New York - WIlliamsburg Businessman Sentencend To 15 Years In Prison
New York - U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt sentenced a prominent businessman in the Williamsburg community Nathan Schlesinger, 69, to 15 years in prison, the minimum mandatory sentence under federal law. Spatt could have sentenced Schlesinger to more than 21 years in prison but said he felt such a sentence would be "too draconian."
Schlesinger was convicted in May 2005 of setting fire to his huge Brooklyn garment factory in 1998 to collect $4.5 million in insurance. Schlesinger's factory, at 750 Kent Ave., made upscale women's clothing for department stores, including Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Ave. He was also convicted of collecting $4.5 million in damages by exaggerating the damages caused by four other fires at the factory.
When Schlesinger was arrested in 2003, U.S. Attorney Mauskopf said his action "jeopardized the safety of many New York City firefighters who risked their lives" fighting the garment-plant blaze. One hundred and fifty firemen responded to the New Year's Eve fire.
The court was packed with supporters of Schlesinger from his Orthodox Satmar community in Williamsburg, who felt he had been unjustly convicted.
Schlesinger was convicted in May 2005 of setting fire to his huge Brooklyn garment factory in 1998 to collect $4.5 million in insurance. Schlesinger's factory, at 750 Kent Ave., made upscale women's clothing for department stores, including Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Ave. He was also convicted of collecting $4.5 million in damages by exaggerating the damages caused by four other fires at the factory.
When Schlesinger was arrested in 2003, U.S. Attorney Mauskopf said his action "jeopardized the safety of many New York City firefighters who risked their lives" fighting the garment-plant blaze. One hundred and fifty firemen responded to the New Year's Eve fire.
The court was packed with supporters of Schlesinger from his Orthodox Satmar community in Williamsburg, who felt he had been unjustly convicted.
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 7/28/2006 06:58:00 AM
68 Comments:
At 7:00 AM,
VOS IZ NEIAS said…
Before he was about to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, Nathan Schlesinger, 69, said in a lengthy statement that he was a Holocaust survivor who was "here because I am a Jew."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Ferazani replied that he represented the daughter of Holocaust survivors - Roslynn Mauskopf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District - and said of Schlesinger, "The reason he is here is because he is a thief, because he is an arsonist and because he is a money launderer."
Schlesinger's attorney, Herald Price Fahringer of Manhattan, said afterward that his client would appeal. Of his client's statement that he was being persecuted by federal officials because of his religion, Fahringer said, "He wanted to have his say - it's not for me to judge."
After the exchange, the Judge sentenced Schlesinger.
At 8:39 AM,
Anonymous said…
what does being a holocaust surviver have to do with setting a fire deliberatly? If he is guilty of the crime whatever color or religion--he is guilty!
At 9:22 AM,
Anonymous said…
its very sad that this is how a man full of tovas and always ready to help others in any way is ending all because of a few dollars..... we all cry for u reb naftuly and say thilim that u should be able to survive and overcome this and bring back life to our shul Stropkov that helped us in every way build
reb nuftul we all need u and hoped for the best ..................
a misspallel that always showed the zoher about weekly toras.
At 9:25 AM,
Anonymous said…
I Was there to show support to his family but I think (and this is my personnal opinion) that it was not a good idea to pack the courtroom with Hasidim it only made it worse for Reb Nat in the eyes of the Judge and it hardened the Judge after the outbursts,
the lesson learned from this story: a orthodox Jew has no chance in front of a jury, don't stand on trial, take a plea bargain, in this case a plea bargain was offered for Reb Nat before trial for 18 months (he would have been out now) but for some reason which none of us understands was refused by Reb Nat,
lets all pray that he shall be out soon.
At 9:25 AM,
Anonymous said…
Maybe he can open a Stropkov beis medrash in prison, and if you dont think he did anything wrong maybe yu'll end up there with him one day so you can learn with him again the zohar.
