Posts by Ellen Tumposky

Rabbi obstructs fraud probe, citing Talmud

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:38:13 +0100

A US federal judge is weighing the fate of a Chasidic rabbi who is citing Talmudic law as a justification for his refusal to testify against fellow Jews before a Los Angeles grand jury investigating tax evasion.

Moshe Zigelman, who was the executive assistant to Grand Rabbi Naftali Tzi Weisz of the Brooklyn-based Spinka sect of Chasids, received a two-year sentence in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to arranging illegal donations.

He had been arrested in 2007 as part of a wide-ranging federal probe into tax evasion in the Spinka sect.

According to federal prosecutors, donors made contributions to the sect which were then refunded, but the donors were able to take up US tax breaks on the back of their supposed contributions.

The Spinka sect took a small cut of the fraudulent donations, prosecutors said.

Zigelman, 64, received a heavier sentence than another defendant because of his reluctance to testify against his fellow Jews.

After his release, the Department of Justice again sought his testimony before the LA grand jury that is investigating other aspects of the alleged scheme. According to the Los Angeles Times, Zigelman is citing "mesira", the Talmudic doctrine that bars Jews from informing on other Jews to secular authorities, in refusing to testify.

His lawyer, Michael Proctor, wrote in court papers: "No earthly sanction will ever make Rabbi Zigelman abandon his religious precepts."

A spokesman for the US attorney's office in Los Angeles said he couldn't comment because the matter was before a grand jury, which is a secret proceeding. Judge Margaret Morrow of the US District Court in Los Angeles heard arguments in the case last Wednesday and has said she will rule at a future date.

Michael Broyde, professor of law at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta and a member of the Beth Din of America, said Zigelman was probably on shaky ground from the court's perspective. "I don't think there is any legal justification from a US law perspective," he said.

He said the classic Talmudic prohibition that Zigelman cites is rooted in the notion that Jews should not betray their fellow Jews to an evil government, and its relevance to a more just government is not clear-cut.

But he said Zigelman's situation is complex from the perspective of Jewish law. "We all see criminal activity within our own community and we avert our eyes because there's no obligation to call the police in the United States," he said. He added that the only "mandated reporters" such as police officers or child welfare caseworkers are obliged to report incidents to the police.

Washington letter to Jews 'key to roots'

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:20:30 +0100

An important document in American history — George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island — has been languishing in storage for years, and a US Jewish newspaper has launched a campaign to get it out into the open for public viewing.
The Washington letter assured the Jewish community in Newport, which numbered about 200 at the time, that they had freedom of religion. “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship,” the first US President wrote 14 years after the U.S. declared independence from Britain.
“For happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”
The historic letter is owned by the Morris Morgenstern Foundation, started by a Jewish entrepreneur who loved the letter so much he sometimes slept with it under his bed, The Forward reported this summer. It has been on loan for decades to B’nai B’rith International, which displayed the document for more than 40 years at its former headquarters in Washington. But The Forward discovered that B’nai B’rith sent the letter to a Maryland storage facility when the organization moved to smaller quarters in 2002.
“We have in the last few years approached the foundation about the possibility of its being displayed in two or three very likely places where Jewish history and American history come together,” said Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice-president of B’nai B’rith International. One ideal venue, he said, was the Library of Congress. But he said the foundation has not been responsive so far.
A call to the Morgenstern Foundation for comment was not returned.
Jane Eisner, editor of The Forward, said she is using the “bully pulpit” of the editorial page to push the foundation to liberate the letter from its current obscure home. “ I think that even though the words of this document are public, there is nothing like the real thing.”
Eisner said that the letter is a “national treasure” that can help US citizens learn their history. “I’d like to believe it would help more Americans to understand our pluralistic roots,” she said.
A photograph of the letter is on display at the John L. Loeb Visitors Center in Newport, near Touro Synagogue, founded in the 17th century, whose congregation initiated the correspondence with Washington. Keith Stokes, past chair of the Touro Synagogue Foundation, said the situation was “frustrating.”
“In America some of our most cherished early documents are on display,” he said. “An item of this magnitude just has to be shared with the people.”

'Anti-Durban' event planned for New York

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:06:49 +0100

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel will be among the speakers at a counter-event challenging the "Durban III" United Nations conference on racism in New York later this month.

The UN conference is due to take place on September 22, the 10th anniversary of the original, and notorious, event in Durban, South Africa.

