exercises lasts about 20 seconds and is followed by stretching and breathing.

Typically, what starts out as forced, simulated laughter usually turns into genuine, uncontainable laughter.

Liz Benediktson said that since taking the class, she has noticed that her muscles are looser and that she is more flexible.

"I couldn't imagine life without it," said Benediktson, 57, a library clerk from Mahopac. "It opened up my heart."

For Marcia Allen, laughter yoga has made day-to-day challenges easier to deal with.

"It leaves me feeling light and free," said Allen, a retiree from Yorktown. "I think I laugh more."

Dr. G.J. Peister, a nonpracticing psychiatrist from Suffern, began teaching laughter yoga on Wednesday nights at the Peace through Play Nursery School in Chestnut Ridge in November. She too became certified by Kataria last year. Peister offers laughter yoga through her Dr. Wellbeing program.

Personally, she said, the practice has improved her digestion and her overall outlook on life. Stored negative energy, she emphasized, is released with laughter.

"The thing about laughter is that it's always been tied to humor," Peister said. "But what laugh yoga does is say do it (laugh) because we can do it. You can learn to laugh for no reason whatsoever."

Chabad: there's no big secret

A recent published report on a plan to expand a West Street building into a synagogue and community center for Chabad Lubavitch called the project "a secret."

But the plans are no secret, and the organization, led by Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach, has every intention of pursuing its plans for the project. Whether it can and will sue the historic district commission on its ruling to deny the plan, or comply with its suggestion to reduce the size of it, remains to be seen.
"The issue is that right now the process the team is putting together is not a secret," Rabbi Eisenbach said Monday. "They just haven't done anything yet. That's the only secret.
"The bottom line is there's really nothing's happening ... our plan of action is that there's no secret. We haven't decided on what we're going to do," he said.
The proposal would expand the historic building on West Street and would include administrative offices, kitchen facilities, a swimming pool and a ceremonial bath, classrooms and a synagogue, as well as residential quarters on one floor of the addition.
Chabad Lubavitch bought the old building in 2006 and presented its expansion plans to the Litchfield Historic District Commission last year, participating in a hearing process that requested that board to grant them a certificate of appropriateness for the plans. The commission, after numerous hearings and discussion, ruled that the size of the plans were too large for the historic district and asked that it be scaled back, noting that it would allow the Chabad to create an addition that would double the size of the building, not quadruple it. The existing building is about 2,600 square feet.
The additions proposed to the West Street structure, a house that was designed by the Deming family in the 1870s, would create an extension to the building behind it. The front of the original structure would have a clock tower and a Star of David added to the façade as well as stonework on the front of the building. The rabbi said recently that the changes his architects are proposing to the original building maintain its historic character. But because it is a religious facility, some changes must be made to reflect that fact.
One of the controversies surrounding the proposal is the claim that the Chabad's freedom of religion rights are being impeded by the commission ruling. The controversy began in the fall when commission chairman Wendy Kuhne noted that the Star of David and changes to the front of the building might not comply with the character of the district, resulting in a firestorm of criticism that her comments were somehow "anti-Semitic."
Ms. Kuhne was eventually asked to recuse herself from the hearings on the proposal, which she reluctantly did. She was then criticized on an online blog, which included a photograph of a woman in a Nazi uniform with her name next to the image. That blog was linked to the Cool Justice Web site, a blog run by Litchfield resident and journalist Andy Thibault, This outraged many citizens in town, including Rabbi Eisenbach, who said any connection to the Nazis and the Holocaust was inappropriate.
Bloggers and opinions aside, the commission members have maintained at hearings and through their attorney, Jim Stedronsky, that they are charged with preserving the historic character of the borough of Litchfield and that they are simply trying to uphold their responsibilities.
When the vote was made at the commission's hearing late last year, however, Rabbi Eisenbach said he believed that the Litchfield of today was supportive of the plan to expand the house and that his organization has outgrown its current home on Village Green Drive, which proved the need for the new facility.
Rabbi Eisenbach, however, said that at this point, there are no plans in place to sue anyone. He has, however, maintained that the 20,000-square-foot addition is necessary.
"What we're going to do, and how we're going to proceed; it just hasn't been decided yet," the Rabbi reiterated. "We have not had any contact with the historic district commission, because we're still digesting the information we received from them at the last hearing. Our team is going over it."


©The Litchfield Enquirer 2008

Excerpt from: Righteous Indignation: How Are We To Understand the Alleged Spinka Scandal?

..To this day, the most renowned Hasidic sect, Chabad-Lubavitch, religiously celebrates the anniversaries of the release from Russian jails of its revered founding Rebbe, Shneur Zalman of Lyadi in 1798, as well as the subsequent liberations of his descendants, Rabbi Dov Ber Schneerson in 1826 and Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson, who had been imprisoned by the Soviets in 1927. Behind all these unjust incarcerations lay the mischievous work of Jewish informants, initially from among the misnagdim, Hasidism’s mainstream rabbinical opponents, later the maskilim or Jewish champions of the European Enlightenment, and finally the radicals of the notorious Yevseksia, the “Yiddish division” of the Communist Party. Indeed, during the dark days of Soviet Communism, zealously anti-ecclesiastical members the Yevseksia did the government’s dirty work of shutting down synagogues and yeshivas and jailing their rabbinic leaders. It is thus for legitimate historical reasons that, in the Hasidic psyche, the deepest contempt is reserved for Jewish informants, or mosrim.

Rabbi Zacks Joins Chabad Jewish Community Center

January 24, 2008

By ANN BELL

Special to the Palisadian-Post

Rabbi Shloime Zacks and his wife Moriel have joined the staff at the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisades. They will head two important departments: Adult Education and Community Outreach.

