NJ.COM A prominent Lakewood rabbi convicted of helping to arrange the
kidnapping of Orthodox Jewish men who refused to grant their wives
religious divorces was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday.
The sentence for Rabbi Mendel Epstein, 70, is less than what the
federal government had requested for a man prosecutors said was the head
of a well-organized operation that kidnapped and beat men. But it also
was more than what his defense attorney argued was deserving of a man
who devoted his life to good deeds and charitable acts.
The sentence was one, though, that U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson
said was necessary to deter others in the Orthodox Jewish community from
continuing what federal prosecutors called "paid vigilantism."
"No one is permitted to commit acts of violence against another,"
Wolfson said during the three-hour sentencing proceeding in Trenton. "It
is not the law of our society and what we live under."
Keeping a RODAIF off the street- vechal hamarbe harai ze meshubach
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable that his sentence does not begin until March 1st. Is this so that this horrible thug can file an appeal, and then have his prison time not begin until that case is over? What in the world is going on?
ReplyDeleteI hope this will deter others who profit from thuggery while pretending to perform a righteous act
ReplyDeletei am sorry rabbi but you are a criminal and a hater of the torah if you got 20 years i still would not shed a tear .MAYBE it will serve as a caporah for the chilul hashem you and your friends caused.but i dont think so. it will not do anything to atone for the jewish blood you have spilled, families broken apart because of greed , anyway this is a bad day for ora and the femirabbis all over. NOW that you and your buddies are going to be locked away , we need to deal with the small time goons in Brooklyn Lakewood Baltimore Phily and beyond who follow in your footsteps, those who are not qualified and pasken shailos of dinei nefashos over their breakfast cereal . who is a good husband, who is not, which children deserve to see their father , which do not, which woman deserves a get, and who doesn't even need one...,
ReplyDeleteyou people don't do leshem shomayim, so the eibishter will shut you down. and he has an ARMY of truth seekers who are ready to go boeish ubomayim to fight for the emes of torah given at haR SINAI . we are followers of hashem , followers of rav moshe, rav elyashiv, rav ovadya rav shernbuch . we dont care if you and your buddies have put together kindergarten botei din, the ridiculous rulings you put forth show your true colors, that you are haphazard, greedy gaivadik, and not leshem shomayim you dont care about hashems children a ki hu zeh. filth.
Troubled why he is continuously referred to as a"Lakewood Rabbi, he lives more of the time in Brooklyn. Guess it's the media's uncanny ability to stigmatize Jews, especially if they are frum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, with only 10 years, some may think of doing it not for 60,000.00, but for millions. ...hopefully not. ...l'ma'aseh, it seemed less than called for. ..
This is 1 nail in the coffin of the corrupted fake AGUNA enablers. I hope to see that ORA should fall next and all others who get pleasure in torturing innocent men who just wanted a fair divorce settlement but couldnt get it because of hired thugs like epstein, wolmark, ORA and the rest.
ReplyDeleterabbi?
ReplyDeleteTotally inapropriate and hateful comment. Whether you agree with him or not.
ReplyDeleteKohen sheDaato yofeh!!! Yofeh dibarto, beitoi omarto, veyasher kochacho. This is the nail in the coffin for ORA SHARY"A. Words kill, words can assassinate. Ostracizing and stalking is VERBAL ABUSE AND HAZING, both ILLEGAL and against the LAW of the LAND, YSV!!! This is what you did Leshem Shomaim? My foot! Leshem EGEL HAZOHOV, the ALMIGHTY SHALMOINIM.
ReplyDeleteLekayem bohem kaasher zomam, now let your wives divorce you, since you will sit, they are your own AGUNOS avodas yad of yedayim yedei Eisav. If you dare refuse, umakloi yagid loi. The downtrodden husbands will take your electric cattle prods and shove it up yours kegdi mekules. And when you will feel it, you will know. In the can you will have plenty of time telling your mafia stories, how your goons spilled YIDDISH BLUT all over the carpet at your command, beating up Fathers in front of their children. These techniques you have learnt from the Capos and the SS yimach shemom vezichrom. You will never see freedom anymore, the only escape for you is in a body bag. If you think of something funny till March, never mind, you have SNUEI NEFESH bechol kitsvos Teveil, they will keep their ears and eyes open after you. Even mikir tizak, even the Ham sandwiches will come back to haunt you, why did you beat us to death in Absentia, Huh? What have we done to you? You scum of the earth, chelat adam, ata menudah mi beis olomois, ichs. Good Riddens! They will burn your debris and spread it over the oceans like Eich.... Not even the earth would want to swallow you. Sorrer umoire, veZoken mamre.