The counter-conference, which is being held on the same day, is organised by the Hudson Institute, a Manhattan-based think tank, and the Touro College Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.

Other speakers will include former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, former Israeli UN envoy Dore Gold, actor Jon Voight and Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress.

"It's an affront to anyone who cares about human rights to commemorate the antisemitic hate-fest that was Durban I," said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro College Institute and a key organiser of the counter-conference.

"Yet shortly after New Yorkers and Americans go through the trauma of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the UN is going to celebrate the hatred and antisemitism of the first Durban conference," she said.

At that conference, which ended days before the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US and Israel walked out over a draft document which equated Zionism with racism.

"What's so appalling is the failure to recognise the relationship between hate and violence," said Ms Bayefsky. "Durban encouraged hate, antisemitism and discrimination against Israel, and terrorism follows."

Other speakers at the counter-conference will include former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz. Ms Bayefsky said the response has been "overwhelming". It will be webcast at durbanwatch.com.

The US, Israel, Australia and Canada, among other nations, are boycotting Durban III. Ms Bayefsky said it was "appalling that Britain, who should well understand the danger of allowing antisemitism in any form to go unchecked and who is a founding member of the UN", is participating. She also denounced Germany's failure to boycott the meeting.

Family 'ran $7m drugs and sex ring'

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:28:21 +0100

A Russian Jew and his wife ran a high-end prostitution ring that catered to Wall Street customers who would spend up to $10,000 a night for sex and drugs, according to prosecutors in Brooklyn.

Mikhail Yampolsky and his wife, Bronislava, were among 17 people indicted last week after an investigation into their business, High Class NY. Also charged were Yampolsky's son, Alexander, stepson Jonathan, two investors, Efim Gorelik and Yakov Maystrovich, and 11 employees.

"High-end prostitution is enormously profitable," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes in announcing the charges. He said clients paid up to $3,600 an hour for prostitutes and alleged the business also provided drugs to clients. The ring made more than $7 million over three years, Mr Hynes said.

Mr Hynes said customers would order cocaine with their prostitute using a code such as, "I'd like a bottle of champagne", and then pay a steep mark-up for the drugs. He said the company catered to Wall Street executives, "people with nothing but money". But High Class NY was run out of an unglamorous upstairs office in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. It also advertised on Craigslist and operated a number of websites, including cupiddirect.com and angelofyourchoice.com.

The women working for High Class NY came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, Mr Hynes said.

Mikhail Yampolsky was jailed, and bail was set at $150,000. His wife was released on a $10,000 bond on July 22.

The couple's lawyer, Albert Y Dayan of Queens, said the Yampolskys ran a legitimate business. "Mr Yampolsky had believed that he had operated a lawful escort service. If some of the models had any sexual arrangements with the patrons, that was beyond the scope of Mr Yampolsky's knowledge," Mr Dayan said.

But Mr Hynes promised to seek maximum penalties against the defendants, saying: "There is no such thing as a high-class pimp." Those charged face a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Hippest Jewish music label in world shuts

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:29:58 +0100

The Jewish music label and events promoter JDub is shutting down - a victim of the recession and lack of donations.

In a letter on its website, founder Aaron Bisman expressed sorrow over the decision, saying: "The challenges facing our business model are too great to overcome."

He said that JDub, a non-profit, was stymied by the parlous state of the music industry. "The collapse of the music business in the decade that JDub has existed, combined with recessionary effects… made securing the necessary operating support an insurmountable challenge," Mr Bisman wrote.

The last official event for JDub, which launched the career of Chasidic reggae performer Matisyahu, took place last Sunday night, when Deleon played on the roof of the 14th Street Y - a Jewish community centre - in Manhattan.

The demise of JDub, which began operations nine years ago, was met with sadness, especially among those who are working to engage younger Jews in their community. Andy Bachmann, rabbi of Beth Elohim synagogue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, wrote: "Aaron has been… a grantee of virtually every major fund for innovation in the Jewish community in the 21st century."

Obama in new drive to win Jewish votes

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:19:52 +0100

With the Jewish vote emerging as a key battleground in the 2012 election, prominent Jewish supporters of President Obama are mounting a campaign to win more Democrat votes from the American Jewish community .

"The Jewish vote is important and meaningful to the President, and his campaign cares about it," says Alan Solow, former head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations and a key Obama supporter.