Rabbi Zacks is from London and received his rabbinical ordination from the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey. Following his marriage to Moriel, he spent two years in New York attending college. He also lectured on various subjects (including law, Kabbalah, and character refinement) at two Jewish centers for adult education.

'Growing up the way I did brought me into contact with the full spectrum of Jewish affiliation,' says Rabbi Zacks. 'I learned to befriend, love and respect all people for who they are.'

Whether on the soccer field, at the Sunday farmers market, in synagogue, or just around town, he truly enjoys making new friends here in the Palisades.

  This month, as head of the adult education department, Zacks is teaching a crash course in reading Hebrew. On February 6 he begins the winter Jewish Learning Institute course, 'Beyond Belief: Reflections on Jewish Faith.'

'It is a great pleasure to teach in the Palisades,' Zacks says. 'I find that people here are bright and very insightful and from so many diverse backgrounds!'

The rabbi teaches the Talmud on Sunday mornings following a lox and bagels breakfast at the Chabad. He also lectures on contemporary issues.

Moriel Zacks was born and raised in the Palisades by her parents, Shimon Waysman, O.B.M., and Dr. Dalia Goldfarb-Hecht. She attended Bais Channah in Los Angeles, finished her high school education in New Haven, Connecticut, and continued her higher education in Israel.

After their marriage, the Zackses settled in New York, where Moriel worked with children with special needs and teenage volunteers in a program called The Friendship Circle. After seeing how successfully the program worked within several communities, Moriel is eager to implement and direct the same outreach program at Chabad in the Palisades.

'The Friendship Circle is enjoying great success in many communities worldwide,' Moriel says. 'The aim is to bring smiles and friendship to children with special needs, and peace of mind to their parents. The program also fosters the values of volunteerism and compassion among youth.'

Rabbi Zushe Cunin is director of Chabad in the Palisades. For more information, visit www.chabadpalisades.org or write to info@chabadpalisades.org.

excerpt from: A Few Things Are Illuminated: A Wild and Crazy Roots Trip to the Old Country

...In order to find the best archivists and genealogists available in a certain town or region, it is best to contact the local Jewish community in advance. In Rostov, I contacted Rabbi Chaim Friedman, the Chabad-linked spiritual leader of Rostov Jewry, who not only put me into contact with archivist Yevgeni Gimodudinov but made sure Tanya and I had the chance to participate fully in the life of the community. A well-preserved 19th century city of over one million that serves as the unofficial capital of Russia's south, Rostov is booming these days with plenty of new construction, emblematic of a prosperity that has now spread from Moscow to major regional centers.

Rabbi Boteach, you're wrong about Chabad

In his Post column "Chabad Messianists: Wrong, but still Jews" (January 20), Shmuley Boteach asserts that the refusal of a rabbinic court in Israel to accept a convert who believes that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Messiah is an "act of serious contempt for a non-Jew who has made sacrifices to ally himself with the Jewish people."

On the contrary, to accept such a convert would be an act of serious contempt for generations of Jews who gave their lives to preserve the theological boundaries between Judaism and Christianity.

Rabbi Boteach maintains that only two of the differences between Judaism and Christianity really count: the belief in the divinity of the Messiah and failure to observe the Torah. Since Lubavitch hassidim observe the Torah, and "no one in Chabad would ever assert" that the Rebbe is divine, the belief in a Messiah who announces that redemption will come in his generation, dies in an unredeemed world, and is then resurrected for his second coming does not disqualify the believer as a fully Orthodox Jew or, if he is not yet Jewish, as a prospective convert.

FOR MORE than a thousand years, Jews have told Christian missionaries that the Jewish denial of a second coming is a bright line dividing the religions. From Nahmanides to R. Hayyim of Brisk, from R. Yom Tov Lipmann Muelhausen to R. Judah Aryeh da Modena, the Messiahship of Jesus was ruled out of court on the explicit grounds that Judaism affirms that once the Messiah begins his redemptive career, he completes it during his lifetime.

In the words of R. Pinhas Elijah Hurwitz of Vilna (1765-1821) in his Sefer ha-Berit, "We are obligated to believe that a Jewish man will come who will begin to save Israel and will complete the salvation of Israel in that generation. One who completes the task is the one, while one who does not complete it in that generation but dies or is broken or is taken captive [Exodus 22:9] is not the one and was not sent by God." Not only does this position stand at the core of the historic Jewish defense against the Christian mission; it served as the criterion for the uncompromising rejection of movements of false messianism after the death of the messianic figure.

THE ISSUE before us is not whether belief in a second coming, which shatters the parameters of the messianic faith of Judaism, is outright heresy. Not every non-heretic has a presumptive right to be welcomed into the Jewish people. To allow a non-Jew to cross the line into Judaism while affirming a belief that Jews through the ages have seen as a defining characteristic of a rival faith is to declare that that belief, while probably incorrect, is acceptable in Judaism. It is to declare that on a matter of fundamental principle, our martyred ancestors were wrong, and their Christian murderers were right.

But this is not the end of it. Tragically, Rabbi Boteach's assertion that no one in Chabad would ever assert that the Rebbe is divine is also misguided. Without engaging in theological niceties, I present quotations from statements by religious mentors in respected Lubavitch institutions in both Israel and the United States.

1. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Ginsberg (written after the Rebbe's passing): Yes, the Rebbe's body is composed of flesh and blood, but as far as he's concerned he is not compelled or limited by anything - not by physical limitations nor by spiritual limitations. He "is what he is." [This refers, of course, to the divine name in Exodus 3:14.] Even as he is enclothed in a physical body, he remains limited by nothing whatsoever and he has the ability to do everything and be everything in an unlimited manner.

2. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Ginsberg (written after the Rebbe's passing): The Rebbe is the "master of the house" with respect to all that happens to him and all that happens in the world. Without his agreement no event can take place, and if it is his will, he can bring about anything, "and who can tell him what to do" ….In him the Holy One Blessed be He rests in all His force just as He is (because of his complete self-nullification to God, so that this becomes his entire essence).

3. Rabbi Sholom Charitonow, asserting that the Rebbe manifests the Essence of the unlimited God and explaining why it follows that even his physical body remains alive in the deepest sense: Interruptions can only apply where there are borders and limitations (as opposed to Essence), which have been utilized to a maximum, making it necessary to proceed to new borders and limitations. Concerning the Essence, however, in relation to which borders and forms do not conceal at all - on the contrary, they actually become united with the Essence - all causes of interruption do not apply. In other words - not only is the interruption unnecessary, it is in fact impossible. This can apply to something which has a form (whether of a physical or a spiritual nature); it cannot, however, apply to something that is eternal by nature, having no form whatsoever.

4. Rabbi Yashovam Segal (written in 2003):

We Lubavitch hassidim believe that the House of our Rabbi in Babylonia [i.e., 770 Eastern Parkway] is the Temple, and the Rebbe is the Ark of the Covenant standing on the Foundation Rock in which [referring to the Rebbe/ark] the divine Being and Essence rests.

He goes on to say that the prohibition against associating God with something else (shittuf), which is the classic category used in Judaism to analyze the status of Christianity, applies to the sun and moon but not to the supremely righteous, who are one with God.

THERE IS much more, but these quotations will have to suffice. If a published report that the prospective convert in question believes that the Rebbe is physically alive is correct, then he belongs to a group suffused with this theology. Thus, it is more than likely that to accept him into the Jewish people is to erase even a line that Rabbi Boteach wishes to preserve.

I do not, however, want to "define deviancy down." Belief in posthumous false messianism is sufficient to disqualify a potential convert. The decision of this rabbinic court provides a small glimmer of hope that Orthodox Judaism will refuse to legitimate the historic betrayal of Judaism that has unfolded in the last decade and a half. I hope against hope that the decision will be allowed to stand.

The writer is professor of Jewish history at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University and author of The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference.

Comedy Central Chabad from NYT

By GREGORY BEYER

AS usual, Mendy Pellin wore the traditional black coat and hat of a Hasid and sat on a high stool facing the camera. He read quickly through a page of notes, shook his head vigorously in the way of preparation, and signaled his readiness with a nod to his cameraman, Dovi Trappler. As the camera rolled, Mr. Pellin’s voice dropped to the confident baritone of an overeager news anchor.
Mr. Pellin, a garrulous 25-year-old, was beginning yet another segment as the host of “The Mendy Report,” an Internet news broadcast on the Web site ChabadTube.com. He runs the broadcast out of his childhood bedroom, now cluttered with production lights and videotape cassettes, in his family’s fourth-floor walk-up apartment on Kingston Avenue in a Hasidic enclave of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Standing 6 feet 2 inches and wearing a long, dark beard, Mr. Pellin is aware that his appearance may suggest, to those outside the Hasidic community, an intense humorlessness. “The Mendy Report” is his lighthearted attempt to prove otherwise by parodying local, national and international news, in a style that sometimes recalls Comedy Central staples like “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report.”
“There’s a certain stereotype of Hasidim, and I think this has been a big tool in breaking that stereotype,” Mr. Pellin said of his program, which, he said, has been viewed a half-million times since its debut last January. It was the subject of a recent article in The Jewish Sentinel, a local weekly newspaper.
“The Mendy Report” is also a looking glass for Mr. Pellin’s fellow Hasidim. Most Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights don’t own televisions, Mr. Pellin says, and despite its lighthearted tone, his online broadcast has emerged for some members of his community as a legitimate source of news. “We’re not really that exposed to the outside world,” he said, half-jokingly.
On Tuesday afternoon, from a stool in his bedroom studio, Mr. Pellin filmed a few segments for the show’s third season, which will begin on Feb. 18. Afterward, he went down to the street to film a segment about what he described as “the happiest people in the community” — school crossing guards. Who are they, he wanted to know, and what is the source of their boundless cheerfulness?
Mr. Pellin and his cameraman found their crossing guard standing at an Eastern Parkway median, in front of the Oholei Torah elementary school, and began firing questions at her. Do crossing guards get paid? (Yes.) Did she like her flashy yellow uniform vest? (No.) What would happen if a child crossed in front of a speeding car? “Is it like a presidential bodyguard,” he asked, “where you’re required to jump in front of the child?” The guard said it was not like that.
As Mr. Pellin conducted his interview, bearded men in dark coats and hats paused to snap his picture with their cellphones. One man declared Mr. Pellin “the best man in town.” Mr. Pellin later identified the individual as his former principal, who, since his school days, it seemed, had grown more tolerant of his antics.
Mr. Trappler, the cameraman, is another admirer of Mr. Pellin’s approach.
“He was the first one to venture out and do things in a casual way,” Mr. Trappler said. “A lot of people got the chills. But he took a black-and-white community and turned it into color.”