At 9:27 AM,
Anonymous said…
what a chilul hashem,
At 9:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
Reb naftolies refusal of a 18 month plea bargain (he would have been out now) is only arrogance and the mentality that you could fight the whole world including your own family and bear no consequence, sad sad story
At 9:37 AM,
Anonymous said…
if he is indeed guilty of the crime that he did and he was sane at the time ..then he should sit ...you must be responsible for the bad you do even if you help other mosdos along the way -- its like using stolen money to fund yeshivas ...not kosher
At 9:50 AM,
Anonymous said…
i can't beleive so many people just hate each other, why? what did he do to you? can't you all show a little rachmunas. and if you don't have rachmunas that he'll spend the next 15 years in jail just be quiet about it don't post it!
At 10:38 AM,
Anonymous said…
For all those who think it is a rachmonas on this gentelmen, please bear in mind, that because of his crime other people will be paying higher insurance premiums, yes even fellow (honest hard working) Jews will have to pay higher premiums. I love how the frummest of people all come out with rachmonas on these ganovim when they get caught. As a frum person am happy they sit in jail for a while. The way I see it, they are stealing from me personlly!! If my insurance premiums or taxes have to go up because of their theivery!! And this has nothing to do with sinas chinum. Where is their Ahavas Yisroel while they are robbing people of hard earned money!?!?!?
At 10:49 AM,
Anonymous said…
You can't believe everything you hear in the news. Do they know 100% for sure that he really set fire to his warehouse? If he did that, he should be punished, but 15 years for a man of his age is murder! We should look to the Torah to see how such a crime would be handled. But, of course, here we have no such recourse.
At 10:51 AM,
Anonymous said…
hopefully, he will get the sentence reduced on appeal and get out early on good behavior and probation. no one sits a full termm.
At 10:58 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think it is discussing that every body is bashing Reb naftolie nobody really knows exactly what happened, but if he is Jewish the prosecutor is 100 correct!! WHY?? ACHDOS?? A little pity!!! We are in the 9 days. If he can’t count on his brothers for support who can he turn to?
Buy the way (As far as I am concerned) the mitzvah of podium shviyim is regardless if he is guilty or not.
At 11:02 AM,
Anonymous said…
At. anon 10:38 As a frum person am happy they sit in jail for a while. The way I see it, they are stealing from me personally!!
Did you consult with your local rav before you take the courage to post that you are happy with some other yidden 15 YEARS in JAIL because you think so????
At 11:02 AM,
Anonymous said…
After reading the above postings.
We all should be ashamed
1.The chillul hashem
2.The sinus chunim
3.for not helping a yid in prison
the mitzva for pidyon shavuim is not for you decide if you like what he did or did not do
as for hemishe yidden going in front of a jury trial " you have to "NUTS" OJ simpson can get off
not you
There also is a reason why whe yidden dont have even 1% cahnce of getting off on a jury - we dont have our "peers" sitting on the jury
when was the last time you saw a hiemeshe yid sitting on a jury ?
just like you are not to commit bank fraud, insurance fraud, you are not allowed to commit "jury fraud" by not showing up or making false excuses
At 11:07 AM,
Anonymous said…
"Al todin chavercha ad shetakiya lemekomom". No one knows what brought this person over the edge to do what he did. We ALL go over the edge sometimes in different areas of life and most of the times it is NOT ARROGANCE but STRESS & DEPRESSION that causes us to act!
Let's not fight over whether he deserves prison or not. Bottom line is the court of law has decided he is going to jail. And yes, let's all daven for him that he should have a yeshua.
At 11:11 AM,
Anonymous said…
well just a little rachmonas for the fact that a 69 yr old man is gonna sit in jail thats all don't think about yourself for a minute
At 11:40 AM,
Anonymous said…
Somebody just showed me the Plea Bargain that the esteemed attorney Mr. Ben Brafman had negotiated for R' Naftula WOW WOW he could have been out now already what a terrible mistake made!!! The moral of the story is don't be smarter then your Attorney!!!
At 12:04 PM,
Anonymous said…
Anonymous said...
For all those who think it is a rachmonas on this gentelmen, please bear in mind, that because of his crime other people will be paying higher insurance premiums, yes even fellow (honest hard working) Jews will have to pay higher premiums. I love how the frummest of people all come out with rachmonas on these ganovim when they get caught. As a frum person am happy they sit in jail for a while. The way I see it, they are stealing from me personlly!! If my insurance premiums or taxes have to go up because of their theivery!! And this has nothing to do with sinas chinum. Where is their Ahavas Yisroel while they are robbing people of hard earned money!?!?!?