"The Republicans are making a concerted effort to put the Jewish vote in play. We're going to make sure the facts get out to make clear that President Obama is a very strong supporter of Israel," he said.

The effort, already under way, will include speeches and articles by high-profile Obama backers, he said, citing a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed co-authored by former Congressman Robert Wexler. It praised Obama's May 19 speech in which the President said: "The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps."

Republicans immediately denounced the speech as a call for a return to pre-1967 borders. But the op-ed argued that the Republicans were ignoring the President's reference to land swaps and said: "By insisting that the 1967 lines be modified, Mr Obama showed his paramount concern for Israel's security."

That argument will not wash among Jewish voters, according to Noah Silverman, head of congressional affairs for the Republican Jewish Coalition. He said the "land swaps caveat" is a new and less solid formulation that takes the place of "defensible borders" as a basis for a peace agreement.

Looking ahead to 2012, "There's certainly a basis for Jewish swing voters to think hard about this president," he said. "The Obama campaign considers this a key battleground, and we agree."

Burn victim hands rabbi $18m lawsuit

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:13:34 +0100

An arson attack that left a man with severe burns has brought unwelcome scrutiny to a New York enclave of a strict Chasidic sect.

New Square - about 40 miles from New York City in Rockland County - is populated by Skver Chasidim, a group that originated in the Ukranian town of Skvyra. David Twersky has been its Grand Rabbi since his father died in 1968.

This insular village of about 7,000 people, where women do not drive and the sexes walk on opposite sides of the street, lives apart from the secular world - although its bloc vote gives New Square surprising political clout.

The village was thrust into the headlines on May 22, when Aron Rottenberg, 43, and his son, Jacob, confronted an intruder outside their home at around 4am. The man - who police say was Shaul Spitzer, 18, a home attendant for Rabbi Twersky - was trying to set fire to Mr Rottenberg's home.

In the confrontation, the attacker's incendiary device exploded, and Mr Rottenberg suffered third-degree burns across half of his body. Spitzer also suffered third-degree burns on his chest and arms and was charged with attempted murder, attempted arson and assault. He is now out on $300,000 bail and has returned to New Square.

Mr Rottenberg, who has had two skin-grafts, posted a video on failedmessiah.com from his hospital bed earlier this month in which he described the attack. He smelled a "terrible bad odour of gas", he said, before confronting the intruder. "I started yelling to my son that I was in flames," he said.

Last week Mr Rottenberg's lawyer, Michael Sussman, filed a lawsuit against Rabbi Twersky and Spitzer seeking $18 million - a figure Mr Sussman said was chosen because of the number's significance in Judaism.

The writ alleges that Spitzer "acted at the direction of the Grand Rabbi in whose home he then lived, to whom he gives absolute allegiance and without whose direction he would never have so acted".

It is an allegation rejected by Hank Sheinkopf, a well-connected political consultant who speaks for Rabbi Twersky. "The rabbi has been very public about condemning violence of all kinds," he says.

Mr Rottenberg, a plumber, says he had shocked New Square before the arson attack by turning his back on the rabbi's synagogue. He prayed instead at a nearby nursing home that houses a small synagogue for residents' use.

Before the attack, according to the lawsuit, there were other acts of hostility. Mr Rottenberg's daughter, Tzurity, was expelled from the local religious school, her notebooks left scattered on the family front porch. And there were threatening phone calls and stones tossed at Mr Rottenberg's car windows.

Local police and the FBI are examining the incidents for possible violations of hate-crime laws.

Shulem Deen, 36, who grew up in New Square but left the community seven years ago, describes Mr Rottenberg as "an outspoken personality" and "an amazing conversationalist". He said the community finds Mr Rottenberg's rejection of Twersky's shul "deeply objectionable" and an insult to the rabbi.

But Mr Deen, despite his own strong reservations about Rabbi Twersky's lavish lifestyle - he says the rabbi rides around in a Cadillac and dines off silver platters - does not think Spitzer was ordered to attack Mr Rottenberg. "I think it's very likely he acted at the behest of his peers. He probably wanted to be a hero," he alleged.

The rabbi has not contacted the Rottenbergs, but a few days after the attack spoke about his hatred of violence.

No feet - but he's suing over a pedicure

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:09:01 +0100

A wheelchair-bound Chasidic Jew has filed more than 80 lawsuits in the past year over handicapped access, including suing a pedicure salon in Manhattan - even though he has no feet.

