Menachem Stark - there were many who didn't want him dead- one story amongst many

Guest post from a reliable source:

Friday morning, I got the following whatsaap message from a friend that grew up in Williamsburg.....

"C/p A popular millionaire businessman, a Satmar Hasid, was kidnapped from his Williamsburg office, according to police reports in New York. Brooklyn Police said that Menachem Stark was kidnapped by two assailants at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday. According to video surveillance, the two suspects were waiting outside Stark’s office, which is located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, jumped on him, threw him into a big white van, and drove away. Police said that numerous phone calls to Stark’s cellphone went unanswered. Due to the snowstorm, police are unable to efficiently search for the victim or the suspects. Police searched Stark’s office, where they were looking for clues. Stark is a strong supporter of the Satmar grand rabbi. Last week, the rabbi's wife held a fundraiser at Stark’s home."

Slightly shaken, I went on the rest of the day without giving it a thought. You see, I don't know Menachem Shtark. I'm not from Williamsburg. I don't live in Brooklyn. I don't even live in New York State. I'm also not Chasidic, and even had i joined them it certainly wouldn't be to their Satmar brand....

Surely, it'll work out fine. I must have figured.....

Well, it didn't. And Saturday night, everyone was talking about the gruesome heinous crime....

I was told his name was Menachem "Max" Shtark. Eager to get some details, I punched into my phone Max. Before I had a chance to put in the rest of his name, my phone suggested a contact I had saved some time ago... Menachem "Max" Shtark.

Naturally, I was thrown off and confused... "Hey, this seems to be him.... But how did he land in my contacts?!?!"

Slowly, a meeting I had with a stranger two years ago in a black SUV started coming back to me...

A business opportunity arose, about two years ago, that looked very promising. Naturally, I was shopping around for tips and advice, and meeting anyone and everyone that would shed some light on that kind of venture. One older person I met with said that he could never have succeeded on his own. He was lucky to have a neighbor, a young entrepreneur who showed him all the ins and outs, and held his hand through every process. This very successful, generous, businessman, refused to take a dime for his advice, but sincerely wanted him to succeed. His name, Menachem Shtark.

This fellow I was meeting felt that he himself couldn't help me. He hardly knows how to run his own business. All he knows is one phone number, Menachem's.  

He suggested I too speak to Menachem. "Don't worry that he doesn't know you from Adam. If he can, he'll help you too!!. He loves to help others. Here is his cell number, call him. Don't think you'll get thru the first time, though, he's very busy. Leave a message and he'll probably call you back. Just be persistent and you'll get thru..."

That night,  I made the call (to a total stranger!!), didn't get thru, and I left a message. The next day I called again and he picked up. He remembered the message I left, and apologized for not having time to return my call.

After asking a few questions, he immediately started making suggestions. When I suggested I come meet him personally, he said "sure, but what for? I'll help if I can, in any way!!" I told him it’s important for me, but he didn't want me to schlep to his office in Williamsburg just to meet him. We agreed to both schedule meetings in Flatbush on the same day and meet there. Only after he finished talking to me, a total stranger, did he attend to the many people coming in and out of his office, and the phones ringing off the hook...

We spoke a number of times on the phone, before we met, but I believe he never even got my name! As soon as I would call he would say "yes, yes, you're the one that wants to open etc...".

We met outside his attorney's office, in his SUV.  Menachem had an infectious smile and a even more impressive can-do attitude. We talked in his vehicle for a very long time. His phone, "bluetoothed" to the car, didn't stop the whole time. Once in a while he would say, "oiy, I really have to take this call". He would answer, apologize that he's in a meeting and promise to call them back as soon as he's done. He gave me all the time I would have wanted, and then some.

We spoke about a whole host of management issues. Ironically, the one that I remember the most is an issue that’s been deliberately distorted since his death. It’s about the HPD violations (not to be confused with building code violations). The average building has about 50 frivolous, opened violations (that's a fact and even a Post reporter knows that!). Tenants often don't give access to make the repair, or deliberately break it as soon as it was fixed. An inspector can also write up 15-20 violations in one visit, on a spic and span, picture perfect apartment!! It's literally like trying to empty a drowning ship with a pail. Even The City recognizes this absurdity; their policy being that one can have up to 5 opened violations per unit!! Meaning, Menachem was "entitled" to 5,000 violations!!!!

