Rabbeinu Yonah(Mishlei 24:28): Don’t be a gratuitous witness of your fellow man – ...This principle is stated in Berachos (19a), If you see a talmid chachom sinning at night, do not suspect of him of sinning anymore by the day because he will surely have repented by then. Since he has the reputation of a person who is fearful of sinning and he is upset and regrets that his lust overcame him. However if the talmid chachom is in fact a wicked person who is mistakenly thought by the people to be righteous – he is not only to be criticized to those who know how to keep quiet – but in fact it is a mitzva to publicize his deeds until they are well known to the public. That is because severe harm occurs when wicked people are honored because he will turn many away from the proper path and denigrate the honor of the righteous and encourages sinning. There is in fact profanation of G‑d’s name by honoring the wicked because some people will be aware of the sins the wicked do and will concluded that there is nothing wrong with sinning and that it doesn’t lower one’s stature (Yoma 86b)…
UOJ was the first one to publicize that he is a thief.
ReplyDeleteRabbonim were still inviting him to sing in their shuls even after his thievery became public knowledge.
http://dnainfo.com/20100629/washington-heights-inwood/puported-rabbi-singer-gets-prison-for-stealing-from-washington-heights-woman
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A singer and purported rabbi who claimed to have the stardom of Michael Jackson in Israel was sentenced to one to three years prison on Tuesday for stealing $36,000 from a Washington Heights woman.
Michoel Streicher, 50, scammed the money from his victim — a fellow Orthodox Jew — by promising he would invest it in a coveted Torah scroll, which he said he would acquire through his connections in Israel.
Instead, Streicher took the money and ignored demands from the victim, Judy Burstein, and her family to return it.
Burstein said she intended to give the Torah to her now deceased husband, who was ill and unable to leave the house to worship.
Streicher was found guilty of grand larceny and harassment at trial. When he testified he described himself as a major music celebrity overseas.
"It wasn't fifty thousand it was only a few — they exaggerated," Streicher allegedly said when he was arrested on Feb. 17, 2008, according to court documents.
"I've got mafia, I've got guns. You don't want to mess with me."
At his sentencing Tuesday, Streicher's lawyer Eric Franz, asked for a reduced sentence of only six months, with probation to follow.
But the Manhattan Supreme Court Judge said Streicher should have to pay for the stress and agony he caused Burstein's family.
The funds were not returned until Tuesday, when Streicher handed over a check to prosecutors in court.
Burstein's son, Yehuda, 34, said his mother is very relieved that the ordeal is over.
Outside the courthouse, Franz defended Streicher's questionable status as a member of the Orthodox clergy. The lawyer said Streicher is a trained rabbi, but does not have his own congregation.