Suspect In Chabad Bombing Arrested
An FBI spokesperson confirmed to Fox 8 News that a suspect in the explosion outside of a Santa Monica, Calif., synagogue was arrested in Cleveland Heights Monday evening.
FBI: Suspect in Calif. Explosion Arrested in Cleveland Hts.
By Lindsay Buckingham • Fox 8 News
An FBI spokesperson confirmed to Fox 8 News that a suspect in the explosion outside of a Santa Monica, Calif., synagogue was arrested in Cleveland Heights Monday evening.
Ron Hirsch, 60, is in the custody of the Cleveland Heights Police Department, Laura Eimiller, media coordinator for the Los Angeles FBI, said.
The following statement was released by the FBI:
"An individual believed to be Ron Hirsch, the man wanted in connection with the 4/7/11 explosion in Santa Monica, was taken into custody in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Monday evening. The individual in custody was arrested following a call to law enforcement by a concerned citizen who had come into contact with man believed to be Hirsch. This is a continuing investigation and additional details will be provided as they are developed."
Hirsch, a transient, is accused of causing an explosion outside of the Chabad House Lubavitch of Santa Monica last week. No one was hurt, but the blast shattered windows and blew a hole in the building. A nearby home was also damaged heavy debris.
Stick with Fox 8 News and FOX8.com for more on this breaking news story, as they become available.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
[Hat Tip: The Other DK, CS.]
Wasn't this reported to be an accident.
Posted by: David | April 12, 2011 at 07:57 AM
He must've read "Bombing for Bummies". Rim shot.
Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 12, 2011 at 08:49 AM
An accident? Yeah bombs accidentally going off happen all the time. A lunatic hanging around a Chabad House what are the odds of that? Seriously has anyone gone to a Chabad House and not seen guys just like this guy.
Posted by: shimon baum | April 12, 2011 at 08:56 AM
Yes, and I am going to respect them a helluvalot more from now on.
Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 12, 2011 at 09:09 AM
Kudos to the Chabad Media Machine!
A Chabad House has become such a normative institution that the country's major newspapers seem to be able to mention it in first reference without any other explanation other than it is a synagogue.
For example:
Synagogue bombing suspect is arrested in Ohio near another synagogue
April 12, 2011 | 6:33 am
A man suspected in the explosion last week next to a Santa Monica synagogue was arrested in Ohio late Monday after someone noticed him at another synagogue in Cleveland Heights.
Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Ron Hirsch, 60, was arrested near a Chabad House in the Ohio city. He is accused of setting off a large explosive device at the Santa Monica Chabad House on Thursday. . .
A decade ago, a mention of Chabad would necessitate the type of awkward sentence that would drive Zalman Shmotkin andYudel Krinsky crazy. Today, as a monument to their efforts, the Chabad House can stand proud alongside the Temples Beth This or That,
Posted by: A E ANDERSON | Christchurch, New Zealand | April 12, 2011 at 09:09 AM
IHoP also no longer needs to be explained neither does KFC So what ?
They have exchanged a meaningful value loaded spiritual system for a PR fund raising machine.
The famous Dr. Laura used to inform us that she prayed at a Chabad .
The chidush there is that her Chabad actually had regular services.
Posted by: Zalman Alpert | April 12, 2011 at 09:38 AM
May I suggest that all the charedi do gooders who are so concerned for the welfare of RSMR and other gedolim(Weingarten, Leibowitz) in the US prison sysytem(and overseas) immediately launch an emergency fund raising campaign to free Ron Hirsch. I propose that the honorable publisher of the Yated jump start this emergency kofer nefesh campaign. What a Mitzvah to start off Passover with the zechusim not to be believed. In the spirit of Passover should it not start immediately; why should a Jew with a beard yet be in jail this time of year no matter whta he is accused of doing ? I urge everyone in Monroe, Crown Hts, Lakewood , Monsey, the Holy 5 Towns to contribute in a generous manner.
Rallies need to be organized immediately and demands made to release this man after all he has a beard and is Jewish what more can attest to the innocence of this man ?
Like RSMR he clearly meant weell as seen by his hanging around Chabad but was misguided by his inability to go into his true calling becoming a shliach.
Posted by: Zalman Alpert | April 12, 2011 at 09:46 AM
well, most Bovvies are bombed half the time anyhow, so I guess it seemed normal to them.
Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 12, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Put him in the cell with Sham Wow.
Posted by: yidandahalf | April 12, 2011 at 11:17 AM
Reportedly, a FRUM ORTHODOX JEW turned him in!
Posted by: . | April 12, 2011 at 11:20 AM
FROM ABC NEWS:
"Basically, I took him to get him dinner," said a rabbi involved in the apprehension, who asked not to be identified by name. "I kept on asking him questions. Things did not seem right. We decided to put him up in a local motel.
"Today, I happened to be on the Jewish website 'Vos Iz Neias,'" the rabbi added. "I saw the facial features, although he shaved off part of his beard. First thing I did was call my local rabbi to see if I could report him. He said, 'If he is a danger to society, you have to report him.' I called the FBI in Santa Monica. They asked me to call the Cleveland Heights police. They came to synagogue, and he was sitting right in the back."
Maybe this "rabbi" should have called another three rabbis before he moisered Hirsch. How can he be so sure that he is "a danger to society?" Don't you need a bais din to determine who is a rodef? So what if he tried to blow up a building and massacre hundreds? The same goes for child molesters. So what if they go on and sexually abuse another hundred children? Who says that he is a rodef? We need to keep asking and thoroughly investigating the halacha. What the Shulchan Aruch wrote and what Rav Elyashiv answered is not enough. When a Jew wearing a beard and/or a hat is involved, we must find any way possible to keep him free and away from the police. Had this "rabbi" called a real rabbi like Rabbi Belsky or Menashe Klein, Rabbi Ronald Hirsch would still be free. This should also be a lesson to the presumptuous promoters who say to go directly to the police without asking a rav. Even if Rav Hirsch managed to slip through our fingers, like so many child molesters, it is worth the risk to ask a rav first. Men, next time you see a woman drowning in the ocean, take the time to call your local rav on your cellphone. Even if she drowns in the meantime, you always need to ask!