Menachem explained to me at that meeting, that he did it differently. He felt a responsibility to focus on clearing the violations, regardless of the hardships involved. He hired two extra secretaries just to be on top of violations. 

That's how he managed to have only 148 in 1,000 units!!! (That's less than 0.15 per unit, what a slumlord!!!)

Sitting in his SUV, I asked him if he would be my partner. He said "no, do it yourself, I'll help you". When I was persisted, he said "What? You’re afraid I won't have time to help you? Don’t worry I'll be there for you, do it yourself!!". (BTW, it would have been very profitable for him too.)

I explained to him why I needed him as a partner, and he said, he would have to discuss it with his partner and get back to me. "Either way", he was quick to add, "I'll be there for you!!!"

We were in touch a number of times after that (I think he never did get my name) and the deal fell thru for totally unrelated reasons...

Unfortunately, that was the only time I met this special man.

To The Post: I didn't really know Menachem, and apparently people like you and his savage murderers did want him dead, but to answer your question...

I, for one, most definitely didn't want him to dead!!!

I'm not one to jump to call people anti-Semites, and i certainly will not play the motive game. But, the damage you have wrought by playing into those ridiculous stereotypes will be felt tomorrow morning. No, not every landlord/ manager are a zillionaire, trying to rip-off or cheat. And, for crying out loud, tenants are not some hapless, hopeless, indigent, natives being exploited and frozen, etc. You know that, and shame on you for implying otherwise. Hundreds of young hard working Orthodox Jewish fathers, trying to make an honest living, will have it that much harder thanks to your nonsense. 

(BTW, having met Menachem, I have no doubt he hired a competent exterminator. Those complaining about vermin almost certainly didn't let them in to spray. Just another of the many difficulties, us zillionaires encounter regularly.)

To Mrs. Shtark and their eight precious children: I know you will probably never read these lines. You never met me, and probably never will. It's my fervent hope that you will always stand tall, and proud of your husbands'/fathers' accomplishments. You know better than anyone else, what a loving, caring, generous, and upbeat husband/father you had. Please always remember that.

You can be sure; the family won't be the only ones to remember the great guy he was...

Everyone will...

Even strangers.

Yehi Zichro Baruch

Ex-Haredim in Israel shaken by spate of suicides

Haaretz    The young people who gathered Sunday at Jerusalem’s Shamgar Funeral Home were unfortunately no strangers to the place. Only Thursday they had been there for the funeral of M., a friend who had committed suicide, and now they were there for A., who had also taken her own life. 

Both of the dead had been in their 20s and grown up religious, but had chosen to leave the observant way of life. According to those working with Haredi young people who decide to leave their communities, seven such young adults have committed suicide over the past 18 months.[...]

These last two suicides have shaken up the community of former Haredim, which numbers several hundred, many of whom forge close relationships with one another to replace the families that in many cases have abandoned them. The feeling that they are part of a solid, growing community has increased over the past few years as members connect through Facebook groups and forums, some run independently and some by Hillel, an NGO that helps former Haredim fill the gaps in their education and make the transition into general society.  [...]

“When people ask me how I am with this, I refuse to answer,” Hass said Sunday. “I don’t answer, and I don’t think about whether I could have done better or done worse. Our goal now, with the minimal resources we have, which includes only two social workers on staff and other volunteers, is to prevent a wave.”

Complex reality: A Developer Is Mourned and Vilified in Brooklyn

NYTimes     [See also Algemeiner]] A day after the charred body of a prominent Hasidic real estate developer was identified in a smoking trash bin on Long Island, more than a thousand mourners gathered for his funeral in the heart of Hasidic Williamsburg. They grieved for the man they called a pillar of his synagogue and his community, a father of eight who had been quick to donate and quick to lend. 

But if Menachem Stark’s name was synonymous with generosity and good deeds within his community, the developer had acquired an unsavory reputation outside it, his business dealings growing in complexity and controversy as he opened new buildings in the hot real estate markets of Williamsburg, Bushwick and Greenpoint. 