Lubavitch Non-Messianists Win Court Battle

by Debra Nussbaum Cohen
Staff Writer

In the fight for control of 770 Eastern Parkway— the headquarters and heart of the Lubavitch movement, which has been the site of passionate and sometimes violent fights between messianists and non-messianists — a court decision last week has come down clearly on the side of the non-messianists.The strongly worded decision from Justice Ira Harkavy of New York State Supreme Court on Dec. 27 says that the only parties with the right to determine what happens at 770 are its owners, two of the movement’s central organizations, Agudas Chasedei Chabad and Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch (Association of Chabad Chasidim and the Lubavitch Educational Organization).The decision marks a victory for those in the movement who have been trying to marginalize the messianists — who believe in proclaiming the last, late Lubavitch rebbe as the messiah —since the faction began asserting itself when the rebbe was debilitated by a stroke in 1992, two years before he died. A spokesman for Agudas and Merkos, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, said, “We’re very gratified by the court’s decision. We’re pained by the events that led us here and still harbor hopes that those responsible will recognize the error of their ways.” [follow link for the rest]

A Lifestyles Exclusive: Lev Leviev The Benefactor

Lifestyles

BY GEORGE EDELSTEIN

NEW YORK, USA - For many, the name Lev Leviev is synonymous with the most beautiful and rare colored diamonds in the world. Lifestyles Magazine was granted an exlusive look recently at the man behind the image. What we saw was that Leviev, 51, is an active philanthropist, donating more than $50 million annually with a special and passionate commitment to Jewish causes and heritage, which has provided the spiritual compass in his life. "A lot of very rich men wait too long to give their money away," Leviev told The New York Times Magazine recently. "Bill Gates is a young man, and he's already giving to help the world, That's the right way to do it."
Leviev's philanthropy is an extension of who he is and what he can do, representing the art of the possible. Growing up as an impoverished immigrant in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, Leviev attended a yeshiva but only stayed for a few months; he readily admits that it wasn't in his destiny to become a rabbi like his father. He wanted to start a business. Soon after leaving yeshiva, he traveled to the headquarters of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Brooklyn, New York, for guidance on whether to leave home and set out toward his goal.
"I spoke to the rebbe in Hebrew. I asked him, 'Should I go or not?' recalled Leviev in the Times. "He answered me in a kind of antique Russian. He said: 'Go. Go to Russia and do business, but don't forget to help the Jews. Remember your family tradition.”
More than three decades later, Leviev - a member of the Lubavitch community-has followed that advice.
As the chairman of the Leviev Croup of Companies, he heads a fast-growing multibillion-dollar global group of companies that encompasses diamonds, real estate, construction and infrastructure, energy, industries, financial services, tourism and leisure, telecommunications, fashion, and high-tech. He is ranked among the wealthiest men in the world and he is admired as the leading Israeli entrepreneur. But Leviev is also making a name for himself for his generosity.
Like his business ventures, Leviev's philanthropy is global. He is the president of the FJC (the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (Common-wealth of Independent States)), which supports Jewish communities in Russia and the CIS, Israel, Germany, and the United States, funding Jewish schools, synagogues, orphanages, as well as an international group of 10,000 employees and collaborators around the world. Leviev's philanthropic activities have also touched U.S. cultural institutions, such as the Musei of the City of New York, and U.S. char ties, such as the annual Angel Ball (which raises money for cancer research;, the Carousel of Hop Ball (one of the most prominent and influential charitable even of its kind), and Oxfam America.
Guiding Leviev's charity is a belief that philanthropy should build communities. In Queens New York, which is home to thousands of immigrants, Leviev has brought this community closer by founding educations ventures, inter alia, a school for 1,000 students. "All I want is for people in these places to know they are Jewish and to learn about their history," Leviev said in 2003. In the Ukrainian village of Zhitomir, Leviev rebuilt the area's only synagogue, restoring pride for the residents. And in Dresden, he established a school to educate nonreligious Jewish emigres about Judaism.
As one of his earlier philanthropic missions, Leviev established the Ohr Avner Foundation in 1992 in memory of his father Rabbi Avner Leviev, a leader ir the Bukharan Jewish community in Uzbekistan and Israel. The foundation, which has started over 100 schools, universities, kindergartens, and camps in former Soviet states and Easts European countries, is the largest supporter of the Jewish communities in the region.
Supporting the cultivation of Jewish culture has also been the aim of his work as president of the FJC. The group formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union to restore Jewish life and culture to Eastern Europe and represents 500 Jewish communities in the former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries. Like Ohr Avner, FJC funds schools, public kitchens, and orphanages in these communities. The schools, in particular, have helped to revive the Jewish community in an area where anti-jewish restrictions were prevalent prior to the fall of communism.
Leviev is also a generous giver to the Chabad-Lubavitch community, supporting the work of their shluchim (missionaries) who are sometimes sent to the farthest corners of the globe to establish communities where there is little or no Jewish life.
Lev Leviev’s career as a leader in the diamond industry started when his family escaped the yoke of Communism in Uzbekistan and moved to Israel in 1971. Leviev, then 15, took a job as an apprentice diamond cutter through a family friend. Although it was an industry tradition never to teach anyone all 11 steps of the diamond-cutting trade, Leviev was driven to learn and persuaded colleagues to teach him each step. Within six years of starting as a diamond cutter, he achieved his goal of working for himself. He set up his own diamond-cutting business and grew it to a dozen small factories. His success over the next decade caught the attention of De Beers, which invited Leviev to be among its 150 sight-holders—an elite group of individuals who have access to De Beers's diamond supply. Though considered a privilege to join the group, Leviev had bigger ambitions. In 1989, he seized an opportunity to purchase state-owned mines in Russia, It was the first of many mines he has purchased over his career.
With his own stones from his mines, he was no longer dependent on De Beers. Leviev streamlined the diamond process under his company— from "mines to misses" as he has been known to say. In 1995, he broke off from the De Beers Group and has since expanded his holdings in the industry. Leviev owns mines in Russia, Angola, Namibia, and other countries, and has the distinction of being the largest diamond cutter and polisher in the world, supplying several of the world's luxury jewelry brands with thousands of diamonds. In his own words, Leviev has said that "nothing is stable unless you own your own mines." When he spoke to Women's Wear Daily recently in a feature story announcing the new Leviev diamond boutique on Madison Avenue, he noted the importance of the diamond structure he has created; "We feel that our complete control from production to retail, entailing an unsurpassed inventory, coupled with extremely high levels of design, workmanship, and service, will place us in a unique position to market directly to serious diamond buyers."
The "crown jewel" of Leviev's work in the diamond industry has been Leviev diamonds. The brand has been chosen by celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek, as well as by cognoscenti. As a rigorous supporter of the U.N.-mandated Kimberly Process, which ensures that rough diamonds are not obtained from war-torn regions, Leviev has also upheld the industry's top standards. When the first Leviev store opened on Old Bond Street in London last spring, it caused a sensation. Newspapers called the store a blazing "fireworks display of colored diamonds." This fall it opened its 6,200-square-foot New York store with more than 4,000 carats of diamonds ranging from the purest whites to the deepest blues, and the most precious of all colored diamonds, green and red. According to Thierry Chaunu, the president and chief operating officer of Leviev, as in London, it contains more carats than all the other jewelers on Madison combined. "It's like building an extraordinary art collection," says Chaunu. "Just as you can't have just one beautiful painting, you can't have just one beautiful diamond, especially when it comes to colored diamonds."
The stores have been designed to have the feeling of a private salon, with a soft pink, cream, and platinum decor accented by crystal chandeliers. Other Leviev store openings in cities such as Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, and Beverly Hills will follow, but at a pace consistent with the brand's hyper-exclusivity.
All of this has made the public focus on Leviev and his diamonds. But Leviev continues to focus on the work his groups have done to improve communities and help them realize their Jewish heritage and faith "I am a believer; I believe in G-d. I believe that we, as people, have to do good acts." Indeed, in the Jewish community, there is a tradition that whatever charily one gives will be rewarded in multiples.
Leviev prefers to keep a low profile even as he is so active, attending global roundtables, like the World Economic Forum last year in Davos. He grants few interviews and though he circulates among world leaders like Russian president Vladimir Putin - whom he calls a "true friend"- he stays close to his home in Israel, where he lives in a modest house with his wife, Olga, and nearby their nine children and several grandchildren. Leviev likes to be the force behind change rather than the face of it. But there are times when Leviev can't escape the appreciation. He has been described as being in "a class by himself" when it comes to supporting the Jewish community. In 2004, when the government in Baku, Azerbaijan, threatened to close down all private schools – including a local Jewish school - because a growing number of madrassas were becoming influential in the area, Leviev flew to the city to speak with the Azerbaijani president and convinced him to keep the school open. It's actions such as this that have made Leviev a hero in many communities. When he returns to communities in the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, or anywhere else to visit philanthropical projects he funds, he receives a warm welcome. Last month, Leviev traveled to New York City to receive the Partners for Democracy
Award from the America-Israel Friendship League. The award recognizes individuals who have worked to develop the U.S.Israeli relationship.
Leviev works to transform the communities he reaches out to like the many stones he has transformed into jewels. He has stayed true to his faith and to the advice given him by the Luabavitcher Rebbe as he develops his businesses and expands his philanthropy. "In the Holy Book, King Solomon said a man is born to work hard, to maximize himself, and to achieve something," Leviev told the London Times last year. "I believe that if I can work hard, as the Holy Book says, and do good things for others with my money, that's my mission in life."