Posted by: steve | April 12, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Steve.
There still is time to organize a camapign prior to Passover for his release.
We need to enlist RSM Rubashkin and other gedolim to endorse this campaign.
It is a matter of urgency that a jew who spent many years in chabad and has a beard should be released from the clutches of the Anti semitic law enforcemetn agencies in America.
Why are the rabbis sleeping ?
The bomb was a mistake he was trying to make Cholent (what rabbi Zalman Schachter calls Jewish rocket fuel) and it exploded. hardly a reason to hold a man in confinement. making a cholent is a crime , not even in the Old USSR was it such . Where are the gedolim ?
And now we hear of Messiroh ? I just can't beleive it. Do anyone know how to contact the chabad sponsored agnecy to help inmates. Nat lewin where are you ?
Posted by: Zalman Alpert | April 12, 2011 at 11:53 AM
U guy's are sick Rabbi Rubashkin was convicted on white collar offences so if his friends and family rise money for his defense why are you laughing at them this lunny guy was really close to killing people he should be locked up either in a prison or mental institution obviously its sad that he reached such a point but theres going to be a certain amount of crazy people and yes Chabad house have there share of them its a known thing that every Chabad house has at least one this guy just went over bored sad but why joke about it and mix in other cases
Posted by: The Real Joe | April 12, 2011 at 02:45 PM
A mentally unstable person hanging around a Chabad House. Fancy that...
Posted by: David | April 12, 2011 at 03:29 PM
Is this what Eric Cartman will look like when he grows up and becomes a Chassid?
Posted by: David | April 12, 2011 at 03:46 PM
Who knows how fed up the man could have been of Chabad !!!!!
Posted by: RR | April 12, 2011 at 03:50 PM
the dude slept in an alley and was a transient-wouldnt be surprised if he had substance abuse problems-dont know if you can pin this one on Chabad-they were probably the only ones in the world that woulda given him the time of day-
Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 12, 2011 at 04:00 PM
TooClose, you are right.
A lot of Chabad Houses have guys like this, because Chabad rabbis are the only people with the decency to offer a person like this a hot meal, a sympathetic ear, an effort to find him a job, get him some clothes, even a room to stay at the shul 'temporarily'.
Very often, these guys don't turn their lives around; you can't change 40, 50 or 60 years of bad habits so easily. But, I salute Chabad rabbis- including my own- who reach out to offer genuine chesed towards a person that nobody else will even look at.
Posted by: WoolSilkCotton | April 12, 2011 at 05:14 PM
Is it just me or does this guy look like Jabba the Hutt?
Posted by: Raphael Kaufman | April 12, 2011 at 06:14 PM
there was a guy here in tooclose2detroit that the Chabad Rabbi had tried to help out-his reward?-getting attacked in the parking lot by the guy with a knife-I think all shuls will try to help people that are down and out-heaven knows in the place that i doven there are a number of people that are a few clubs short of a full set walking around-but if they are really nuts, they are not allowed to stay-I think Chabad is probably looser on that, and sometimes that isnt so wise.
Posted by: tooclose2detroit | April 12, 2011 at 07:58 PM
I an shocked at all no one wants to to attack the mosser? How could that be we must find out who is was that reported him and who that clown of rabbie was who said he could call the police.
The police, what a few rebbies could not have handles this.
Posted by: seymour | April 12, 2011 at 08:32 PM
Mark my words, in a year or so there will be an outcry to release this guy because he did "tshuvah". My guess is Chabad will initiate the pidyon shvuyim campaign.
Posted by: steve | April 12, 2011 at 09:20 PM
The rabbi that handled him over to the police committed mesirah.
Posted by: Jon | April 12, 2011 at 10:09 PM
It's not mesirah if someone inflicts damage on or just pisses off a chareidi rabbi.
Its only mesirah if the victim of the crime is not a charedi rabbi or an orthodox institution.
Posted by: Dr. Dave | April 13, 2011 at 08:12 AM
I lived at the Chabad House in Miami Beach for the better part of a year back in the mid-1970s. To this day, I can remember the range of characters that came through the place. It was constant source of amusement to all, even the Shluchim.
Then as now, Chabad picks up where the mainstream denominations of Reform, Recon, Conservative and Orthodox leave off. They are the last place of refuge for the alienated Jew, a welcoming haven in a world of membership committees, prohibitive dues and building fees.
In my experience, there and elsewhere in Chabad, few shluchim would have any qualms calling in the cops in any situation of danger. The mesirah thing seems to be something that religious Jews invoke against each other, not BTs or potential BTs.
Posted by: A E ANDERSON | Christchurch, New Zealand | April 13, 2011 at 10:34 AM
The rabbi that handled him over to the police committed mesirah.
Posted by: Jon | April 12, 2011 at 10:09 PM
Should we also have mercy on him because he is an orphan.
Can anyone provide us with a few of those pesky things called facts. Perhaps I'd have better luck searching the Freebie section on Craigslist. Afterall, that's where one can find common but no longer needed items.
Posted by: baruch | April 13, 2011 at 03:36 PM
Better luck next time Rabbi Ron Hirsh! do a better job.
Posted by: Maheshwarah | August 13, 2011 at 11:22 PM
Kudos for Rabbi Ron Hirsch for at least trying! fuck Cha-Bad!
Posted by: Maheshwarah | August 13, 2011 at 11:26 PM