Zoltan Hirsch, 31, of Brooklyn, lost his legs in a car accident, according to the New York Post. His lawsuits typically cite violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, such as lack of door access or items being piled too high for a wheelchair user to reach.

His suits normally request $500 in damages plus legal fees, which can run into thousands.

Aya Islamova, the owner of Red and White Spa in SoHo, whose pedicure outlet was sued by Mr Hirsch, said she had never seen Mr Hirsch or spoken to him on the phone.

"It's absurd. He's trying to get a pedicure without having his legs. I feel sorry for him, but this doesn't make any sense," said Ms Islamova. "We think this is how he makes his living. He's all over the city."

Mr Hirsch has also sued Louis Vuitton in SoHo and the City Crab restaurant - an unlikely destination for one who keeps kosher. In May alone, he filed 36 suits.

Under the Disabilities Act, if a violation is found, even a minor one, the defendant may have to pay legal fees. Businesses that are sued often settle quickly to avoid mounting costs. "It's frustrating," said Ms Islamova. "We think it's totally unfair." She said her business had two small steps outside.

Sanctuary T, a SoHo restaurant, was also sued by Mr Hirsch over access. On its menu, items include Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich and Papaya Shrimp Salad - unlikely choices for Mr Hirsch.

His lawyer, Bradley Weitz of Florida, who specialises in such suits, did not return a call seeking comment.

Jewish groups in US backing Sharia law

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:53:57 +0100

American Jewish groups are fighting a proposed ban of Sharia law in the state of Oklahoma.

A coalition of organisations that include the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) are backing a legal appeal against a measure that would prevent Islamic law from being used in the state's courts.

The AJC filed a brief last week with the US Court of Appeals arguing that the ban is an attack on religious freedom.

The AJC said the provision - called the "Save our State law" by its supporters and adopted after a referendum which delivered a 70 per cent "yes" vote last November - is unconstitutional, violating a clause in the First Amendment which bars a state preference for one religion over another.

"In a nation that treasures religious freedom and whose constitution forbids government to have favoured or disfavoured faiths, the Oklahoma provision cannot stand," wrote AJC Associate General counsel Marc Stern.

The Anti-Defamation League and the Union of Reform Judaism supported the brief, as did the Centre for Islamic Pluralism and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

A judge issued an injunction in November putting the law on hold while the challenge is being heard.

Stephen Schwartz, who converted to Islam as an adult and is the executive director of the Centre for Islamic Pluralism, said both Jews and moderate Muslims are interested in protecting religious freedom. "This is not American, to pass a law in any state that's against the practising of a religion," he said.

He said American Jewish groups often work with mainstream Islamic organisations. "The AJC has organised three trips for moderate Muslims to visit Israel," Mr Schwartz said.

In the original lawsuit against the Oklahoma measure, Muneer Awad of the Council on American Islamic Relations said the law would infringe the rights of Oklahomans to wear religious head scarves, choose Islamic marriage contracts or to be buried according to Islamic practices.

He said the purpose of the law was made clear by Oklahoma Representative Rex Duncan, who said on television that "America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles".

B'nai B'rith president in fraud arrest

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:22:18 +0100

The international president of B'nai B'rith has resigned after he was arrested and charged last week in the US with tax fraud.

Dennis Glick, an accountant from Pennsylvania who was elected to a three-year term as president of the organisation in December 2009, was indicted on March 15 with aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income-tax returns.

Glick was arrested on March 23 and arraigned last Thursday. He was released on a $50,000 bail after pleading not guilty.

The charges stem from Glick's work for United Professional Plans, an administrator of dental-insurance plans for labour union health and welfare funds, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

Glick, 67, prepared tax returns for Jonathon Felix, who ran United Professional Plans, according to the indictment, and in 2004 allegedly prepared false returns covering 1999-2002. He is also accused of lying to criminal investigators who were probing Felix's files in 2004 and 2005.

Glick had been active in B'nai B'rith for 40 years and had held a variety of positions, including treasurer and chairman of the Youth Commission. In a statement, the organisation said he was leaving "for personal reasons" and thanked him for his years of service.

A new interim president, Allan J Jacobs, of Lake Forest, Illinois, was named until B'nai Br'ith meets next month to elect a new head.

If he is convicted, Glick faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of $1.25 million.

