Chabad Insider Speaks Out Against Rabbi, Secrecy, In Massive Miami Ponzi Scheme

"It's like dealing with the Pope, everything is a secret. Why does the Catholic Church cover up child molestation? It's the same story [with Chabad], only on this end, it's all about the money."

Rothstein Chabad Insider Speaks Out Against Rabbi, Secrecy
By Bob Norman • BrowardPalmBeach.com

He won't give his name, but as he sat across from me in a Fort Lauderdale eatery today, he was clearly stressed as he talked about the place of worship, the Downtown Jewish Center Chabad.

​The chabad has been in the news because Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein was not only a dedicated member, but he helped build it with his ill-begotten money. Rothstein's name, which used to be on the building, has been removed, but the stain he has left on the congregation is far from removed, said the man.

He wouldn't give his name for fear of retaliation and losing, as he put it, "everything." He said he has become disillusioned with the DJCC, Rabbi Schneur Kaplan, and the entire chabad movement since Rothstein's billion-dollar Ponzi scheme imploded in late October.

But a slight smile crosses his face when he remembers first meeting Rothstein five or six years ago.

"He was driving a red Rolls Royce, a Corniche II convertible with red leather interior," said the man. "It was a very nice car. And he had a great voice, a beautiful

voice, a beautiful tenor. There was a joke that if the law career thing didn't pan out he could have a career as a singer. Who knew how funny that would become? Now he's singing like a canary."

​Rothstein has indeed been cooperating with the government since his return from Morocco and is expected to join the Witness Protection Program after helping to make a case against an alleged Sicilian mobster. His former chabad, however, isn't being quite so talkative. Earlier this month, Rabbi Kaplan invoked the "clergy privilege" to try and thwart bankruptcy attorneys' attempts to determine if the chabad owes Rothstein creditors any clawback funds.

The insider says he has come to expect such secrecty from the chabad, which he says at its heart, a cult. The Chabad Lubavitch movement is too complicated to be described here, so I turn to our old friend Wikipedia for a link to help you understand it.  

"The whole Chabad Lubavitch movement is a cult," he said. "They encourage you to do more and then a little more and then a little more. If you did a dollar today, they ask that you do a dollar-ten tomorrow. They deify the rabbi and the whole thing is geared toward a united world Jewry. Everything that goes well is the work of God. What goes bad is the work of Satan, so you must do more tzedakah, charity. It's a very secretive organization and at its core it exists as a fundraiser."

Bankruptcy investigators want all records the chabad has related to Rothstein and a list of all its donors since 2007. A court hearing on the chabad's attempt to block those requests is scheduled for April 7. A phone call I left with Rabbi Kaplan at the chabad was unreturned at the time this post was published.

​"The privilege protects Kaplan from being rolled up in the Rothstein case and it prevents the government from seizing the building," said the chabad insider. "Think about it, right around the time Scott started with Kaplan was the time he started giving the money to build the synagogue. Rothstein put a lot of money into building that chabad."

How much?

"I believe it's three to five million dollars, but I haven't seen the numbers," said the insider. "... Rothstein once told Kaplan that he was going to buy him a house. Rothstein said he loved Kaplan. Rothstein never refused the rabbi a dollar and when the rabbi needed money he went to Rothstein. The rabbi comes across as this charming charismatic man who is otherwise unassuming and doesn't make judgments. But I'll tell you now he's the fucking Jim Bakker of Judaism."

The insider remembers the dedication of Kaplan's new chabad last year, when Rothstein gave a speech. Rothstein's name was placed on the outside of the chabad, along with that of his good friend, Ovadia Levy.

"I remember Scott gave this speech where he talked about how walking with the rabbi was like he was a little boy again and walking with his grandfather," said the insider. "Then he said, 'I go down on bended knee for you people for your good works. I salute you.' And there he is on his knee in his $10,000 suit. It was great theater and total bullshit."

The source recounted how Rothstein would drive to the chabad in his array of sports cars, the Ferrari, the Rolls, the Bugatti. He recounted seeing his giant rolled wad of cash held together with a rubber band. He said he would throw hundreds at waiters like someone "throwing dollar bills at a stripper."  

The source also said that Rothstein made several day trips to New York in his plane and he suspects he went there to hide money. And he suspects, though he's not certain, that he may have hidden some money in what he calls the "invisible banks" of the Jewish Orthodox world.

​"Chabad has a system of invisible banks, it has internal, in-house money lenders and internal deposits," said the source. "It's all based on trust and who you know. Say I'm going to give $100,000. I give the money and then I get a little piece of paper with writing in Hebrew on it that has instructions. I get to Israel, I give them the piece of paper, and they give you the money. It's the same thing that's been going on in banks for centuries, only there is no oversight, no records, no taxes."

Interestingly, Kaplan's chabad isn't even recognized on Chabad.org, a website that is run "under the auspices of the Lubavitch World Headquarters." The insider says the reason for this is simple: Kaplan broke away from the sanctioned Lubavitch world and started his own renegade chabad in downtown without authorization.

The source said that the chabad system is all based on territorial system and that the leader of the South Florida territory is Rabbi Abraham Korf, director of the Lubavitch Education Center in Miami Beach. Korf, he said, oversees all chabad operations from Palm Beach to the Keys and any new chabad must be approved by Korf, he said.

Kaplan came to South Florida in the late 90s and initially worked with Rabbi Moishe Meir Lipszyc of the Chabad Lubavitch of Fort Lauderdale. He said that Kaplan eventually broke from Lipszyc's chabad and took several of his followers with him, including former NFL player Alan "Schlomo" Veingrad and attorney Peter Itzler.

