Asher Lovy

Survivor, Director of @zaakahny, lapsed blogger, Jew somewhere in Orthodoxy, appreciate fish, maker of kugel, haver of many opinions. This is me.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***David Shimonov Pleads Guilty in Sexual Assault Case***

Earlier today, Lakewood resident, David Shimonov, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct. During his allocution he admitted to vaginally penetrating his victim without consent. Shimonov's victim was a minor at the time of the incident. Shimonov's engagement was announced in November. It's unclear if his kallah knows or cares that he's not a convicted sexual abuser.

Shimonov's plea was conditional on his compliance with a year of sex offender treatment. If he complies with that treatment and refrains from violating the order of protection against him for a year, his plea will instead be changed to second degree harassment, a violation, not a criminal offense, and he will be subject to a two year order of protection. He will not be subject to sex offender registration.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Brooklyn Mashgiach, Elie Kaplin, Charged with Sexually Abusing Teenager***

Elie Kaplin is a resident of Brooklyn who lives around Avenue L and Bedford. According to his LinkedIn page he is a mashgiach who works for Mehadrin Kosher in Brooklyn. In November of 2025, according to a criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn, Kaplin touched a child's buttocks over her clothing, and her vagina under her clothing, and then stuck his finger inside the child's vagina. Two days later, according to the complaint, at the child's home, Kaplin touched the buttocks of the child over her clothing.

Kaplin has been charged with sexual abuse in the third degree, forcible touching, and child endangerment. Kaplin is out on $20,000 bail.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Lakewood Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Appel, Sued for Sexual Assault, Defamation by Plaintiff Claiming He Raped Her and Instigated a Coordinated Campaign to Publicly Defame Her***

According to a complaint filed in Ocean County Civil Court, Plaintiff, an immigrant and single mother of two, was in significant financial distress. In early 2020, according to the complaint, Plaintiff shared with her child’s teacher that she was having trouble paying for child care, and the teacher suggested she reach out to Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Appel, a trusted rabbi and pillar of the community who ran several charities and often counseled women in similar circumstances as well as being the Rosh Kollel at Cheshek Shlomo, which he owned.

In February of 2020, according to the complaint, Appel and Plaintiff met at a local Starbucks and Appel presented himself as a rabbi, mentor, advisor, and friend that Plaintiff could trust, confide in, and depend on. He also, according to the complaint, offered Plaintiff, who had significant experience in real estate, the opportunity to solicit investments on behalf of his real estate business and its development projects, structuring her compensation as an advance against future commissions. The complaint alleges that between June and July of 2022 Appel issued six separate payments to Plaintiff characterized as advances against future commissions totaling $20,000.

Plaintiff alleges that despite these payments being characterized as loans or advances Appel never requested that the funds be returned. During the same period, the complaint alleges, Appel also provided Plaintiff with financial assistance to pay for groceries and other necessities.

In June of 2022, according to the complaint, Appel came to Plaintiff’s home when he knew her husband was hospitalized and her children were in school, forced himself on Plaintiff and sexually penetrated her, despite Plaintiff’s clear and persistent cries that he stop. According to the complaint, the more Plaintiff pled for mercy the more aggressive Appel became. Before he left, the complaint alleges, Appel insisted that Plaintiff erase the Ring footage Plaintiff had of him entering her home, and supervised her as she did so.

In the months that followed, the complaint alleges, Appel forced himself upon Plaintiff and took sexual advantage of her on multiple occasions, as well as bombarding her with demands for sexual acts, and a steady barrage of texts containing crude and graphic sexual content. For example, according to the complaint, Appel sent Plaintiff a picture of himself along with messages saying he wanted to squeeze her breasts, lick her vagina dry, and others, along with a picture of his penis followed by comments about sucking it. Pictures of the aforementioned were attached as exhibits to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that Appel threatened and intimidated Plaintiff to be quiet about the abuse, repeatedly threatening her that an inmate who had taken the fall for Appel in connection with another matter would “take care of” Plaintiff if she disclosed any details regarding Appel’s sexual abuse and other conduct. Appel also allegedly told Plaintiff that he would have her exiled from the community if she chose to speak to anyone about the sexual assault. Appel also allegedly insisted that Plaintiff use a therapist he recommended and also scripted with her exactly what she should say to the therapist to get the help she needed to address the trauma he’d caused without revealing what had actually happened.