His lawyer, Henry Hockeimer, could not immediately be reached for comment. In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, he said: "We are bewildered that the government would file criminal charges under the facts of this case, and we fully expect Mr Glick to be exonerated at trial."

Cash-launder Syrian rabbi comes clean in court

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:00:07 +0100

An elderly and prominent Syrian rabbi from Brooklyn has pleaded guilty to laundering tens of thousands of dollars through a religious charity.

Saul Kassin, 89, rabbi of Congregation Sharee Zion in Brooklyn, the largest Syrian Sephardic synagogue in the US, confessed his crime to a federal court earlier this week.

He admitted that in 2007 and 2008 he used his charity, the Magen Israel Society, to launder money given to him by property kingpin Solomon Dwek, the son of a prominent Syrian rabbi. Under the arrangement, Kassin and his charity kept 10 per cent.

After Dwek was arrested in 2006 on unrelated bank-fraud charges, he co-operated with federal investigators and helped trap Kassin in a sting operation that resulted in the sensational arrests in 2009 of 44 people, including five Orthodox rabbis and several New Jersey politicians. The probe centered on the town of Deal, where many Syrian Jews have summer homes.

Some were charged with money laundering and corruption, while one man was accused of being a broker of black-market kidneys.

So far, 26 of those arrested have pleaded guilty, three have been found guilty, and two acquitted.

Under the deal between the prosecutors and Kassin, the rabbi is not expected to do prison time, although the charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He agreed to forfeit $367,500 that the FBI seized from the charity. Sentencing will take place in July.

Kassin tried to speak his mind in court, reaching for an envelope where he appeared to have a speech written, according to one newspaper.

"I believe in the truth," he said, but the judge told him he was not allowed to talk. His lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said outside court that the rabbi didn't realise he had done anything illegal. "He's very trusting and he was duped by a scoundrel," Mr Shargel said.

Jail or the Mob? Tough choice for diamond dealer

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:45:22 +0000

A Jewish diamond dealer has begged a New York City judge to let him remain in prison rather than face retribution for testifying against a member of the Mafia.

Brian Greenwald, 40, former president of Doppelt & Greenwald in Manhattan's diamond district, made the plea at his sentencing at Manhattan Federal Court. Appearing before Judge Harold Baer, Greenwald said: "I testified against a certain individual who is life-threatening for me. I've had to watch my back for organised-crime retaliation".

Greenwald was arrested in 2008 for arranging a bungled hijacking of a FedEx truck containing $1 million in gems. As part of his plea deal, he admitted to being a money-launderer for Joe "The German" Watts, a notorious henchman for the late John Gotti, an infamous New York City crime boss.

Watts pleaded guilty in January to setting up the murder of Fred Weiss, from Staten Island. He is in prison awaiting sentencing, but Greenwald made it clear he still lived in fear.

But the judge told Greenwald that he could leave prison immediately or stay there for a further 60 days while the government tried to get him into the witness-protection programme. Greenwald chose to stay behind bars.

New US ambassador to Israel is Obama insider

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:16:39 +0000

The nomination of White House adviser Daniel Shapiro as US ambassador to Israel has won praise across the spectrum from US Jewish organistions which saw Shapiro as the best man for the job-and one who has the President's ear.

Mr Shapiro, 41, will replace Bush appointee James Cunningham. The nomination must be confirmed by the US Senate.

Mr Shapiro is a member of President Obama's inner circle, having served on the 2008 presidential campaign, where he worked hard to win votes among Jews in Florida, and is currently senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council. He would be the first Jewish ambassador to Israel since Daniel Kurtzer left the post in 2005.

An Illinois native, the future ambassador speaks Hebrew, sends his children to a Jewish day school and graduated from Brandeis University. He has worked as a staffer for Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, and for Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Jason Isaacson, director of government and international affairs for the American Jewish Committee, thinks he is "a proud American Jew who has dedicated himself to public service." He said that Mr Shapiro was "a very close confidant of the President.

"He has been the administration's ambassador on Middle East issues to the American Jewish community," he said. "It will be the role he will assume in a different location and to a different constituency."

The selection of Daniel Shapiro won rave reviews from both the right and left among American Jewish groups.

Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organisation of America, said Mr Shapiro was deeply committed to Israel's safety and security. "He speaks fluent Hebrew, his beautiful daughters all have Hebrew names, and his parents would openly admit that they're kvelling!" Mr Klein said.