"He broke contact with the [Chabad hierarchy] and set out on his own and did what he had to do," said the source. "In other words, he put his interests first. It was right around that time that he met Scott."

The insider says he wonders if the truth will ever come out about the Ponzi money Rothstein paid to Kaplan's chabad and likens the secrecy around the transactions to the Catholic Church scandals involving pedophilic priests.

"It's like dealing with the Pope, everything is a secret," said the source. "Why does the Catholic Church cover up child molestation? It's the same story here, only on this end, it's all about the money."

The insider said that in the end the government has a duty to get to the bottom of everything when it comes to Rothstein, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. 

"If we are cleaning out the criminals we have to get them all," he said. "You have to go all the way. You can't leave just a little bit of the cancer behind."

Comments

[Shlomo]

How can Rabbi Kaplan have broken away from chabad and be representative of all that is wrong with chabad.
Chabad is huge there is old chabad established chabad synagogues non chabad synagogues with a chabad Rabbi and many chabad houses. There are the official shluchim non official shluchim - probably meshichist mainly run from Israel etc.
There is no central supervision or director especially so many years after the Rebbe's death - people read into his letters and talks what they want.
It's really all about survival and economics you need money to survive and grow. How this is done is up to the individual (Chabad does have roots in Czarist Russia where it was considered good to deceive the government)
I've been in a group with a young representative of chabad who said he would not allow "Yechi" to be said in his presence.
Thats why I think the implication of this article is unfair by labelling a group

[Robert Wisler]

With articles like this being disseminated widely on websites, the government may finally take notice and the entire Chabad money machine (e.g. Cunin) may be blown wide open. Give it some time (let God do His work) and justice will finally prevail.

[Hometown Postville]

This is scary stuff, esp a post on a previous article that outlined the future of Chabad; e.g. families living solely from these charities producing 8-10 children, now comprising 10% of Jewish population but expotentially able to take over the middle east within the next 50 years. An uneducated cult with huge financial backing/total disregard for law and non-members= lethal combination!

[harold]

With articles like this being disseminated widely on websites

I don't know, one "blog" story of a "nameless insider" is not much to go on. I will hold off my judgment and see if this is just a flash in the pan by a nameless nobody with an axe to grind.

[Paul S Lipschutz]

I am also a member of the Downtown Chabad...never had been to one before coming to move here....these people do wonderful things and teach Jewish tradition and provide a house of prayer for Jews in far reaches of the world to gather in. Rabbi Kaplan is one of the most unselfish and kind person I have ever met in my 60+ years. I consider it ridiculous to publish an opinion from someone you have lunch across from that wont even give his name.

[Terry Steen]

This "interview" with someone who does not want to be identified is most suspicious.
Rabbi Kaplan and his wife are a loving couple that have inspired many to embrace the beauty of Judaism.
Thru their encouragement, many of us are rediscovering the great teachings of our Torah and connecting with our roots.
I further question this spurious "blog" as an attempt to throw a negative twist on the " Downtown Jewish Center" which does so much good for it's members as well as the general Fort Lauderdale community

[kusher]

Rabbi Kaplan is a tzaddik.
yes, Chabad got some money from Rothstein and is trying to legally keep it. Rotshtein had own kosher money too, and this is the money he gave to Chabad.

[Shmendrik]

Robert Wisler: you have defamed a rabbi who lives modestly and humbly. You may wish to consider and apologise.

[yael]

The whole paperslip with hebrew words to the banks in Israel is a bunch of bull and straight out of a KKK handbook. Can't belive you printed this drivel Scott!

[harold]

Can't belive you printed this drivel Scott!

When it comes to Chabad, no drivel is to silly and no rumor too unbelievable. This a Chabad dumping ground without any shred of journalistic processing. There is one and only standard that is applied and that is "does it make Chabad look bad". If it passes this “rigorous test” then it gets "published".

[Maskil]

Earlier comments note some of the holes in this guy's story. He has a few facts correct (like Korf being head shaliach of Florida) but there is a lot of delusional ranting (and even weaving in and out of inconsistent conspiracy theories) which, to my amazement, the journalist did not seem to notice.

But I disagree with those who would have this article not be posted. The fact that it got published alone is a marvel that readers should be given the opportunity to consider - each in his or her own way.

[Rebitzman]

"Chabad got some money from Rothstein and is trying to legally keep it. Rotshtein had own kosher money too, and this is the money he gave to Chabad."

Tell us the one about Channukah Harry! We love fairy tales.

Bava Kama is pretty clear on this point - the burden of proof is actually on YOU to prove that funds received from a known thief are treif. Midrash Exodus Rabba is as well.

You state the money is kosher only because you WANT it to be. If Rabbi Kaplan is the tzaddik you claim - he will throw the money back into Rothstein's face, he will return the funds to the people that Rothstein stole them from.

But guess what? He won't - because he's not a tzaddik. He's Lubavich.

[Relax]

Rebutzman: I detect some anger!!! With all that "Torah knowledge" you seem to have , you've for sure come accross many places , disscussing judging every person by THEIR specific actions , maybe I should generalize and say that it's because of ppl like you , that moshiach hadent come .... But I won't cause I'm sure there's some agenda u have where someone , that so happened to be chabad wronged you!!!!
You know i wouldn't be surprised if you screwed with the goverment in the past , as it says " what you see in others is a reflection of yourself" and the only remember when you point at others four fingers are pointing at yourself!
Calm down and start becoming a more accepting person, and then maybe you'll come to terms with yourself Mr righteous judge

[rakiba]

I am inclined to believe most rumors I hear about financial shenanigans in this and other insular Jewish communities. However, as a fact, Rabbi Kaplan (who I knew before his work in FLA) is a mensch, a truly humble person who obviously got caught up with a bad donor.