For all the speculation about his financial situation, it remained unclear on Sunday why Mr. Stark, 39, had been kidnapped from outside his office during Thursday night’s snowstorm and eventually killed. An autopsy found that Mr. Stark died from asphyxiation, indicating that he had probably been suffocated; his other injuries included bruises on his neck and back, and burn marks on his torso and hands, the police said. No arrests had been made by Sunday evening. 

From his prosperous-looking brick rowhouse on Rutledge Street in Williamsburg, Mr. Stark had raised a large family and spread his good fortune to his neighbors with an openhandedness that set him apart, friends and community leaders said. 

“This community lives on charitable donations and philanthropists,” said Gary Schlesinger, a leader within the Satmar sect of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population that fills south Williamsburg. “People like Menachem helping out his poor brothers and sisters.”[...]

Which unanswered questions interfere with one's connection to G-d and spirituality?

I had an interesting discussion with Rav Trievitz this morning. The issue was the importance of identifying common questions which concern people about Yiddishkeit. 

In essence we feel that there are two groups of questions. 1) Fundamental questions which everybody asks at sometime and which need to be answered satisfactorily in order to feel that Yiddishkeit is meaningful and to have a proper relationship with G-d.  These questions are basic questions dealing with the nature of authority and G-d relationship with us. They included things like free will, mesorah, rabbinical authority and conflict between science and Torah, Chosen People, differential roles of men and women and importance of rational thought and innate morality.  2) There are more esoteric questions which would be nice if they were answered but one's connection to Yiddishkeit and G-d are usually not dependent upon getting answers. Examples are understanding the dispute between the Gra and Chassidim, the Chazon Ish's view of how scientific facts impacted halacha, nature of the Mussar movement.

My sefer Daas Torah was written to provide the sources in a wide variety of topics so that one could understand the variety of legitimate views and at the same time be able to individualize hashkofa. It basically is like a self-service grocery story. In contrast my work dealing with abuse is much more focused on getting the correct answers.

What I would like to be able to do is to provide clear answers that most people would find meaningful and satisfactory -  to the fundamental questions -  instead of just providing a range of sources.

The first stage is to identify the most important questions. What questions interfere with spiritual development if left unanswered? You can respond to this post or send them as email (yadmoshe@gmail.com).

Rogatshover letter prohibiting annullments

Interview with Professor Haym Soloveitchik by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Five Towns Jewish Times     This week the 5TJT is printing Rabbi Yair Hoffman’s interview with Dr. Haym Soloveitchik a professor at Yeshiva University and the leading contemporary historian of Halachah.  Dr. Soloveitchik has just published the first volume of his collected writings.  Dr. Soloveitchik’s father, Rav Yosha Ber Soloveitchik zt”l (1903-1993) was the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University for 52 years from 1941 until his death.  Rav Soloveitchik zt”l was the grandson of the legendary Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt”l who revolutionized the Yeshiva world over a century ago with his innovative Brisker methodology.   Dr. Soloveitchik yblc”t was a professor at Hebrew University, where he received his M.A. and PhD, and has taught at Yeshiva University for the last quarter of a century. He was the dean of Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School.  Rabbi Yair Hoffman sat down with Dr. Soloveitchik in his Bronx home to discuss his latest work in an exclusive interview. 

 

YH: Thank you for agreeing to meet regarding your new book, “Collected Essays , Volume I.”  To begin, your great-grandfather revolutionized the Yeshiva system of learning, much in the same way that you write the Baalei HaTosfos revolutionized Gemorah study in the middle ages of Europe.  Did your great-grandfather’s Brisker legacy inspire or inform at all your analysis of the impact of the Baalei Tosfos on Gemorah study?

DS:  No.  My interest in the Ba’lei HaTosafos stems from their centrality in the understanding of the Gemara.

YH: In your book you attribute the emergence of the dialectical system of Talmud study that the Baalei Tosfos are known for – to Rabbeinu Tam.  Could you perhaps give some insight as to how it emerged within him?  Was it merely the next step, the organic – next step after Rashi’s linear approach to Talmudic study was completed – or were there other influences? 

DS: There is nothing inevitable with the emergence of any method, though, one could reasonably argue that you can only begin a systematic comparison of parallel sugyot noting the discrepancies between them if you are confident that you have understood each sugya fully –and Rashi’s commentary gave people that confidence. However, such a confidence is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the emergence of the Baalei HaTosafos. Rashi’s commentary arrived in Yemen in the mid-12^th century, yet no Tosafos movement emerged there.

