I wanted to give the Jewish Press a chance to respond to my Thursday, August 23 post revealing the gross plagiarism committed by one of its most well-known columnists, Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum.
To do that, immediately after posting the original story, I emailed Jason Maoz, the editor of the Jewish Press. I sent a link to the story, asked him for his response, and included four specific questions.
Many hours later, when Jason Maoz had not responded, I called the Jewish Press to speak with him. I was told he had left the office moments before. At the secretary's suggestion, I left him a voice mail. He did not respond to that, either.
Here are the qustions I asked Maoz in that email:
1. What is the JP policy on plagiarism?
2. How does this policy effect a regular, weekly columnist who has violated it?
3. Will Rabbi Tannenbaum's column be withdrawn?
4. Will he remain a weekly columnist?
Rabbi Tannenbaum is said to be close to members of the Klass family, founders of the Jewish Press. This may explain why a plagiarized column is still posted on its website without correction or emendation more than two full days after being notified of the theft. It may also explain why a man with a thirty-plus-year record of fraud and SEC violations has a weekly column in "America's largest independent Jewish newspaper," and the current silence of its editor, Jason Maoz, as well.