Cash crisis tears apart Lubavitch

The Lubavitch movement in Britain has been plunged £1.5 million into the red, forcing it to close an expensive West End of London club for young Jews which had been open less than a year.

The funding crisis has left teachers at Lubavitch schools unpaid since April and caused splits in the leadership of the movement that pioneered Orthodox outreach in this country.

Rabbi Faivish Vogel, principal fundraiser of the organisation, is understood to have tendered his resignation last Friday, following the departure in November of his sons Rabbis Yosef and Mendy Vogel, who ran the Gaon Club off Bond Street, a prime Central London location.

Supporters of Lubavitch were told in a letter that “by far the largest proportion” of donations secured by the movement’s fundraising arm in recent years had been spent on the club, including “almost all” of this year’s £750,000 yield.

As a result, the movement had amassed large debts “in unpaid teachers’ salaries, bank loans and unpaid PAYE”, wrote Rabbi Shlomo Levin, recently appointed as a trustee of the Lubavitch Foundation to help plug the financial black hole.

Rabbi Levin confirmed to the JC this week that the movement’s debts now amounted to £1.5 million, although donors had stepped in to pay the teachers’ wages. If further funds could not be raised to cover the shortfall, the movement would probably have to “sell off an asset”, he said. “It’s early days yet.”

Differences between the Vogels and the Lubavitch Foundation culminated in a hearing at the London Beth Din, which issued a ruling two weeks ago. Rabbis Yosef and Mendy Vogel were barred from conducting outreach activities for six months without permission of the dayanim and from using the names “Lubavitch” or “Gaon Club”.

According to the rabbinical court judgment, a “rift” opened between Rabbi Faivish Vogel and his then fellow-trustees of the Lubavitch Foundation, Rabbis Nachman Sudak and Yitzchok Sufrin, who reported complaints from Lubavitch donors “alarmed by the lavish expenditure on The Gaon Club in its glitzy new premises”.

But Rabbis Yosef and Mendy Vogel felt undermined by “backstabbing emanating from the very highest echelons of the Lubavitch establishment” and a “whispering campaign” accusing them of “excessive expenditure and accounting irregularities”.

They maintained they had been “scrupulously honest” and had been “forced out of an organisation which they loyally served”. The Beth Din is due to hear a claim from the brothers that Lubavitch had “constructively dismissed” them.

The Gaon Club began some years ago as a series of ad hoc events, mainly for young professionals and business people, before moving in January into its elegant new home, the floor of an Adam building equipped with plasma TV screens and internet terminals. The premises, according to the Beth Din papers, had been offered rent-free by a businessman, Colin Gershinson.

Rabbi Sudak, the foundation’s principal, said: “The activities of the Gaon Club are laudable, but contrary to our expectations did not raise the necessary funds to support the ongoing Lubavitch commitment to schools and other activities.”