In July of 2024, according to the complaint, Plaintiff met with Rabbi Yosef Rabinovitch and shared with him evidence of the alleged sexual assault and other incidents. The complaint alleges that convinced by the evidence that something must be done to address the situation and the danger Appel posed to the community, Rabbi Yosef Rabinovitch summoned the help of other rabbis and together arranged an intervention with Appel. At that meeting, according to the complaint, Appel admitted that he had done terrible things to Plaintiff and that he had a problem. The complaint alleges that Plaintiff is not the only victim of Appel’s sexual acts and misconduct. In response, the complaint alleges, the rabbis directed, among other things, that Appel step down as a rabbi and from all other positions of trust.

In late 2024, the complaint alleges, Appel requested that Plaintiff and her husband meet with his attorney to discuss a resolution. At that meeting, according to the complaint, Appel’s lawyer advised Plaintiff that he was willing to make a lump sum payment of $50,000 to Plaintiff to cover her future therapy expenses if she and her husband agreed to release him from any claims related to the alleged sexual assault and keep all incidents between them confidential. The complaint states that Plaintiff and her husband rejected the proposal.

According to the complaint, when Plaintiff and her husband learned in November of 2025 that Appel continued to serve as a rabbi and hold positions of trust, Plaintiff’s husband went to Appel’s Kollel on several occasions to confront him, but Appel wasn’t present. The complaint alleges that later that month when Plaintiff’s husband went to the school he was confronted by Rabbi Rabinovich (not Rabbi Yosef Rabinovitch), one of the administrators of the Kollel, who advised Plaintiff’s husband that Appel now had a new Rabbi, Rabbi Henoch Pearl, who had permitted Appel to start teaching again. In response, according to the complaint, Plaintiff’s husband told Rabbi Rabinovich that he was going to continue coming to the school until he had the chance to talk to Appel, and that his wife was going to pursue a case in civil court.

The complaint alleges that when Plaintiff’s husband returned a few days later there was security present, and Rabbi Rabinovich told him to leave or the police would be called. A few days later, the complaint alleges, Plaintiff’s husband received a letter from a lawyer warning him to stay away from the premises of Appel’s home, Kollel, and other businesses and organizations.

According to the complaint, soon after learning that Plaintiff intended to pursue her claims in civil court, Appel, Robert Keleti, and Chana Rosenzweig launched a campaign to destroy Plaintiff personally and professionally and vindicate Appel publicly. The complaint alleges that Plaintiff’s ex husband acknowledged in a text message to Plaintiff’s close friend sent before the campaign began that Appel had reached out to Plaintiff’s ex husband to enlist his assistance in his plan to take down Plaintiff. In the same text exchange, according to the complaint, Plaintiff’s ex husband acknowledged that Rosenzweig had also contacted him during the same period and asked for similar help.

Plaintiff first learned, according to the complaint, in December of 2025 that the three of them had created a website with Plaintiff’s name as the URL in which the public was warned to beware of Plaintiff and that she was a danger to Klal Yisroel. The website, which was produced in full as an exhibit to the suit and was still live at the time of this post, alleges that Plaintiff stole funds raised for a couple whose wedding she hosted at her house. In fact, the complaint alleges, according to an affidavit provided by the couple, that Plaintiff attempted to raise $10,000 for the wedding, only managed to raise $2,000, and paid the remaining $8,000 out of pocket.

The website further alleges, according to the complaint, that Plaintiff blackmailed and extorted Appel based on a distorted account of relevant events between the two of them purportedly by a relative of Appel, and alleges that Plaintiff’s husband sent Appel a text message threatening that he and his wife were going to break the silence if Appel didn’t pay them $48,000 and purports to include a screenshot of the texts. The complaint states that as set forth in a statement by Plaintiff, she did receive funds from Appel but those funds were always understood by her to be an advance against future commissions, or gifts to help her and her children with their financial needs. In an affidavit filed as an exhibit to the complaint, Plaintiff’s husband contends that he never sent the text depicted on the website or any other message to that effect, and that they were manufactured.

The website also claimed, according to the complaint, that Plaintiff had told a rabbi that she had evidence of Appel’s reprehensible conduct but refused to turn over her phone for a forensic examination. In fact, the complaint alleges, Plaintiff met with this rabbi after she learned of the website and he confirmed that he had never spoken with Plaintiff or her husband, much less requested that she turn her phone over for forensic screening. There were further allegations on the website, according to the complaint, of blackmail, extortion, stealing from Appel under the guide of threatening suicide, asking for money under false pretenses, like her son’s Bar Mitzvah, and then threatening to use the record of payment as evidence of payment for “services” and threatening to publicize that information unless she was paid more.