10:38 AM
So, if I understand this correctly you are happy to see a 69 year old man go into max. security with all types of violent sadists because in your mind his stole from you by raising your insurance rates.
Following this logic, I hope you will step forward and turn yourself in for a few years in prison if someone trips and falls on your sidewalk because it will raise my insurance rates.
even if your twisted logic were to hold water and he is guilty of stealing from you the punishment mandated in the torah for stealing is not 15 years in max. security.
Let us at least be honest with ourselves. You are enjoying seeing a chosid go to jail because you have a problem with chassidim.
In my humble opinion, which is always the correct one, at least in my opinion, there is nothing wrong having rachmanus for a person who was choteh and will now pay a terrible price (and used what I consider a distasteful argument in asking for mercy, but then again I would probably try something just low if not lower if c"v......) for following his yetzer horah.
We all fall for our yetzer horah sometime. It would be unwise of any of us to rejoice in someone else’s pain and humiliation unless one is certain that there are no skeletons in his closet, a conviction (no pun intended) so absurd for any human to hold that if one were to think he has no sins hidden which should cause him to keep his mouth closed about the sins and punishment of others, the person holding that conviction would 'takeh' be naki ma'hashem u'meyisroel by virtue of his being legally insane and halachicly a shoteh.
Your words reveal your true bias: "I love how the frummest of people all come out with rachmonas on these ganovim when they get caught. As a frum person am happy they sit in jail for a while. The way I see it, they are stealing from me personlly!! If my insurance premiums or taxes have to go up because of their theivery!! And this has nothing to do with sinas chinum. Where is their Ahavas Yisroel while they are robbing people of hard earned money!?!?!?"
THEY get caught. THEY go to jail. You switched from the sins of one person to the sins of a group, revealing that a) your problem is not with the person who is going to jail but the group to which he belongs and B) you do not consider yourself part of the group. You see the problem as THEM.
I hope informing you of this will not upset you too much and ruin your ability to concentrate effectively on eradicating sinat chinam during the nine days, but unless you are really, really good at "meshicat orlatachah" you will be part of THEM until not only the day you die but for a nice long time after that too.
One of the three simanim of b'nai avraham avinu is that they are "RACHMANIM". Jews are referred to as rachmanim b'nai rachmanim.
Another siman is that we are Bishanim.
Your post reveals that you are neither.
I hope you make up for these two faults by being a huge gomel chesed.
You write further: “And this has nothing to do with sinas chinum.”
Reminds me of people who say ‘this has nothing to do with the money, it is the PRINCIPLE for which I fight.’ So how come I never hear anyone “I don’t care about the principle, I want the MONEY”?
At 12:06 PM,
Anonymous said…
to annon 11:02 hope this will make you happy. my friend just sat on a case as a juror along with another frum woman. See, not everyone tries to get away with it though nobody enjoys having to miss work for an unknown amount of time.
At 12:06 PM,
Anonymous said…
THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS "HAVEY DON ES KOL ADAM LKAF ZECHUS" R' NAFTULI YOU ARE INNOCENT AND IT WILL BE PROVEN ONE DAY! STAND STRONG AND MAY YOU MERIT THE COMING OF MASHIACH SPEEDILY IN OUR DAYS! FROM WHAT I HEAR YOU ARE A TRUE BAAL CHESSED AND HOPE ACHEINU BNEI YISROEL WILL BE ABLE TO REPAY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES!
At 12:09 PM,
Anonymous said…
Dear, Esteemed Anon @ 11:40!
WOW WOW! How can someone be SO foolish?