The Lubavitch network, which comprises schools, Chabad Houses and other outreach ventures, runs to an annual budget of £6.5 million. Rabbi Levin wrote that it was “obligated to close the Gaon Club in its present form”.

Rabbi Yosef Vogel said a statement would be issued in due course.

Van crash kills Sydney Chabadniks

The bodies of a Lubavitch couple killed in a car crash Dec. 20 were buried in Sydney on Monday.
More than 700 mourners joined 19 immediate family members for the burial of Zev and Rochel Simons, who were killed when their van veered across the median strip on a major highway and plowed into a truck. Their deaths have stunned Sydney’s Orthodox community.
The couple, who have 10 children, were traveling to Melbourne for a wedding. None of the children were with them at the time.
The 39-year-old driver of the truck was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene.
The truck was carrying 50,000 liters of gas, prompting emergency personnel to close the highway for more than 12 hours for fear of an explosion.
Zev Simons was a former director of Jewish studies at the Yeshiva Primary School. Rochel Simons was a teacher at Kesser Torah College and also worked at the local mikvah, or ritual bath.
Kesser Torah College’s president and principal sent a letter on Friday to the school community grieving over the “terrible tragedy took the lives of two of our beloved. We are all in varying stages of shock,” they wrote. “At KTC, we are trying to digest the monumental proportions of this heartbreaking loss.”
The couple's son-in-law, Rabbi Yossi Cunin, the co-director of Chabad of the Hills in Beverly Hills, Calif., told the Chabad.org Web site: “They gave their lives to the community.”

Chabad messianists lose court ruling

The leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch has won the right to eject a messianist congregation from the movement’s main synagogue. New York State’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and Agudas Chassidei Chabad, two of Chabad’s three main bodies, giving them the right to eject Congregation Lubavitch Inc. from the synagogue located in the basement of 770 and 784-788 Eastern Parkway, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The sites represent the worldwide headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch.Although the defendants have the right to appeal within 60 days, the ruling gives legal backing to the 15-year struggle to stifle the movement's messianist wing.
The suit involves a conflict that began in 2004, when Merkos and Agudas sued individuals connected with the messianist congregation for defacing a plaque Merkos installed outside the synagogue that used the term “of blessed memory" to refer to the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Chasidic movement's longtime rebbe. The phrase offeneded those associated with Congregation Lubavitch Inc. who believe that Schneerson was the messiah, and thus is not technically dead.
In that first case, the court ruled in favor of Chabad’s leadership, declaring in June 2006 that Merkos and Agudas are the rightful owners of the entire property. The current suit was brought by Merkos and Agudas in order to give them the authority to physically remove the opposing congregation, and its four gabbais, or trustees, from the premises.

"Watch," she whispered, "he'll talk about the Holocaust."

A Tangle Of TensionsMood In Litchfield Grows UglyAs Religion, Historical IntegrityCollide Over Synagogue Plan

[Editor's Note: Historical Integrity???]

By ELIZABETH HAMILTON

Courant Staff Writer

December 20, 2007

When Rabbi Joseph Eisenbach stood to address the Litchfield Historic District Commission this week at the final public hearing on his congregation's plans to put a synagogue near the town green, a woman in the audience turned to the person sitting next to her."Watch," she whispered, "he'll talk about the Holocaust." The rabbi did not mention the Holocaust, but some people — including the woman who suggested he would — didn't stick around to find that out. They left the minute Eisenbach said, "When my family moved into this town, people from around the state told us we were crazy. Litchfield, they said, has a history of hate and bigotry toward Jews.""This is ridiculous," said one audience member. "I'm not staying to listen to this," said another. And about 10 people scraped back their folding chairs and left. As a result, they didn't hear Eisenbach's next statement, which was, "Well, we proved them wrong … we found most of the people in this town to be loving and caring, unbiased, sweet, really a community as good as it gets." Maybe.But the angry scene at Monday's public hearing is emblematic of an unraveling that has taken place in the last two months over the proposal from the orthodox Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County to convert a 135-year-old home on West Street into a synagogue and community center.Simmering tensions over religious tolerance and historical integrity are converging as the commission nears tonight's vote on the application. The historically tough commission's beef with the plans center around the size of an addition and some of the changes that would be made to the original structure, such as the construction of a clock tower. The Deming House, as it is called, was once a private home, but was renovated and gutted of much of its historical integrity in the 1980s so it could be used as a commercial property.The Chabad's plans call for a 21,000-square-foot building that would include, among other things, the synagogue, a swimming pool, living space for the rabbi's family and an apartment for staff. It would also function as a community center for the Chabad, which provides education, special events, children's programs and worship services.

Special Protection?