More sedately, JStreet President Jeremy Ben-Ami called Mr Shapiro "an outstanding choice" and Debra DeLee, president of Americans for Peace Now, said:"Dan has the professional aptitude and the personal attitude needed to excel as ambassador to Israel."

Mr Shapiro does not air his personal politics on Middle East issues, Mr Isaacson said. "He is the classic congressional staffer" who keeps his views private, he said, adding: "He abhors extremism in general and champions Middle East peace and a secure Israel."

Diamond dealer pleads for prison

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:47:32 +0000

A Jewish diamond dealer begged a New York City judge last week to let him remain in prison rather than face retribution for testifying against a mafioso.

Brian Greenwald, former president of Doppelt & Greenwald in Manhattan's Diamond District, made the plea at his sentencing at Manhattan Federal Court last week.

Appearing before Judge Harold Baer, Greenwald, 40, made it clear that he had no wish to leave the cells where he had been sheltered from the mob for 27 months, according to a story in the New York Post.

"I testified against a certain individual who is life-threatening for me," Greenwald told Mr Baer. "I've had to watch my back for organised-crime retaliation. I've learned recently that they are trying to find out where I am," he said.

Greenwald was arrested in 2008 for arranging a bungled hijacking of a FedEx truck containing $1 million in gems. Federal prosecutors also state in court papers that they believe he masterminded a staged robbery of his business in 2005, where thieves tied up employees and grabbed nearly $5 million in gems.

The supposed heist was an insurance fraud, prosecutors say.

As part of his plea deal, he admitted to being a money-launderer for Joe "The German" Watts, a henchman of the late John Gotti, an infamous New York City crime boss.

Watts pleaded guilty in January to setting up the murder of Fred Weiss, a sanitation executive from Staten Island. He is in prison awaiting sentencing, but Greenwald made it clear he still lives in fear.

"I pass sentence - I don't make a decision as to your welfare or survival," said Mr Baer, telling Greenwald that his options were to leave prison now or to wait there for another 60 days while the federal government tried to get him onto the witness-protection programme. Greenwald quickly chose to stay behind bars.

Here, Shabbat goes out with an AK47

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:26:09 +0000

The Jewish community in Richmond, Virginia, is up in arms over a video posted on YouTube showing Orthodox worshippers passing around an AK-47 at prayers marking the end of Shabbat.

The video, made on January 8 - the day Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Arizona - shows Asher Meza, an Orthodox convert, admiring the gun with other Jews worshipping at the home of Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski.

"This portrayal of gun worship by religious Jews is not only morally repugnant but violates the commandment to honour the Sabbath and keep it holy," said Tommy Baer, a Richmond attorney and former president of B'nai B'rith International.

Mr Meza is a former Baptist preacher from Miami who proselytises through websites like bejewish.org.

But he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "I'm not advocating for everyone to walk around with an AK-47, but I walk around with a handgun on the Sabbath, and I think it would be better if most Jews did."

Rabbi Kolakowski told the JC via Facebook that "this is really a very minor local matter" that is "mostly motivated by prejudice against our small Orthodox congregation by the larger Orthodox congregation - which isn't that large to begin with - in this town."

He said Mr Meza had mentioned to visitors from New York that he had a gun collection, and they asked to see it. "Rabbi Meza only felt so casual because it was a private home," said Rabbi Kolakowski.

But the more mainstream Jewish community remains unpersuaded. Rabbi Ben Romer of Or Ami, a Reform synagogue, said he had been a military chaplain for 22 years but never allowed a weapon into a place of worship. "It violates ethics, morals, Jewish tradition," he said.

Hillel leads battle against US boycotters

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:37:47 +0000

Hillel is fighting back against the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign that is sweeping US campuses.

The student support organisation has set out new guidelines to bar people who back the BDS movement from its campus events. "We will not allow our resources to be used to support the BDS movement," said Jeff Rubin, spokesman for Hillel, which has chapters at more than 500 universities.

The new policy has angered Jewish advocates of BDS activities.

"It's a shame that Hillel is excluding a certain segment of its own community because of its political beliefs," said Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace. "All the money in the world can't stop people from having these opinions based on Jewish values."

"What the Jewish establishment is trying to do is to go on college campuses and try and cut off this conversation," said Hannah Schwarzchild of Philly BDS, which spearheaded the recent move to boycott Sabra hummus on campuses. But Mr Rubin said Hillel is not cutting off debate. "We're just saying our resources won't be used in those debates." Hillel, he said, follows a "big tent" policy: "On Friday morning we may disagree with a student who is running an anti-Israel table on campus. That night, we want that student to be joining us in Shabbat dinner."