What you are basically doing, is called "second guessing",
Without knowing what was really going on, just keep your mouth "SHUT"
At 12:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
After Last years symposium on Law at Vishnitz hall on 53rd Street in boro park, one of the keynote speaker was the well respected heimishe super attorney Mr. Ben Brafman, after the speeches I followed him In a private discussion of why Heimishe Yidden have less of a chance in front of a Jury? Among some answers he gave us he mentioned that he had a client (which we now know was this R' Noftali) whom he begged to take a plea bargain of 18 months and a money judgement of several million dollars and he explained that after a trial his chances of it being thrown out is only 5 to 10 percent, he said as an attorney I could say to my clients Go to trial where I can make tons of billable hours of thousends of dollars but in most instances in the frum community this doesn't apply and
If your attorney feels that you have to plea you have trust his judgement and accept a plea, in this case it unfortunatly happened what you read that he got 10 times more of his original plea, HASHEM YERACHEM
At 12:17 PM,
Anonymous said…
After Last years symposium on Law at Vishnitz hall on 53rd Street in boro park, one of the keynote speaker was the well respected heimishe super attorney Mr. Ben Brafman, after the speeches I followed him In a private discussion of why Heimishe Yidden have less of a chance in front of a Jury? Among some answers he gave us he mentioned that he had a client (which we now know was this R' Noftali) whom he begged to take a plea bargain of 18 months and a money judgement of several million dollars and he explained that after a trial his chances of it being thrown out is only 5 to 10 percent, he said as an attorney I could say to my clients Go to trial where I can make tons of billable hours of thousends of dollars but in most instances in the frum community this doesn't apply and
If your attorney feels that you have to plea you have trust his judgement and accept a plea, in this case it unfortunatly happened what you read that he got 10 times more of his original plea, HASHEM YERACHEM
At 12:29 PM,
Anonymous said…
hashem please help
this guy did much too much
At 12:44 PM,
Anonymous said…
TO ANON. 11:02
I am a frum yid and i just sat on a jury with another frum woman. And it so happens that my father sat on a jury a few months ago. Furthermore, the chances of a frum yid sitting on the jury at that particular trial are quite small. So please dont blame the fact that he was found guilty by that jury, (not to say he is guilty, i have no idea any thing about that case) as a fault of hiemeshe yidden for trying to get out of jury duty. We are no differrent than any one else in that matter. Thank you
At 12:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
hashem yereichem
does he have a jewish heart?
At 1:03 PM,
Anonymous said…
Some wonder how can people be so "RISHUSDIG" and write these comments, you fools! the people who are writing these comments are those "MOSRIM" you went with fabricated lies to put away their uncle for revenge! Rachmana Litzlun!!
PLEASE!!!!!! do not argue with them, dont give them the satisfaction!! the whole community knows the TRUTH!!!
There is no doubt that they gave false testimony, Schwimmer himself admitted that he was forced to lie by his own wife and her brothers!he admitted this constantly for rabbis etc. including his own family brothers & sisters and also to his own FATHER!!! they all gave sworn affidaivits saying the above and were ready to go testify and say in detail what they know etc.
At 1:31 PM,
Anonymous said…
As a frum attorney, I'm embarrassed, outraged, and very upset at Mr. Schlesinger's actions. I work in a very large prestigious firm in Manhattan and the actions of yidden like him reflect on us all in the workplace. People have less respect for our religious customs when they see people like him do what they do. I especially disdain what he said as he was sentenced, that he's there because he's a yid.
That said, how can you not have rachmunus on a frum yid who must now sit in jail? Especially one who has seen and survived the horrors of the holocaust. If someone came over to me asking for a donation to fund his appeal, I would gladly and without question donate. A fellow yid is a yid even when he makes a horrible mistake. I hope and pray that his sentence is drastically reduced even though I don't see how since it was the "minimum mandatory sentence."
Is there anybody among us who is perfect??
At 1:58 PM,
Anonymous said…
You break the law, you pay. And if you are a religious Jew you better make sure you do things 100 percent correctly.
At 2:53 PM,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 3:25 PM,
Anonymous said…
Some wonder how can people be so "RISHUSDIG" and write these comments, you fools! the people who are writing these comments are those "MOSRIM" you went with fabricated lies to put away their uncle for revenge! Rachmana Litzlun!!
PLEASE!!!!!! do not argue with them, dont give them the satisfaction!! the whole community knows the TRUTH!!!
