Guest Post from a concerned friend of the Weiss Family
This letter is far more important than one may think
Rav Shmuel writes that “as of two weeks ago, serious negotiations have been underway to resolve the Weiss-Dodelson, dispute” and therefore the “public smear campaign against the Weiss family...should cease and desist. It is unacceptable."
Weiss supporters are delighted that Rav Shmuel has taken a public stance after he and his son Rav Sholom have over the past two weeks experienced first hand how the Dodelsons “negotiate in good faith."
But what does this letter really say?
It says that although there is no formal binding arbitration taking place, so long as there are serious negotiations, the Weisses may not be attacked. Certainly Rav Shmuel is not suggesting that the Dodelsons may unilaterally disrupt the negotiations and resume their “smear campaign”; if he were saying that his letter would merely be a tool to encourage the breakdown of negotiations. No one would accuse him of that.
But what if “serious negotiations” were actually taking place earlier? It would seem that Rav Shmuel’s denouncement of the smear campaign would apply to that time, too.
There is ample email documentation of ongoing interaction between the Dodelson’s lawyers and other representatives with Rabbi Greenwald from June through mid-October showing that “serious negotiations” were, in fact taking place. All the while, the Dodelsons were engaged in an extensive “smear campaign,” including establishing numerous websites, doing mailings, and hiring a public relations.
Then, in mid-October the process was unilaterally scuttled by the Dodelsons, and their New York Post story trashing the frum community and their Newsweek story attacking halachah ran.
But the truth is, even a year ago the two sides went to Rav Yaakov Bender, but he was pressured by the Dodelsons to withdraw from arbitrating the case. Maybe Rav Shmuel’s psak should start back then.
The bottom line is that Rav Shmuel’s letter seems to support Rav Dovid Feinstein’s psak.