Plaintiff, according to the complaint, unequivocally confirms in her affidavit that she never engaged in any such conduct.

The website further accuses Plaintiiff, according to the complaint, that Plaintiff enjoys having affairs with married men, has had countless married boyfriends in numerous places at the same time, hosts parties involving drugs and dancing between married and non married people, that she married her ex husband just to get a green card, that Plaintiff failed to keep Kosher, and that she had a revolving door of male visitors at her home. The website, according to the complaint, also disclosed Plaintiff’s address for the alleged purpose of inviting community members to further harass Plaintiff and her family.

Keleti, according to the complaint, took it upon himself to spread the message in other ways, posting a link to the website on his Facebook, and posting signs smearing Plaintiff throughout the community including Plaintiff’s children’s school, and similar materials on cars and mailboxes in the area.

Keleti, according to the complaint, is Chaya Rosenzweig’s father. Rosenzweig, according to the complaint, is a licensed real estate professional and the founder and owner of Rose Capital Group, a business that markets commercial real estate investment opportunities in Ocean County and other parts of the region to Israeli investors. Rosenzweig, according to the complaint, competes directly with Plaintiff in the solicitation of investments from Israeli investors in this very niche market, with a material overlap between Plaintiff’s and Rosenzweig’s respective networks of investors.

The complaint alleges that Rosenzweig’s animus to Plaintiff is driven by more than simple business competition, and that some of Rosenzweig’s investors had reached out to Plaintiff and expressed concerns regarding their investments with Rosenzweig. Plaintiff, according to the complaint, researched publicly available information about those investments and identified what appeared to be cause for concern. Rosenzweig is concerned, the complaint alleges, that like Plaintiff her investors are prepared to pursue claims against Rosenzweig in civil court and, like Appel, is using the website and the overall smear campaign to discredit any information Plaintiff provided to them.

Plaintiff alleges that Appel’s conduct and defamatory campaign with Keleti and Rosenzweig has destroyed her business, exacerbated her mental health, and compounded the trauma of the sexual assault.

Link to full complaint: https://t.co/ryWoWIcAOY

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Update on Judah Karkowsky: After Denial of His Appeal, Karkowsky Seeks Leave to Appeal to New York Court of Appeals, House Arrest Continued***

After his appeal was denied, Karkowsky sought leave from the Court of Appeals to further appeal his judgment and sentence. Karkowsky was convicted on charges related to his use of a forged transcript of the hearing dismissing the sexual abuse allegations against him to try and con his way back into the Young Israel of Woodmere and threaten various Woodmere public entities with lawsuits.

He was convicted for the use of a forged instrument in a jury trial and was sentenced to a year in jail. The lower appellate court had allowed him out on house arrest while his appeal was pending, and the Court of Appeals is allowing him to stay out on house arrest until they decide whether or not to allow him to appeal.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Kiryas Joel Resident, Cheskel Stauber, Charged with Sexual Abuse of Child***

According to a complaint filed in the Town of Palm Tree Justice Court, Cheskel Stauber on multiple occasions in 2025 took the child's hand placed it down his pants to have the child touch his penis. The complaint further alleges that Stauber would also place his own hand under the clothing of the child and squeeze or grab his penis.

A statement attached to the complaint by a relative of the victim, Stauber was summoned to a Beis Din in Kiryas Joel by the child's father. Following the summons, the complaint alleges, Stauber called the child's father and left a voicemail in which he was crying, saying he knew what the issue was that led to the summons, asking for mercy, alluding to what it was about, and saying that he wants to stop but that when it comes to that child the devil is stronger than him.