The dispute, in one sense, is about whether the intended religious use of the building affords the application special protection under the First Amendment that trumps the historic district's regulations. Those arguing from the Chabad's side, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Civil Liberties Union, both of which joined the fray this month, say it does. "Denying this application, because the mass or the size of the addition is, in your opinion, too large, substitutes your opinion for that of Rabbi Eisenbach as to what is necessary to fulfill the Chabad's religious mission," the group's lawyer, Peter C. Herbst, told the commission Monday. "The federal and state constitutions prohibit you, the government, from imposing that secular judgment upon a place of worship." On the other side is a group of residents opposed to the project who hired their own lawyer and an architectural historian to fight the plans. They have argued that the Chabad is "hiding behind" the U.S. Constitution and federal laws. They say the historic district commission should base its decision solely on the merits of the application and whether it conforms to the regulations. "Do not be distracted by the building's purported use," said Patricia Sullivan, a lawyer for the opponents. The dispute has gone way beyond the legal arguments of the case, however. It's gotten downright nasty. Since the application was filed, the chairwoman of the commission — who was quoted widely as having questioned whether a Star of David was appropriate for the town center — recused herself from the proceedings. But that didn't stop an online blogger from depicting her on his website dressed in a Nazi uniform, which prompted some angry residents to cry foul and demand that First Selectman Leo Paul Jr. enter the fray, which he declined to do. As the veiled accusations of anti-Semitism have grown on one side, charges of bullying and zealotry have been levied against the Chabad by residents who feel they have been unfairly painted in the media.It didn't help when residents turned up at Monday's public hearing and found on each chair copies of letters from the ADL and ACLU supporting the Chabad, along with a reprint of a 1943 article from the "Nation" magazine. The article, by author Willson Whitman about traveling to Litchfield on Christmas Eve, states point blank that Jews were not allowed to own property in town. It was "just a sort of general agreement — yes, you could call it a Christian unity among Litchfield people on that point. No, they didn't realize it was Hitler's party line," a local minister told the author in 1943. Needless to say, that didn't calm down anybody at the public hearing in 2007."You know, I'm a simple person, and this confuses me," said Laurel McKewen, who looked more distressed than confused.Resident Zeus Goldberg, who is Jewish, stayed to listen to the rabbi speak Monday. Goldberg didn't comment on the Nation article, but had some pointed criticisms for the Chabad team. "By now, it is abundantly clear that the application by the Chabad Lubavitch group … has turned from its original purpose into an enormous public relations struggle and pseudo-religious freedom issue that will benefit no one, drag on for years and be tremendously costly to all parties involved," Goldberg said. Like others at the hearing, Goldberg opposes the size of the project because he believes it will not "merge" with the historic district. According to Goldberg and Eisenbach, both of whom attended a subsequent meeting of the commission Tuesday night, the panel appears ready to deny the application as is and wants the addition scaled down dramatically before it can be approved. Commission members proposed a motion Tuesday that would give the Chabad an opportunity to revise the plan and bring it back to the commission, Goldberg said. That motion is expected to be approved tonight. "Sadly, we're expecting a denial," Eisenbach said.Historical IntegrityA denial wouldn't be all that surprising, given that Litchfield has a well-deserved reputation for closely guarding its pristine historic character.Highlights of that effort include a 1996 showdown over whether a menorah could be placed on the picturesque town green, a crackdown on a the unfortunate bed and breakfast owner who wanted to put window boxes on the front of her house and a pitched battle over whether to allow a chain store — in this case, a respectable, tweed-filled Talbot's — to take up residence on the green.But the commission's view on this project has also led to accusations of inconsistency. Other religious institutions in the historic district are larger than the proposed synagogue, and its next door neighbor, the United Methodist Church, would be roughly the same size. There is also controversy over whether the Chabad should be allowed to build a clock toweron the roof of the house — a change that was opposed by James Sexton, the architectural historian hired by opponents, because, he said, it would alter the historic character of the original house and because it doesn't comply with the federal Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Sexton was even more critical of the proposed addition, because it would be 18 feet wider and more than twice as long as the original home — another violation of federal standards, he said. Experts for the Chabad, however, recited a list of buildings in the historic district that wouldn't comply with this standard, including the town library and a proposed renovation of town hall, which is currently 7,884-square-feet and would jump to 20,000-square-feet under current plans. The town hall is located almost directly across the street from the proposed synagogue."I have to ask why, when the Historic District Commission is dealing with a constitutionally protected use such as the Chabad, rather than a nursing home … or town hall, which are not afforded similar protection under the Constitution, why would a different and more-difficult-to-meet standard be applied?" asked Herbst, the Chabad's lawyer.The commission might be forced to answer that question in court in the coming months if the project is denied — just as Goldberg predicted. "As a resident in this town and almost a Yankee rabbi, and someone who cares dearly for every resident, and every aspect of this community, I ask you not to make the mistake of denying us our certificate," Eisenberg said Monday night. "It will sadly make Litchfield look like something it really is not, and it will not bring closure to this historic chapter in our community's history."

An unexpected partnership

On November 29, a deal was signed in Deerfield Beach, Florida, which saved Temple Beth Israel, the giant Conservative congregation, from extinction. And the lifesavers were none other than Chabad Lubavitch. How an ultra-Orthodox group came to form a partnership with a Conservative shul is an compelling story for our time.

Founded in 1977, Temple Beth Israel had about 2,000 member families in the early 1980s, when my parents and in-laws were living in Century Village, a huge retirement community. Beth Israel was so popular that there was a waiting list for those wanting to join. Whenever we visited, my father-in-law would take my wife and me, and one, two or three of our sons with him for Shabbat services, where the presence of youngsters brought wide attention from the hundreds of bubbies and zeidies. My sons were puzzled by the majestic and bilingual services, so different from the wrap-'em-up Shabbat prayers we knew in Israel.

Right up the street was the storefront Young Israel Orthodox congregation, where a few dozen families staunchly rejected Beth Israel's family seating and microphone. Sometimes I would daven in Young Israel, where the services (apart from the Ashkenazi accents) were much closer to the Israeli model.

Way back then, Century Village was, as my father would say, "99.9% Jewish, and I know the one Italian family."

But the only constant is change. In 2007, the only one of our parents left in Century Village is my mother. The demographics have changed completely. For more than a decade, the new people moving in have been either Orthodox Jews or gentiles.

On a recent trip, I couldn't help but notice this in the clubhouse gym and pools. In the past, these locations looked and sounded like a Jackie Mason skit: old Jews shvitzing, kvetching, bumping into each other and shouting in dialect, "Hey Morty, I see you're still alive this morning."

"Sophie, where didya go eat yesterday?" "Stop yer splashin'. Lady, yer grandson's gettin' my hair wet."

Today, you're more likely to see large gold crucifixes hanging around necks.