There is no doubt that they gave false testimony, Schwimmer himself admitted that he was forced to lie by his own wife and her brothers!he admitted this constantly for rabbis etc. including his own family brothers & sisters and also to his own FATHER!!! they all gave sworn affidaivits saying the above and were ready to go testify and say in detail what they know etc.
At 3:32 PM,
Anonymous said…
Chevraman..... So according to the way you think, as long as a person is a chsidishe yid, it is okay to steal and not expect to go to jail if caught?? That is why we have so many problems in the Yiddishe velt today my friend. I don't care if the guy is 169...if he commits a crime and is caught he should go to jail. Everyone has a choice in life. I truly beleive that they just did not pick him out of the blue and decide to prosecute him.
At 3:47 PM,
Anonymous said…
Re. Mr. Ann 10:38 AM
Just to clear it up
Sorry you miss understood me Quote: But if he is Jewish the prosecutor is 100 correct!! WHY?? ACHDOS?? A little pity!!!
I was saying “SARCASTIC” Isn’t it ridicules????
Even if he did it I fell terrible for him. I hope he wins the appeal.
At 3:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
Mr Ann 3:32 AM
Ask your Rov if your opinion is al pe Torah!?
At 4:12 PM,
Anonymous said…
Anon 3:50....Wake up it's 3:32 PM. My Rav says you should not steal. Does your Rav agree?
At 4:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
unfortunately this guy never followed a rav's order, he was above the torah and above the law
nebech....
At 4:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
Reb Naftule did so much good all the years,i really feel so bad for this man, my mother worked at his factory for many years and she is so devistated.
Naftule Ben Rivka?
At 4:25 PM,
Anonymous said…
Are you allowed to be happy when somebody is going to jail???
Never mind 15 Years
Even if he did steal???
It is for sure not a kiddish hashem!!!
At 4:39 PM,
Anonymous said…
Obviously the man was desparate, but did he actually thin that he would get off by saying he is a Jew? The whole thing is very sad.
V'nomar Amein
At 4:48 PM,
Anonymous said…
Chevraman..... So according to the way you think, as long as a person is a chsidishe yid, it is okay to steal and not expect to go to jail if caught?? That is why we have so many problems in the Yiddishe velt today my friend. I don't care if the guy is 169...if he commits a crime and is caught he should go to jail. Everyone has a choice in life. I truly beleive that they just did not pick him out of the blue and decide to prosecute him.
3:32 PM
That is an incredible distortion of my opinion.
Let us dissect your spin line by line, shall we?
You wrote:
"Chevraman..... "
So far OK, that is the name I use on this blog. That's about where you leave reality for a while.
"So according to the way you think, as long as a person is a chsidishe yid, it is okay to steal and not expect to go to jail if caught??"
Please explain to me how you reached from the idea of feeling compassion for the man (compassion seems to be only an idea to you) to the idea that "as long as a person is a chsidishe yid, it is okay to steal and not expect to go to jail if caught??"
"That is why we have so many problems in the Yiddishe velt"
Because one Jew was found guilty of stealing and I have rachmanut on him? I'd say that is a pretty stupid idea but I try not to insult other people's opinions, even when they are stupid.
"today"
and yesterday's problems? and the world's problems fifty and one hundred years ago? Or were there no problems in the world before the first chosid was convicted in an American court?
"my friend."
Believe me, you and I are not friends. Katuv b'Pirkai Avot:
Al Titchaber LaRasha. Besides, I am the same Jew as a Satmar Chosid, I just dress better. I doubt you would hate me any less than you hate them.
"I don't care"
You seem to have a remarkable gift for stating the obvious. Unfortunately (for you) the Torah orders you to care about your fellow Jew. Unless of course you wish to be motzi et etzmechah min haklal.
"if the guy is 169...if he commits a crime and is caught he should go to jail."
Because he presents a greater danger to society than the murderers in NY State who are sentenced on average to terms half of the one to which he was sentenced. And feeling rachmanut for a Jew who is about to enter a special kind of Hell from which he may never emerge certainly should qualify the rest of us for a place on the Ten Most Wanted list. Even if there is no chait in the torah for which Bait Din could confine a person for 15 years with no protection from the wild beasts.