Stauber has been charged with Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Forcible Touching, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Stauber may be davening at the V'yoel Moshe Shul on Garfield Road in KJ.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

If released, Weberman will continue to abuse children in the community, and Gonzalez will be responsible for each additional victim.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

@ZAAKAHNY calls on @GovKathyHochul to rule our @BrooklynDA Eric Gonzalez as Lieutenant Governor for his public support of convicted sex offender, Nechemya Weberman. Gonzalez wants community support for his candidacy, and as long as he thinks he has a chance he'll support Weberman's release.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Rabbi Eliyahu Haimof, Rabbi of Kehal Lemaan Achai in Boro Park, Accused of Sexually Abusing of Child in Lawsuit Against Bais Yaakov***

According to a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn, when Plaintiff was approximately 4 years old began abusing her. The complaint alleges that Haimof (named in the suit as Aleksi Khaimov) fondled Plaintiff's genitalia, digitally penetrating her at least twice. The complaint further alleges that Haimof repeatedly beat and threw objects at the alleged victim.

The complaint alleges that at the time Plaintiff was attending Bais Yaakov of 18th Avenue in Boro Park. Plaintiff, according to the complaint, reported to a principal named Mrs. Rabinowitz that Haimof had beaten and screamed at her. Plaintiff also allegedly reported to another principal at the school, Mrs. Sara Zeinba, that Haimof had beaten her up. Plaintiff also alleges that she reported the same to another school administrator.

Plaintiff, according to the complaint, also showed up to school regularly with visible bruises that were seen by staff and administrators. At no point, according to the complaint, did any of them report it to law enforcement.

Haimof is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit but was named as the alleged abuser in a filing.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Cincinnati Resident, David Mitsnefes, Arrested for Repeatedly Placing Hidden Cameras in Local Family's Children's Bedrooms, Held Without Bail***

In September of 2021, a Cincinnati family reported to the police that they had found a hidden camera in one of their bedrooms. The camera, according to the complaint, was small, plugged into a power outlet on the wall, and left on the floor pointing toward a mirror that reflected the bed area of the room. In June of 2022, according to the complaint, the family found another camera hidden in the same spot. The complaint states that it was found in the same spot by a child who was about to undress. Both times, the complaint alleges, there was no SD card in the camera, and no information could be obtained from the camera.

The complaint alleges that more cameras were found in the house, including one that appeared to be a black wall plug for a USB charger but was actually a recording device that contained an SD card. More cameras were found after a search was conducted, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that when the SD card was searched it contained video of the person who planted the cameras setting it up. Another camera was found, according to the complaint, in April of 2023.

After finding an SD card, according to the complaint, the police reached out to the FBI for assistance in reading the files on it. The files, according to the complaint, contained video of someone changing their clothes. According to the complaint a suspect was identified from the video, but after a search warrant was executed no CSAM was found.

In November of 2025, according to the complaint, the family called the Blue Ash police and informed them that in reviewing Ring video footage taken while they were out of town they'd observed an unknown male entering their residence through the front door using the door's lock code. Interior cameras, according to the complaint, showed that the suspect walked directly upstairs into the child's bedroom, stayed there for two minutes, then exited the house. The complaint states that nothing was reported stolen, but that they suspected it could have been connected to the voyeurism incident from a number of years before.

According to the complaint, when asked if anything strange had happened around that time, the family informed the police that in August of 2025 they were meant to host a large party at their house, but that the family had to travel unexpectedly. The complaint alleges that the family had told their friends and shul members that they could use their house to have the party anyway.

According to the complaint, David Mitsnefes, who lived nearby with his mother, came into the house after Shabbos using the code, walked upstairs to the bedroom, and stayed there for two minutes before leaving, the same period of time and pattern as the later November incident caught on the camera. The family, according to the complaint, initially assumed he had come in to turn off the lights after Shabbos, but when prompted by police realized that it would be unusual for someone other than family to walk around upstairs uninvited, and that they had never asked Mitsnefes to turn out the lights after Shabbos. They then stated, according to the complaint, that while less than 10 people knew the code to their door, Mitsnefes' mother was one of those people.

Later that November the family advised law enforcement, according to the complaint, that Mitsnefes had a strong knowledge of technology and had repaired the family's internet in the past. They realized, the complaint alleged, that since Mitsnefes had worked on the internet he may have, in the past, connected to it, and they allowed law enforcement to check if any devices had connected to their network during the incident.

The complaint alleges that a device possibly matching an iPhone owned by Mitsnefes was identified in the search. Law enforcement, according to the complaint, surveilled Mitsnefes later that month and observed him with a phone matching the description, and wearing similar shoes and a similar wristwatch to the person captured on the Ring camera seen entering the home.