Barry you have some explaining to do. Whether you agree with him or not??? did you just say that? Did a man just get 10 years for nothing? which gedoilim did he consult when he started his cattle prod operation? who agrees with what he did? I am sorry if i offended your sensitivities to hate Barry, but It was all written out of PAIN, not hatred. There are organizations whose main concern is the woman, there are organizations for the men, but i am sorry to say this - nobody cares about the children. virtual yesomim are created everyday and when people like rabbi epstein see botei din and divorces as a nice way to get some green and some kovod , while using the torah as one of their keilim to achieve their lofty goals, yes I AM IN PAIN. did this gang of yidden that got nailed by the FBI ever invest as much time, effort, planning, thought, into making shalom bein ish leishto? Or into trying to find out WHY THE HUSBAND doesn't want to give a get ? Are we incapable of getting a fair agreement with both parties within the realm of halacha and mentchlichkiet? Maybe it is the husband who is being treated unfairly and not the wife in this case? what i see is a bunch of people who have very goyishe values concerning divorce and families. these are not yiddishe values! fortunately the malchus shel chesed saw this, and we need to be makir tov to the feds and the judge for giving some chemo to this cancer. The disease has been dealt a harsh blow, but its not gone yet. BH most marriages are successful in our circles, so the vast majority of people would never know how corrupt the botei din we use are. now with this awareness we will be able to take the rest of the corrupt rabbis down, and leave the leshem shomayimdik ones, and train new ones to serve the tzibur.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Eidensohn can you compile a list of east coast rabbis who share the views of rabbi epstien ? the grass has been trimmed , but there are many more weeds in the garden...
ReplyDeleteThe 'others' are professionals. ME and company didn't want to $hare the money. Completely unprofessional. (rubber face masks, a party atmosphere, come on.)
ReplyDeleteThe professionals (mafia, italian and russian, the russians being very evil and uncontrollable) are still around, and won't get caught. Contact ora for a recommendation.
First, when a person is btzaar, we don't gloat or insult.
ReplyDeleteSecond, he thought he was helping an unfortunate woman. Why they did not investigate further, I don't know, but he may have been given a forged maaseh beis din, which he trusted, as to the existence of the case.
Third, in times of Chazal, physical force was indeed used. The fact that it isn't today, is because of technical and practical reasons, regarding the lack of authority of Jewish courts in the diaspora. But in principle, in times of Chazal, if a beis din issued an order to give a get, and man refused, would have been forced.
What he did was wrong, but his fees notwithstanding, he meant well. He did not act for sadistic reasons. A little rachmonus for a group of people who thought they were helping others.
Barry, your moral compass is way off the mark. If you can't see that this whole operation was a sham, then there's no help for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd you have the gall to compare what this רשע did to the מעשי חז״ל of old? Do you imagine that חז״ל enriched themselves each time they paskened כופין?
Displaying rachmonus for this אכזר is the LAST thing a good Jew should do.
Beibud reshaim Rinah! It is rather the Shchinah sharui betsaar, Klall Yisroel shari betsaar, The Fathers of the children are sharui betzaar veato omer shira. Stop with this yefeh nefeshism. Where were you when when he beat up the innocent husbands with such achzariyut like in the Inquisition, paskened away as Judge, Jury and Executioner style. This is right out of the G-father. He knew quite well when he beat up a Ham sandwich to death R'L' in absentia. As for he meant well, Hmmm.... when yueh no'eh have'a da money, you no'eh need'eh apply! That talks volumes. Kappish
ReplyDeleteWith Such helpers, who needs destructers.