"Everyone has a choice in life."
And undoubtedly you've never made a wrong one.
"I truly beleive that they just did not pick him out of the blue and decide to prosecute him."
And you know this because???? There is no anti Semitism or bigotry in the prosecutors office? There is no NYPD bias against Jews?
"3:32 PM"
Well, you ended with the truth. You did post at 3:32 PM
At 4:58 PM,
Anonymous said…
Call for peace and love!
Hi, I DONT KNOW THE FACTS OF THE CASE, so I won't make any judgement about this case in particular, however, I can't believe that some Jewish people can talk about a holocaust survivor with such disrespect, holocaust survivors are in a class of their own, and I personally believe that after all the inhumane pain and suffering they endured during those dark days they should get a "get out of jail free" card. But my dear holy brothers and sisters, please, please take a moment and think about what our parents have been through and how it affected their lives, I think that the only way holocaust survivors could survive and rebuild their lives was by doing things that may be considered a bit unorthodox, but when your survival is at stake you are allowed to do such unorthodox things. I don't know the person who has just been sentenced but I love him as I love all of my Jewish brothers and sister, and I would like to see some love in your posts, please show some compassion for your brothers and sisters who's life paths has taken them down the road to prison. Let's extend love and brotherhood to them, because the goyim won't do it. Lets start to treat each other like true brothers and sisters, then none of us will even need to exert to the kind of unorthodox dealings that this beloved brother of ours has just been convicted of. Do you want to see Moshiach in our days? Do you last for the ultimate redemption of our people? What are you waiting for? Let's go.
At 5:06 PM,
Anonymous said…
Not enough the CHILLUL HASHEM that he accuses everybody who caught him with being a JEW HATER which is being reported all over the media but you have here a idiot who is repeating the same CHILLUL HASHEM by accusing other people in his predicament when these same people were his victims like anon3:25 how stupid can these people be, don't they realize that accusing someone else is not going to solve the problem only digging the hole deeper??????
At 5:15 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wait a second if this guy is 69 years old he was a very small child at the holocaust and probably doesn't even remember the war, sounds to me that he is using the same line as the JEW BASHER in words like holocaust...
At 5:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
If he did cause a chilul hashaim it his Avairah, not yours, so stop yelling about it.
Lets hear you yell about your own avairot. Or have you never done any?
Whatever avairah he may have committed he is still a Jew, ben brito shel avraham avinu, something I cannot be sure of in the cases of certain posters we and not mitbayaish to show that they have no rachmanut and certainly are not inclined to involvethemselves in the g'milat chesed of pidyon shevuyim for this man.
Which siman of b'nai avraham avinu did you say you still have?
At 5:25 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wait a second if this guy is 69 years old he was a very small child at the holocaust and probably doesn't even remember the war, sounds to me that he is using the same line as the JEW BASHER in words like holocaust...
5:15 PM
We have gone from Stupid to Stupider. Anyone want to sign up as Stupidest?
Do you think if you saw ANY of the Shoah at the age of four or five you would ever forget it? (I too am very uncomfortable with this tactic of trying to avoid jail with the holocaust arguement but being that I did not live through it I am not going to have the chutzpah to decide how the experience can be used by thosewho did suffer it. Neither of us 'owns' the Holocaust but I know which of us has a better legal claim to it.)
At 5:38 PM,
Anonymous said…
Could he come out on bail till after his appeal?
At 5:43 PM,
Anonymous said…
To the one who argued that he was 4 or 5 at the shoha:
Hello, life after the war was to some people worse than during the war, read up on history, but besides that, we are all spoiled little brats and some of us don't even understand that a holocaust survivor who was 4 or 5 years old at that time is as much or even more a victim of the holocaust than the people who were adults during that time. Please don't assume for one second that you understand what they have been through, and yes, it should be a "get out of jail free card"
Do you think Andrea Yates, the women from the great state of Texas who has just been acquitted of the heinous crimes she committed against her 5 little children by drowning them in their bathtub one by one, do you think she was in a worse state of mind than any holocaust survivor? I know, its different, she was not in a normal state of mind when she committed her crimes, well, no holocaust survivor can ever be in a normal state of mind after the horrific times they have been through. Btw, I am not saying that its okay to steal and commit crimes, I just think we should have more compassion for one another, especially to our elders who have been through those dark days.