The following month, in December of 2025, according to the complaint, Mitsnefes came to the residence to talk to the family. After he left, according to the complaint, law enforcement compared the network connection logs during that visit to the network connection logs from the time of the break in and found that the new device that connected during the meeting matched the earlier device in the logs from the break in.

During a search executed on Mitsnefes' residence, according to the complaint, Mitsnefes admitted to owning a number of security cameras he'd purchased from Amazon, admitted to viewing them remotely, and admitted to entering the residence without permission to place cameras in the bedroom starting in September 2021. According to the complaint, Mitsnefes admitted to entering the home a total of 10 times over the last 4 years, and admitted he'd placed the cameras and saved video of two minors in a state of nudity. Mitsnefes, according to the complaint, admitted that he'd connected the cameras to wifi to access them remotely and admitted to saving nude videos of the children to his iPhone, as well as to stealing underwear from the bedroom.

Mitsnefes also allegedly admitted to possessing other CSAM including of minors likely under 5 years old. He allegedly provided the devices they were on for law enforcement.

Mitsnefes was arrested at the end of December and was detained without bail.

Link to full complaint: https://t.co/cIRpSdeu7U

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Weberman Hearing Delayed Again, No New Date Set***

Nechemya Weberman's 440 motion hearing to vacate and resentence has again been delayed. No firm date has been set yet.

This delay comes shortly after ZA'AKAH filed its amicus brief containing over 30 signatures and letters from nonprofits and advocates with the court opposing Weberman's release. Read the full brief here:
https://t.co/AcQYLOKjLf

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

4 Complaints

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Update on Rabbi Yitzchak Sabo - Sabo Charged with Three Counts of Indecency with Minor/Sexual Touching, One Count Child Grooming***

In February of 2024, (Adam King) according to a complaint filed in Dallas County Texas, Rabbi Yitzchak Sabo repeatedly pulled down the pants of a high school student (Victim 1) and touched his genitals. According to the complaint this happened multiple times, as well as Sabo looking at the Victim 1 in the shower, and massaging him during the same period. According to another complaint, Sabo would ask Victim 1 about his masturbation habits and then take him to the mikvah. While at the Mikvah, according to the complaint, Sabo would watch Victim 1 naked and then put a towel around him while Sabo was naked.

(Charles King) In September of 2024, according to another complaint, Sabo asked Victim 2 about his masturbation habits and then told Victim 2 that he needed to go to the mikvah. The complaint alleges that Sabo then took Victim 2 to the mikvah. Victim 2 alleges that he felt Sabo was looking at him and that it made Victim 2 feel weird to be nude in front of Sabo. According to the complaint, Victim 2 stated that Sabo put a towel around him after he immersed. The complaint alleges that Victim 2's father didn't know that Sabo was taking his son to the mikvah, and wouldn't have approved, and that it was not a normal part of the mikvah ritual for Sabo to take a minor to the mikvah. A search warrant filed in the case also states that Sabo would message Victim 2 Instagram Reels and Snapchats.

(Dylan King) In March of 2025, according to another complaint, Sabo put his hand in the waistband and pants of a 16 year old boy (Victim 3) near his buttocks and then moved his hand around toward the boy's genitals. Victim 3, according to the complaint, pushed Sabo's hand away, and Sabo took it out of the Victim 3's pants.

In April of 2025, according to another complaint, Sabo had a 16 year old (Victim 4) over at his house and was asking him sexual questions when Sabo rubbed Victim 4's groin area and touched his penis over the clothes.

In May of 2025, Sabo petitioned the court to modify the terms of his bail. As an exhibit he attached a copy of a report of a polygraph exam Sabo had done. According to the report, at least one of the alleged victims was a student at the Akiba Yavneh Academy where Sabo was Director of Jewish Life, and that Victim 1 was a student of his since 5th grade, most recently a student of his in high school. Sabo stated in the interview with the polygraph technician that he had advised Victim 1 and other students of their periodic need for the mikvah in their lives and that he had advised victim 1 of this several times after sexual disclosures Victim 1 made to him. Sabo also admitted to slapping a student across the face in class after a confrontation. Sabo seems to admit in the report that he took Victim 1 to the mikvah, and admits to "roughhousing" with him, but denies the alleged abuse.