YH: How would you characterize the approach of the Baalei ha-Tosafos in contrast to, say, the Geonim?

HS. They worked on different assumptions. They were aware of contradictions between sugyas and occasionally attempted to resolve them. However, in instances of conflict, the Geonim generally privileged, what was called ‘the sugya de-shemattsa.’ There was a major, controlling sugya where the issue is discussed in the fullest manner, and the halakhah is in accord with the upshot of this sugya. Other minor sugyas, if they contradicted the major one, were not to be heeded

The assumption of Rabbeinu Tam, on the other hand, was that there were no minor sugyot; all parallel sugyos were of equal standing and form together a harmonious whole. The correct interpretation of any sugya was the one which best fits in, best harmonizes with all the parallel ones. [...]

Tamar Epstein's annulment: Lessons from the Rackman Beis Din

Given the continued silence regarding the justification for saying that Tamar Epstein has been "freed" from marriage without receiving a get - I thought it would be helpful to view a possible source for claiming that her marriage has been annulled. The following is an excerpt of Rabbi Bleich's analysis of Rabbi Rackman's solution to the aguna  problem by annulment [Tradition Fall 1998 pp 105-106]

[Rabbi Rackman writes:]

... a beit din may recognize other intolerable defects in the husband as grounds for a declaration of kiddushei ta'ut. These defects - which are in total discord with any reasonable concept of marriage - include physical and psychological abuse, adultery (which more than ever endangers the life of the spouse), sexual molestation, abandonment, criminal activity, substance abuse, and sadism (the withholding of a get may be viewed as indicating a sadistic nature) ....

Not only do the authors assert that a defect arising after solemnization of the marriage constitutes grounds for annulment but that any defect that may serve as grounds to compel the husband sever the marital relationship by means of a get, mutatis mutandis, constitutes grounds for annulment…. "

Invoking this position in annulling the marriage of a husband who withholds a get is inapt for two reasons: (1) In order to serve as grounds for annulment the defect must have existed prior to the marriage. (2) The defect must be one that, had it developed subsequent to marriage, would warrant coercion in order to compel granting of the get. The authors provide a long list of "defects" in the husband which they allege constitute grounds for a declaration of kiddushei ta'ut, some of which may indeed be grounds for coercion of a get, some of which are the subject of considerable dispute with regard to whether or not they constitute grounds for compelling a get, and some of which do not con­stitute grounds for coercion of a get by any stretch of the imagination.

The most egregious example of the latter is “withholding a get.”Withholding a get is categorized by the authors “as indicating a sadis­tic nature." It is superfluous to debate whether the withholding of a get is ipso facto evidence of sadism or even whether sadism constitutes grounds for annulment. Suffice it to say that the authors' sweeping assertion is contradicted by a two thousand-year corpus of Jewish divorce law. The authors categorically declare that: (I) every woman is entitled to demand a get upon breakdown of the marriage; (2) failure of the husband to comply is indicative of sadism; and (3) sadism is grounds for compelling a divorce. Accordingly, they assert that, since any defect constituting grounds for compelling a get is ipso facto also grounds for an annulment, there is really no reason to go to the trouble of executing a get, much less of forcing the husband to do so! Hence, it follows that, if a woman desires a divorce and the husband does not acquiesce, a get is never necessary. Talmudic discussions regarding spe­cific and particular grounds for compelling a get are irrelevant; the codi­fication of such provisions are superfluous; and perusal of the learned responsa honing the application of such criteria is a waste of time! It must be emphasized that, in the very limited instances in which the principle tav le-meitav tan du is set aside, the wife must present credible evidence that(I) the defect existed at the time of the marriage and (2) she was unaware of the defect at the time of the marriage. ....

=====================
 it is interesting to read Rabbi Rackman's early thinking on the subject regarding the devaluation of the sanctity of marriage if annulment is readily available - see especially page 221. Use "search inside the book" with the terms "Feinstein"

http://www.amazon.com/One-Mans-Judaism-Renewing-Sanctifying/dp/965229263X#reader_965229263X

Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation

Barry Schwartz: Our loss of wisdom

Camille Paglia: A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues

Wall Street Journal    What you're seeing is how a civilization commits suicide," says Camille Paglia. This self-described "notorious Amazon feminist" isn't telling anyone to Lean In or asking Why Women Still Can't Have It All. No, her indictment may be as surprising as it is wide-ranging: The military is out of fashion, Americans undervalue manual labor, schools neuter male students, opinion makers deny the biological differences between men and women, and sexiness is dead. And that's just 20 minutes of our three-hour conversation.