The Hillel move is part of a wider drive to fight the boycott movement, which includes the JFNA Israel Action Network, a multi-million-dollar initiative from the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Martin Raffel, director of the network, says it is fighting assaults on Israel's legitimacy. Criticism of Israeli policy is fair game, Mr Raffel said, but "the feeling is there has to be some kind of boundary. The global BDS movement is one that falls into that category of being on the other side of the line."

The task for Jewish organisations, says Mr Raffel, is bigger than combating BDS on campus. "Our challenge is to have our young people embrace their Jewish identity and Israel as part of that identity."

Hate attacks up in New York as shul gets bomb threat

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:36:24 +0000

Jews were the most frequently targeted minority group in hate crimes in New York State in 2009, according to a report issued by state officials.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes rose by 15 per cent over the previous year and represented more than a third of hate crimes committed in 2009 in the state, the report issued last week by the Criminal Justices Services Division revealed.

The report came as a synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan said it had received a letter on December 30 threatening to blow up the shul on New Year's Eve.

Ohab Zedek, an Orthodox congregation, was one of a dozen synagogues to receive the bomb-threat letters, Rabbi Allen Schwartz told the New York Post. "We have reasons to believe someone wants to spread fear," Mr Schwartz said.

Police evacuated the synagogue - a 1920s building known for its elaborate Moorish architecture - but found no device. They were unable to confirm the threats to other synagogues.

The state report found an across-the-board increase of about 14 per cent in hate crimes reported to the police between 2008 and 2009.

Crimes against Jews mirrored this trend: 251 such crimes were reported, up from 219 in 2008. Those made up 85 per cent of all religious bias incidents reported in the state and 37 per cent of all hate crimes.

The breakdown of anti-Jewish crimes revealed that 55 per cent were against property, while 20 per cent were aimed at individuals.

Other groups that were targeted include blacks - victims of 21 per cent of the crimes - and male homosexuals, the target of 14 per cent of incidents.

The Anti-Defamation League expressed concern about the new numbers. "Jews and Jewish institutions continue to be targeted for hate crimes more than any other minority group in the state, and at a level that remains disturbingly high," said New York regional director Ron Meier.

The ADL's own audit for the same period found 209 antisemitic incidents in the state, a slight rise from 207 in 2008.

US Jews in decline? No, says survey

Ellen Tumposky — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:31:49 +0000

The number of American Jews is growing, not declining, according to a new study from Brandeis University.

Leonard Saxe, a professor at Brandeis's Steinhardt Social Research Institute, found that the number of Americans who identify themselves as Jewish has risen from 5.5 million in 1990 to 6.5 million.

Mr Saxe made his estimate by analysing data from 150 surveys taken by the US government and polling organizations. It challenges the finding made in a 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey conducted by the Jewish Federations of North America, which estimated that the US Jewish population had declined by 300,000 over a decade.

The new research project which Saxe unveiled last week in Boston also examined a sample of 1,400 Jews surveyed by Knowledge Networks, a polling firm, and found that 80 per cent identify as Jews on the basis of religion, while the remaining 20 per cent choose another criterion to define themselves as Jewish.

Those who identify on the basis of religion were far more likely to marry a Jewish partner and to participate in Jewish events like barmitzvahs, Jewish weddings and shivahs, the survey found.

Charities face losing Ponzi millions

Ellen Tumposky — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:38:59 +0000

Jewish organisations ranging from major players to small non-profits will be forced to give up millions of dollars as a result of "clawback" lawsuits filed by the trustee representing the victims of fraudster Bernard Madoff.

While Hadassah was never sued by Irving Picard, the trustee who this month unleashed a barrage of clawback actions, it announced earlier this month that it had agreed to pay back $45 million.

This sum, agreed after lengthy negotiations with Mr Picard, was slightly less than half of the profits Hadassah had made from investing with Madoff since 1988.

"As painful as it is, this settlement is in the best interest of Hadassah," the letter from National President Nancy Falchuk announcing the settlement said.

Ms Falchuk said the deal allowed the organisation "to put this chapter behind us" and added that Hadassah's "fiscal discipline" would allow it to pay back the money while continuing to earmark all donations for their intended purpose.