Sabo, according to the report, was directly asked if he pulled Victim 1's pants down for the purpose of looking at his genitals, if he'd intentionally touched Victim 1's genitals when they were exposed, and whether he had touched Victim 1's genitals for a sexual purpose at any time. To all 3 he answered no, according to the report, and no deception was indicated. Polygraphs are generally considered inadmissible as evidence in court because they are unreliable and easily fooled, as evidenced in the Chaim Walder case in which his polygraph was contradicted by dozens of victim accounts, and in the case of Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky, who was found liable for the sexual abuse of two children at day camp.

Sabo was charged with three counts of Indecency with a Child by way of Sexual Contact and one count of Child Grooming, and is out on $100,000 bail.

According to a filing in the case, Sabo was allowed to attend Achdut Israel Shul in Dallas for the Yamim Noraim. According to another order he would be allowed to attend shul if he received permission from pretrial services and no children were present.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Teacher Fired from Yavneh Girls High School in Cleveland for Inappropriate Contact with Student***

This past Sunday an email was sent to the parent body of Yavneh Girls High School in Cleveland informing them that a teacher had been fired due to the crossing of professional boundaries. Parents at the school were not given a clear idea of what that entailed, and according to parents at the school speculation has been running wild among the parent body ranging from the school being overly cautious, to the teacher having molested students.

In the first letter sent on Sunday, the school did not mention the teacher's name. It has since sent a second letter also not informing the parent body of the teacher's name. According to parents at the school the school was counting on parents to either reach out directly to the school to find out the teacher's information, or hear through the whisper network among the parent body from those more in the know.

In the first letter to parents the school informed them of a scheduled Zoom meeting to discuss the incident with professionals. On the Zoom call, which was hosted with Amudim, the school still didn't identify the teacher, leaving some parents in the dark about the teacher's identity. Instead they implied that the identity of the teacher would become apparent when children came home from school and noticed a teacher missing.

According to parents at the school there was no clear picture of what allegedly happened given to them. Ironically, both on the Zoom call and in a follow up email the school emphasized the importance of not not gossiping about the incident or speculating about it. There is no surer way to ensure a storm of gossip and speculation than refusing to be transparent with parents about an incident involving impropriety between a student and teacher.

In a second letter send to parents, the administration re-emphasized the importance of not gossiping and praised a grade of students who took upon themselves not to gossip about the incident. According to parents at the school, they still don't have a clear idea of what happened leading up to the firing of the teacher, and the teacher's identity has still not officially been disclosed, although parents seem to have figured it out.

This is not how a school should be handling such a situation. It is crucial to be be transparent, open, and honest with parents and students in such situations. Anything short of that contributes to fear, distrust, the exact kind of speculation the school claims it wants to avoid, and an inability for parents to have honest conversations with their children about any incidents that may have happened with them, or about the issue in general.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Boro Park Resident, Shmuel Felberbaum, Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault of Woman at Yeshiva Bnei Torah of Boro Park***

On September 30th, according to a complaint filed in Kings County Criminal Court, Shmuel Felberbaum was arrested for grabbing the vagina, thigh, and butt of a woman multiple times. The complaint states that the location of the alleged assault was 1571 55th street, the location of Yeshiva Bnei Torah of Boro Park. According to an employee at the Yeshiva who answered a call from ZA'AKAH, there is a Shmuel Felberbaum employed there as a manager.

Felberbaum's next appearance is on January 22nd.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

Over the weekend the New York Times posted an article about Weberman's upcoming motion to vacate the original sentence and resentence to time served. The reporter, @SantulN, did an incredible job of breaking down the history of this case and why it would be not only a disgusting miscarriage of justice but a threat to children in Weberman's community if he were released.

Let the DA know what you think of their support of Weberman's motion by giving them a call: 718-250-3170

https://t.co/9X07RU9eNH

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Rabbi Herschel Schachter Issues Public Retraction of Signature on Letter Asking Hovering Hochul for Clemency - Letter Still Part of Motion to Vacate Weberman's Sentence***

In a video posted today by Yeshiva World News, Rabbi Herschel Schachter admitted to signing a letter sent to Governor Hochul asking that she grant convicted child rapist, Nechemya Weberman, clemency. His rationale, according to the video, was that Weberman had been sentenced disproportionately to what a non Jewish member of the clergy would have received for a similar crime. Schachter claims that he signed the letter while ignorant to all of the facts of the case, and that shortly after signing he called the lawyer who had arranged the letter to retract his signature and ask that it not be sent to Governor Hochul.