Young Israel outgrew its storefront and built a huge synagogue rivaling the Conservative one, filled with worshipers every Shabbat. Members of the Young Israel now populate the condos in walking distance to their shul.

MEANWHILE, over in Temple Beth Israel, a few dozen people gather for Shabbat services. Membership has plummeted to some 200 families. There isn't enough income to employ a rabbi, and there was talk that even the salary of Cantor Charles Segelbaum, the acting spiritual leader for the past three years, would have to be cut.

"Our days appeared to be numbered," says the London-born Segelbaum."The few dues-paying members weren't providing us with enough income to continue functioning as a congregation."

Then, a few months ago, Ken Barnett, Beth Israel's new board chairman, had an inspired idea. Alerted to the nearby Chabad Lubavitch group of North Broward and South Palm Beach Counties, which was looking for a permanent place to pray, he thought that perhaps they could be the answer to Beth Israel's prayers. The Chabadniks had no place to daven but they were giving classes and what they call "Lunch & Learn" sessions.

Barnett made a shiduch between the Chabadniks and the Conservatives, between those with a big building and a shrinking congregation - and those with a growing population and no building.

"We were invited to a members' meeting at Temple Beth Israel," explains Rabbi Yossi Goldblatt, the leader of the Chabad group. "I told the members that we don't want to make any changes in how they do things. I said we can give classes, lectures and other activities that will bring people into the building, and life back to the congregation. I was received very well, and with a lot of interest."

However, some members were suspicious that once "inside," the Chabad group would try to change the nature of Beth Israel, which prides itself as being "Conservative, traditional and egalitarian," having mixed seating and calling women to the bima for the Torah reading. Eventually, they were convinced that Chabad would do nothing to interfere with the Conservative way of prayer services.

Ken Barnett adds that Beth Israel's members, who include Holocaust survivors and other immigrants from Europe, may have a special positive feeling for the Chabadniks, with their old world dress and customs. This, he believes, may have also helped to soften their opposition to the partnership.

Within a short while, a deal was hammered out. In return for yearly cash payments which would give Beth Israel a comfortable operating budget, the Chabadniks would receive use of the building and other Beth Israel assets. At this stage, they will use the small chapel for daily and Shabbat services - after installing a mehitza. The Conservatives will continue to use the main sanctuary for their Shabbat services, while sharing the chapel with Chabad for the daily minyan. No one has objected to the mehitza - and since women do not regularly attend the daily minyan, its presence is largely irrelevant.

The cash inflow from Chabad is allowing Beth Israel to hire a rabbi and an executive director, after being without either for several years.

When the congregation met to vote for the partnership agreement, over 90% were in favor.

Cantor Segelbaum expects that as the Conservative congregation continues to shrink and the Chabadniks grow, the latter will eventually take over the huge sanctuary, and the Conservatives will move to the little chapel.

"What can you do?" he shrugs. "That's reality. But I figure that this arrangement will give us at least another five years of life."

Ken Barnett believes that these years will be filled with nachas for his congregants, "thanks to the financial support and sensitivity of our Chabad partner."

As Rabbi Goldblatt put its: "It's a deal that's good for the Jews."

The writer does advertising and direct mail in Jerusalem. He has been visiting Century Village in Deerfield Beach, where his mother now lives, for over 25 years.

Jewish House fundraiser draws 250

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JEWISH House raised more than $200,000 at its annual fundraiser, which was attended by 250 people at The Westin in Sydney last Wednesday night.

Jewish House, a 24-hour crisis centre for people with stress-related conditions including, anxiety and depression, will use the money to continue the upkeep of its accommodation and counselling facility.

Co-president Roger Clifford said he was proud to see the community supporting his organisation and was pleased with how much money was raised.

“I think anyone can see, by the number of people that attended, that there is a tremendous support base for the Jewish House in the community,” Clifford told The AJN after the function.

“The reason the community supports us is because they recognise the unique work that we do and see it as something that is absolutely vital for the Jewish community.”

Executive director and rabbi at Jewish House Elozer Gestetner echoed Clifford’s comments.

“It was very gratifying to see the support we received. I’m proud to be able, as a rabbi, to lend my support and assistance to those needing emergency help”

Rabbi Kastel to leave the Great

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RABBI Mendel Kastel will end his tenure at The Great Synagogue in the coming months The AJN has learned.

Both the Great Synagogue and Rabbi Kastel, who is the president of the NSW Rabbinical Council, refused to comment when they were contacted by The AJN this week. However, the rabbi is expected to leave the synagogue by the end of the year.

After moving to Sydney from New York in 1988, the rabbi joined The Great Synagogue in 1993, and has become a key figure in Sydney’s Jewish community.

While he is best known for his work at the Elizabeth Street Synagogue, organising its youth camps and annual Chanukah celebrations, he also founded Point Zero Youth Services in 1997, and j-junction in 2006. He was the chaplain of the NSW police force, Maccabi NSW and St Vincent’s Hospital, where he visited more than 30,000 patients in Sydney.

Federal MP for Wentworth Malcolm Turnbull said he hoped Rabbi Kastel would continue his service to the community.

“I was thrilled to recently present my good friend, Rabbi Kastel, with a Wentworth community service award for outstanding service to the community. Rabbi Kastel epitomises the act of tzedakah,” Turnbull said.

His sentiments were echoed by Point Zero Youth Services general manager Stephanie Lenga, who said that Rabbi Kastel was very supportive of the community.

“He has been incredible and he is such an asset to the community,” Lenga said.

“He seems to spend all the time he has, giving to the synagogue and community, whether it be j-junction for the single people in the community or Point Zero for the youth.”

Rabbi Kastel is expected to stay in Sydney and continue his work with j-junction, Point Zero Youth Services and a variety of other organisations.