Smaller non-profits like the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF) - which supports young Israeli artists - may find it tougher to make a deal with Mr Picard and still carry out their mission. Mr Picard is seeking more than $5 million from AICF.

In a statement, the organisation called the clawback suit "unfortunate", protesting that AICF - which believed it had $13 million in its account with Madoff - "was and remains a victim of the fraud".

Administrator Shiri Golani said the foundation has for three generations "taken care of Israel's soul", funding cutting-edge artists, providing scholarships, workshop support and travel grants. It is vowing to continue providing those services.

The fate of the American Jewish Congress, which reported last year that it had lost $21 million of its $24 million endowment in the Madoff fraud, remains unclear. The organisation is in talks with Mr Picard, according to their lawyer.

Other Jewish organisations hit by clawback suits include the American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem and the Miles and Shirley Fiterman Charitable Foundation, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Yeshiva University had investments worth more than $100 million with Madoff but has not been sued.

Madoff victims received a huge infusion of cash last week from the estate of prominent Jewish philanthropist Jeffrey Picower, who drowned in his swimming pool last year. His widow, Barbara, agreed to turn over the entire $7.2 billion she and her husband had withdrawn from their Madoff accounts. The Picower foundation contributed to the Massachussetts Institute of Technology and to Harvard University.

Grandmother faces $19 billion 'clawback' lawsuit

Madoff trustee Irving Picard's biggest "clawback" suit this month was filed against an Austrian grandmother. Sonja Kohn, 62, who founded Bank Medici, a private Viennese bank, was this month named in a suit that seeks to recover $19.6 billion. Kohn is charged with conspiring to steer about $9 billion into Madoff's investment funds through an elaborate system of European feeder funds. She has allegedly characterised herself as Austria's woman on Wall Street. Kohn was born in Vienna and in the 1980s lived in Monsey, an Orthodox Jewish stronghold north of New York, while working as a stockbroker on Wall Street. Her lawyer, Andreas Theiss, says his client is a victim, not a villain.

Presbyterians water down their anti-Israel resolution

Ellen Tumposky — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:49:18 +0100

American Jewish groups are expressing cautious relief after the US Presbyterian Church diluted what had threatened to be a venomously anti-Israel report at its General Assembly.

The church's 700 delegates in Minneapolis last week passed a revised Middle East Study Committee Report that unambiguously recognised Israel's right to exist and accepted the need to stem the flow of weapons into Gaza.

The group also declined to endorse portions of the Kairos report by Palestinian Christians, which backs armed resistance to Israel, and voted down resolutions calling for divestment and labelling Israeli policy as apartheid.

The outcome was praised by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, which released a statement on behalf of 13 Jewish organisations.

"In recognising Israel's security needs while striving to remain faithful to the church's Palestinian Christian partners, the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church has embraced a more thoughtful approach to Middle East peacemaking," the statement said.

Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of interfaith affairs at the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, said the Presbyterians' actions stood in welcome contrast to the recent report issued by British Methodists, which was highly critical of Israel.

That "betrayal" of Jews by the Methodists, Mr Adlerstein said, "is the result of a global push by the Boycott / Divest/Sanction movement. Most Jews unfortunately are still asleep as to what this movement would like to see and how insidious and how widespread it is."

The Presbyterians avoided a "showdown" with the Jewish community, he said. "We did not get everything we hoped for; we did succeed in thwarting the acceptance of a horrific report."

The Rev Bill Harter, co-convenor of Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, said the church tried to achieve balance.

"Partisanship was rejected; peacemaking was affirmed. There was an effort to recognise the legitimate aims and aspirations of both parties and to try as a church to situate ourselves where we had a credible role in bridging gaps and as a peacemaker."

He cited in particular the decision to replace a "one-sided narrative" about Israel with eight narratives - four from a Palestinian perspective, four from a Jewish perspective.

Not all Jewish groups were pleased, though. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, said the Presbyterians "at best averted a rupture between the Church and the Jewish people" and criticised recommendations against US aid to Israel as long as Israel creates new settlements on the West Bank.

Mr Adlerstein said considerable antipathy to Israel remains in the mainline Christian denominations, which are determined to separate themselves from Christian Zionists in the evangelical wing of the church.

"We'll have to work a lot harder in the next couple of years to make sure the poison doesn't spread. We all have our work cut out for us on both sides of the Atlantic," he said.