He was told according to the video, that the letter had already been sent but that his name would be removed from future use of the letter. That ultimately wasn't true. The letter was filed as an exhibit attesting to Weberman's good character in a motion filed by Weberman to vacate his sentence and resentrncr him to time served. Schachter's name appeared on the letter attached as an exhibit to that motion.

While it's a good thing that Schachter is being held to public account here, he fails to explain why he signed a letter on behalf of a convicted child rapist in the first place, especially if he didn't have any of the facts outside of what was presented to him by Weberman's representative. He also seems not to have reached out at all to Weberman's victim or any of her advocates before signing. His endorsement of Weberman is still being used, whether he agrees to it or not, to try and free Weberman. If Weberman is released as a result of this motion, the damage will have already been done.

Rabbonim should not be signing letters for convicted sex offenders. Period. Claiming ignorance later is not the excuse they think it is. It's a slap in the face to victims that they are always an afterthought - if any thought at all - when rabbis join efforts to support sexual abusers.

Keep calling the DA's office to let them know how you feel about their support of Weberman's motion to go free: 718-250-3170.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Rabbi Herschel Schachter Joins South Fallsburg Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Elya Dov Wachtfogel, Crown Heights Av Beis Din Rabbi Yosef Brown, and Bobover Rebbes, Satmar Rebbes, Vizhnitzer Rebbes, Munkatcher, Pupa, and Skverrer Rebbes in Asking Governor Hochul To Grant Convicted Child Rapist, Nechemya Weberman, Clemency***

In a letter sent to Governor Hochul in Secember of 2024, the following rabbonim requested that the governor commute the sentence of Nechemya Weberman:

Rabbi Yosef Brown - Av Beis Din Crown Heights Beis Din
Rabbi Yaakov Grunwald - Pupa Rebbe
Rabbi Yisrael Hagar - Vizhnitzer Rebbe
Rabbi Yitzchok Hagar - Vizhnitzer Rebbe
Rabbi Benzion Halberstam - Bobov 48 Rebbe
Rabbi Mordche Dovid Unger - Bobov 45 Rebbe
Rabbi Chaim Shia Halberstam - Satmar Rebbe Monsey
Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum - Satmar Rebbe Williamsburg
Rabbi Ahron Teitelbaum - Satmar Rebbe Kiryas Yoel
Rabbi Moshe Leim Rabinovitch - Munkatcher Rebbe
Rabbi Herschel Schacter - Rosh Yeshiva RIETS and OU Posek
Rabbi Dovid Twersky - Skverrer Rebbe
Rabbi Elya Dov Wachtfogel Rosh Yeshiva South Fallsburg

In the letter, screenshotted in full below, they request that Weberman, who was sentenced to 103 years for his repeated rape of a 12 year old (a sentence that was later lowered to 50 years) be granted clemency. They cite Weberman's wife, children, and grandchildren, and the pain they've experienced over the last 12 years with their loved one being incarcerated. Notably, not a single mention appears in the letter of the pain Weberman's victims experienced either at his own hand or at the hands of the community who retaliated against them.

They refer to Weberman as a model prisoner who studies Torah all day and mentors other prisoners. The letter refers to Weberman's health condition, including obesity, diabetes, and chronic cellulitis in asking the governor for mercy. The letter then references the many family simchas he has missed over the years.

In requesting clemency they point to other seemingly similar cases where the defendants received shallower sentences.

Notably missing from the letter is any acknowledgement of Weberman's crimes, the harm he caused his victims, the impact on his victim's life outside of the abuse, including death threats, being thrown out of community shuls, being ostracized by the community, her husband's restaurant being forced to close because his hechsher was rescinded, the Satmar Rebbe (a signatory) calling her a whore in public, her father being forced to sign a letter denouncing her for "massering" on Weberman to the police and later testifying against him, and despite forcing him to sign that letter starting a competing business in the community designed to drive the victim's father out of business.

What sets Weberman apart is his utter lack of remorse, the lack of concern in the community for his victim, and the near certainty that if he was released he would be given free access to young girls to counsel without any supervision.

While many signatories are not a surprise - the Satmar Rebbes who called the victim a whore in public, and the Bobov 48 Rebbe who wrote a letter in support of convicted rapist Jacob Daskal - some do come as a surprise. In 2011 Rabbi Yosef Brown signed a psak for the Crown Heights Beis Din allowing survivors to report sexual abuse without asking a rabbi for permission. Most shockingly is Rabbi Herschel Schachter, the Rosh Yeshiva of RIETS, who has nothing to do with the chassidish community.

