Queens - Rabbi Beaten In Divorce Case

A Queens rabbi was slapped and threatened inside Kew Gardens Synagogue Adath Yeshurun on Lefferts Boulevard by an ex-con and a mechanic posing as mob-connected debt collectors, prosecutors said yesterday.
The men, Matthew Gross, 39, of Bronxville and Pinchas Elgaoi, 50, of Queens, allegedly told the rabbi that he was responsible to them for a $60,000 debt incurred to "connected" people by his former secretary's ex-husband.

According to prosecutors, Gross said he was seeking the money from the rabbi because it was the rabbi who'd helped broker the secretary's divorce.

Gross' lawyer said his client denied extorting or hitting anyone.