When Ms. Paglia, now 66, burst onto the national stage in 1990 with the publishing of "Sexual Personae," she immediately established herself as a feminist who was the scourge of the movement's establishment, a heretic to its orthodoxy. Pick up the 700-page tome, subtitled "Art and Decadence From Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, " and it's easy to see why. "If civilization had been left in female hands," she wrote, "we would still be living in grass huts." [...]

But no subject gets her going more than when I ask if she really sees a connection between society's attempts to paper over the biological distinction between men and women and the collapse of Western civilization.

She starts by pointing to the diminished status of military service. "The entire elite class now, in finance, in politics and so on, none of them have military service—hardly anyone, there are a few. But there is no prestige attached to it anymore. That is a recipe for disaster," she says. "These people don't think in military ways, so there's this illusion out there that people are basically nice, people are basically kind, if we're just nice and benevolent to everyone they'll be nice too. They literally don't have any sense of evil or criminality."

The results, she says, can be seen in everything from the dysfunction in Washington (where politicians "lack practical skills of analysis and construction") to what women wear. "So many women don't realize how vulnerable they are by what they're doing on the street," she says, referring to women who wear sexy clothes. [...]

Get refuser alleged to be pedophile - extradited from US for first time

ynet   [see Arutz 7]   A man who fled to the United States without granting his wife a divorce has been extradited to Israel by the American authorities.

This is the first time an Israeli citizen is extradited over denial of a "get" (a religious divorce under Jewish Law), which is not considered a criminal offense – using other offenses he is suspected of. Israel's rabbinical courts hope this will serve as a precedent which will significantly help fight the phenomenon of "agunot" (Jewish women "chained" to their marriage).

 The couple, who are members of the ultra-Orthodox sector from central Israel, were married several years ago and had a boy and a girl. In 2010 the woman filed for divorce, claiming that her husband was treating her with disrespect and contempt, and had invested huge sums of money from their joint account in failed businesses without her knowledge.[...]

Rabbi Eliyahu Maimon, head of the Agunot Department, asked the Justice Ministry's Department for International Agreements to work to extradite the man, who he said posed a risk to public safety as a suspected pedophile. The department, which does not usually ask for extradition over suspicions which have yet to be looked into, decided to proceed with the request due to the get denial and launched negotiations with the American authorities, which bore fruit last week.  [...]

המשטרה: להעמיד לדין את אב בית הדין בירושלים

INN

יחידת להב 433 של המשטרה סיימה את חקירתה בפרשת הרב חיים יהודה רבינוביץ', אב בית הדין הרבני ירושלים.

בין היתר, עסקה החקירה בחשד לפעילות מרמה וגניבה שיטתית מצד קרובת משפחתו עורכת דין לענייני משפחה בהקשר לאותם תיקים ולתיקים אחרים בהם טיפלה.

החקירה החלה בהמשך לבקשת פרקליט המדינה, ובאישור היועץ המשפטי לממשלה, בעקבות תלונה שהוגשה לנציבות התלונות נגד שופטים ולהנהלת בתי הדין הרבניים.

מהתלונה עלה חשד להתנהלות פסולה של הרב רבינוביץ ולביצוע עבירות הפרת אמונים ושימוש לרעה בכוח המשרה, בכול הקשור לניהול חלק מתיקי הגירושין שדן בהם.

ממהלך החקירה עלה כי החשוד דן בתיקי גירושין, שבמהלך הרגיל לא היו אמורים להידון בפניו, תוך שהוא מנצל את סמכויותיו להשפיע על ההליך ועל הצדדים בתיק ולקבל החלטות שלא על פי כללי הדין ושיש בהן ניגוד עניינים, מתוך כוונה לקדם את ענייניהם של קרובי משפחתו ובעיקר של עורכת הדין לענייני משפחה, אשר ייצגה את אחד הצדדים בתיקים אלה.