What's even more shocking about Rabbi Schachter signing is the fact that YU is the ongoing litigation by over 50 alleged victims who were allegedly abused at YU's high school over a period of 30 years, that YU is fighting viciously in court.

This exact letter was filed as a character reference exhibit in Weberman's recent motion to vacate his sentence that seems to have the support of Brooklyn DA, Eric Gonzalez. That motion also notably contains no contrition, no acceptance of responsibility, and no acknowledgement of thee crime for which he was sentenced, let alone any concern for the wellbeing of his victim.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

***Yeshiva Eitz Chaim of Chicago Rebbi, David Sussman, and Mesivta of Long Beach Settle Sexual Abuse Lawsuit - Defendants Try Forcing ZA'AKAH to Remove Posts About Case as Condition of Settlement***

The Child Victims Act lawsuit against Mesivta of Long Beach, Rabbi David Sussman, and Mesivta of Long Beach leadership has settled. The defendants were sued in August of 2021 for the alleged sexual abuse of Plaintiff by David Sussman, then a dorm-mate of the Plaintiff, and the subsequent coverup of the abuse by the school administration, in particular Rabbi Mordechai Respler and Rabbi Yeruchom Pitter.

Prior to the settlement, ZA'AKAH was contacted by an attorney involved in the case informing ZA'AKAH that the defendants were trying to make ZA'AKAH's removal of certain posts about the case a condition of the settlement. In particular the defendants were concerned about the posts ZA'AKAH had made about Freddie Friedman who, according to court filings, had been given the anonymous Plaintiff's identity by the other defendants and had reached out to Plaintiff to badger him into a settlement. Friedman was apparently concerned about his public image and wanted the post removed before a settlement was completed.

That wasn't the first time someone had contacted ZA'AKAH to ask for the removal of the posts about Freidman. ZA'AKAH was contacted by the head of another victims service organization in the community implicitly offering introductions to major donors in the community in exchange for ZA'AKAH's removal of its posts about Friedman.

To be clear, ZA'AKAH will never cave to such inducements or blackmail. Acceding to such demands before settlements would only increase risk to the community, allowing abusers to wipe the record of their abuse this blinding their communities to the risks they pose.

[Asher Lovy @HareianiBlog]

NBC News 4's reporting on Eric Gonzalez's disgusting commitment to help free Weberman from prison. There's no question that this is a political favor for the community. In this report Sarah Wallace speaks to Weberman's victim, now 30, who was sexually abused by Weberman for 3 years starting when she was 12 years old. The community put her and her now husband through hell when she reported. They raised a half a million dollars at a public fundraiser at a local wedding hall, tried using that money to bribe her to drop the case, then, when she refused, used the money for his legal defense.

The community stripped her husband of his restaurant in the community by taking away his hechsher, threatened to kill the two of them, referred to the victim (who was 12 when the abuse started) as a whore, forced her father to sign a document disavowing his daughter's mesirah against Weberman, and still opened a competing business to drive the victim's father out of business. They have compared Weberman to Yosef Hatzadik over and over in yiddish language publications, published articles written both by and about him, encouraged people to donate to his legal defense and commissary, celebrated him as a tzaddik and martyr, and spent eye watering amounts of money and political capital to free him from prison.

What's particularly galling about the DA supporting Weberman's release, aside from the fact that 6 other alleged victims came forward to the DA during the trial and accused Weberman of sexually abusing them, is the fact that Weberman has never shown a shred of remorse for his repeated, sadistic rape of a 12 year old. He has never taken a shred of accountability for his actions, and his community doesn't expect him to. If he is released he will be royalty in that community. If he wishes to resume being an unlicensed counselor for the Va'ad Hatznius counseling young girls, they'll let that happen. If he asks them to bounce a toddler on his lap during their celebration of his release, they will.

This man represents a tremendous danger to children, his obesity and diabetes notwithstanding. What's worse, if he's released, when (not if) he abuses again his victim will feel utterly disempowered to report him. They will see the community support he has and feel despair at getting justice. The blood of his future victims will be on Eric Gonzalez's hands.

Call his office and tell him how you feel about his reprehensible advocacy on behalf of this convicted pedophile.

Special Victims Unit: 718-250-3170