At 5:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
As a gentile reading this site what does
Stropkov beis medrash
mean?
At 5:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
so you want to compare Andrea Yates to Reb Naftulah? He was in his full sound and mind when he did all those stuff mentioned. He was not insane
At 6:05 PM,
Anonymous said…
Rabosei, while in shul this morning the mispallelim there discussed this harsh sentence that was imposed on this man R'Naftula (I personally don't know him) I have a question to ask my fellow readers from Euroupe, is it thru that in Europe there isn't such a thing as getting much Jail time for the crimes that he did? In other words you get penalized with Money or similar punishments but not so many YEARS in jail???
At 6:12 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey, I didn't compare him to yates, that was just an example of how easy people get off committing the worst crimes with the sorry excuse that they were insane, well, if they can go free for that excuse then this person should also get off because he is a holocaust survivor, it doesn't matter if he was sane while he did it, there is no doubt that the holocaust has left a lifelong mental scar on all its survivors in a way we will never comprehend, and the Judge should've known better than to sentence a holocaust survivor to 15 years in prison, come on. If I was a judge I would even risk losing my job over letting him go free, but IM not a judge :)
At 6:18 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wake up guys.
The discussion runs around if he is guilty or not... are you all insane? This guy had no case at all.
He had a personal fight with his brother’s children.
He hired his brother to work for him in business when he was successful but his brother was poor.
He then promoted him to be a partner in a business that closed due to outsourcing everything to chine. it was a knitting business.
Reb Naftuly was still successful with his other businesses and his brother was poor again.
Here came the children who against their fathers will started the fight.
The lost by din Tora! They were losing in court.
They started threatening him with the worst. And he just didn’t believe something like this would be done by Jews. And this is where his mistake was! He couldn’t believe that a Jew would do this to another Jew.
I don’t know why he didn’t accept the plea bargain, he might have discussed this with a Ruv and was advised to do so.
In any event, we need to remember now all the good deeds he has been doing to our brothers and sisters all life and pray that he should go through this horrible hell quick and easy.
We are all with Reb Naftuly!
Hashem is with Reb Naftuly!
At 7:53 PM,
Anonymous said…
REMEMBER MORDCHE YITZCHOK SAMET??? History repeats itself, M.Y. Samet also took this route fight everybody even yourself and look where he is now, everybody who pleaded is long long out except for M. Y. Samet who nebech nebech is still there for who knows how long, the same thing here R' Naftula decided to go the same route FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT fight the government fight the judge fight the brother fight the family and fight himself, unfortunatly this has proven to be wrong many times, and to ANON 6:18PM you know U are dead wrong with writing such non-sense as "his brother was poor and his worker etc. There are hundreds of people who knew these brothers as partners for well over 40 years so stop with nonsense and the moral of the story don't FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT because then you will FIGHT yourself.
At 9:58 PM,
Anonymous said…
We have less chance with juries because when these jury people meet us they are treated with disrespect.
They are treated as if they are just goyim. So they make sure we are treated like we are just yiden.
At 12:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
WE BEG EVERYBODY OVER HERE LETS SPREAD SOME "PEACE AND LOVE" ITS BEIN HAMTZORIM BEFORE THE DAY OF THE CHURBAN BEIS HAMIKDOSH, LETS MAKE A RESOLUTION WITH ALL THE PEOPLE WHO VISIT AND WRITE IN THIS BLOG " PEACE AND LOVE" NO MORE FIGHTING!!!!!!!!!FIGHTING BRINGS YOU DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!LIKE KORACH
At 12:38 AM,
Anonymous said…
So where can we go visit R'Naftula is it in Otisville N.Y. or in another state? does anyone know?
At 12:39 AM,
Anonymous said…
Can anyone explain the reason of why R'Naftula didn't take the Plea Deal of 18 Months that was offered to him? isn't this considred SUICIDE?