Whatever you wannabe when you grow up, A Melits Yoisher you will never be.
Someone who takes $$10,000.00 to "pasken" a chiyuv get in absentia is not too much l'shem Shomayim. It is worse than the $$$60,000.00 that he took to beat up somebody he didn't bother to hear out, let alone to at least check if he existed!
ReplyDeleteYour comment advertises that you need to learn the situation of the current Bais Din system. It would also be helpful to learn exactly where Chazal condoned forced gittin, especially when in the overwhelming majority of cases, a forced get is posul.....in a nutshell, only when the couple is forbidden al pi din to remain married is force warranted to elicit a get.
"fees notwithstanding"
ReplyDeletelol - actually that is a huge part of this. The judge and public did not see a Rabbi trying to help an unfortunate woman but a greedy person taking advantage of an unfortunate woman and using religion as a cover. it didn't cost $60,000 to beat up someone - the large fee was because of the risk of getting caught. That does not sound like someone who is just trying to help, that sounds like someone trying to make money.
Actually, I think just the opposite. This whole situation will likely make ORA even more relevant, as they are within the law and have the backing of people like R. Harschel Schachter and now R. Shmuel Kamenetzky.
ReplyDeleteWolmark and Epstein were working above the law.
If you were in the courthouse or if you were following ALL the testimony as opposed to just the parts that people with agendas were publicizing you would know that the fees were in fact not considered high compared to its costs. The guilt lies in the fact that you are not allowed to grab people and beat them up. Period. No matter how desperate the situation is. Which is why I wonder if in fifty years when many of us are gone Epstien and co. may be considered Heroes.
ReplyDeleteArthur, please. Most of us aren't even interested in the courthouse or the testimony. The fact that he was in violation of criminal statutes is besides the point.
ReplyDeleteThis ugly, fat, greedy slob engaged in numerous perversions of the Torah. That is where the real outrage is. He will do the time for his crimes...hopefully, he'll rot in prison. But, may he answer עד עולם for his corruption of Judaism, and for the Chillul Hashem he caused. For that, even this dog's death won't atone.
Heroes? You've got to be kidding. His arrest was just the tip of the iceberg...you have no idea how many families this 2-legged animal destroyed in myriad ways besides kidnapping. It will be much less than 50 years before the extent of this רשע's evils are publicized. Stay tuned. The fun has only now just started.
Why world anyone consider him a hero, ever? What he did was illegal according to both secular and Jewish law.
ReplyDeleteQRA was very actively involved in the epstein case, and the 'brother' testified he had many discussions (consultations) with ORA, in fact, their bet din issued the 'seruv' that wolmark and company relied on. It also referred the 'siblings' to wolmark and company.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying I think he is a hero but I can imagine in fifty years when the money is not a big deal he will go down in history as the one that stood up for Agunos; whether real or imaginary.
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, ORA doesn't have a Beit Din. I believe it was the RCA's Beth Din of America that issued the fake seruv for the fake brother.
ReplyDeleteAnd got all the blessings of RY YU. The secret e-mails disclosed and sung at trial. Ck ral'BUG. They are all dead meat r'l'
ReplyDeleteRYYU, ORA, RCA, BDA, YISRO, CHOVOV, R'L' CHAD HU. The only diference if any, HE is on feurst, WHO is on second, WHAT'S on third? ALL chachomim leheira. veyovo yoineh bimheirah
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Mr. Barak (and I don't mean Obama), I followed this case quite a lot and sat in on the trial in Trenton, and I have never heard anything counts of murder. Can you fill me in?
ReplyDeleteTY
Note the words *as* Judge... , Executioner *style*. They condemmned Ham sandwiches to death by Electric (chair) prod. There was one person that *DID in fact die* some time after the beatings. Someone here will be able to point you out as to who. I still don't know why they weren't charged with MURDER/ATTEMPTED. Even in the Absentia PSAK of one of the Rabbanim SHARY'A so stated - * ...and even if he dies , so be it * -. Klei chamas mecheirosehem.
ReplyDeleteBTW, how did it get from 10 years down to eight? We still would like to know who sang, and who ratted out what on whom?