At 12:56 AM,
Anonymous said…
>> he might have discussed this with a Ruv and was advised to do so. <<
If that is indeed true, he is a freak!!!!
You don't discuss something with a "roof" that doesn't know what's flying with himself against the advice of all legal professionals. Farshtantoo???? Don't make that mistake!!!! A real ruv would know where he does know and where he does not know.
At 10:20 AM,
Anonymous said…
I don't understand why the ones who are self hating jews why are they alllowed to post on this blog?
At 10:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
NEBACH!!!!!!!
At 10:55 AM,
Anonymous said…
One part of this whole thing that I did not see mentioned here was MESIRAH!!!
This guy may have done something very wrong. However, it was his own nephews who massered him.
This is a guy who many years ago sat in jail because he REFUSED TO MASSUR ON A YID!!!! I don't see anyone talking about that!!
HOW COULD IT BE THAT HIS NEPHEWS WHO MASSURED ON HIM ARE LET INTO SHULS AND GIVEN THE BIGGEST KIBUDIM???????????
THEY SHOULD BE OSTRACIZED FROM EVERY COMMUNITY LIKE THE HALOCHA DICTATES!!
THEY SHOULD HAVE TO BE SO SHUNNED BE THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY WILL HAVE NOWHERE TO LIVE EXCEPT IN PLACES WHERE NOONE HAS YET HEARD ABOUT THEM! (MAYBE AUSTRALIA).
THIS IS INFATHOMABLE!!! MY HEART CRIES OUT FOR THIS TZADIK, YES, TZADIK WHO SAT IN PRISON FOR REFUSING TO MASSUR!!! YES, HE DID SOMETHING WRONG, BUT THE FACT THAT HIS NEPHEWS ARE GIVEN THE BIGGEST KAVOD IN SHULS AND KEHILLAS IS UNFORGIVABLE.
HASHEM WILL DEFINITELY PAY HIM BACK HIS FULL S'CHAR FOR NOT MASSURING. WE JUST DON'T SEE IT YET.
YESH DIN V'YESH DAYAN!!!!
At 4:13 PM,
Anonymous said…
You are totally off the mark - firstly, it's white collar not color, secondly, Jonathan Pollard deserved to sit, but the sentencing was extrememly harsh.
At 2:05 PM,
dave said…
ich hub nechten bakimen a shinem check fin de insurance company.
boruch hashem ich vell kennen yetz teilen tzedokoh in groisen, in shul vel ich koifen die shenste aliyos. ich vell mich lozen kosten bei yeden appeal. ich vel kenen tien sheina shiddiuchim mit meina kinder. vos de torah zogt, intersirt mich zeir veinig.
At 7:52 PM,
Anonymous said…
BLAME BLAME BLAME on everybody
But himself WHY its the easiest to explain....but the EMES always pops up.
At 11:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
All of the comments seem to fall under one of two headings:
A. The man committed a serious crime and should be punished; and
B. A brother Jew is being sent to prison and we must show rachmones.
Each of these threads is a valid issue, though the circumstances in this case present many practical challenges in reconciling the two.
My own personal sentiments come down squarely in the camp of the law enforcement imperative, and my empathies tend towards the employees who lost their jobs and the firefighters who were injured while humoring this man's greed(arson IS a crime of violence), and, of course, the insurance rate payers in the neighborhood, as well as the general public.
It is good that there are those in the "rachmones" camp to counterbalance what can easily become very strident sentiments from the "law enforcement" camp.
-- Expatriate Owl
At 6:47 PM,
Anonymous said…
I am not a member of your community although I have known Nat possibly far longer than most of you.
I was wondering if the same crimes (setting one or more fires, stealing $4.5 million and trying to steal more) were commited by someone other than a jew, i,e, a christian or a muslim, you would feel such sympathy.
It seems to me we should be judged by our acts, not our beliefs, as beliefs without acts are nothing at all.
At 7:09 AM,
Anonymous said…
Did any one mention the pain that nat created to his own family? "people wake up" think before you do stupit stuff .."think your family: "Think your wife" and keep the ten commandements
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