Almost 20 years ago, Rabbi Abraham Rubin accused Rabbi Mendel Epstein of kidnapping him and torturing him to try to extort a Jewish religious divorce known as a get. Then-Brooklyn DA Charles J. Hynes refused to prosecute, and Epstein – who is now on federal criminal trial for a similar kidnapping and extortion plot – walked free. So did one of Epstein's co-conspirators, Rabbi Martin "Mordechai" Wolmark, and another haredi rabbi implicated – but never arrested or indicted – in witness tampering, harassment and related crimes committed against victims in child sex abuse cases, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Torah Vodaas yeshiva in Brooklyn.
This isn't new information, but with Rabbi Mendel Epstein's trial in full blown mode, I thought it would be instructive to recall some of Epstein's and Rabbi Martin Wolmark's alleged history and again point out that Rabbi Yisroel Belsky – who besides his job at Torah Vodaas is also OU Kosher's co-head posek (decisor of Orthodox Jewish law) – allegedly treats secular law like a floor mat to wipe your feet on.
From Newsday 3-8-1998. Please click to enlarge:
Here it is as a PDF file. Please right click to open in a new browser window or tab, or left click to download:
Rubin kidnapping get extortion Newsday 3-8-1998
Rubin Case Docs via Luke Ford.
Newsday scan via an old post on Da'at Torah.
Related Posts:
All Rabbi Mendel Epstein Posts.
All Rabbi Martin "Mordechai" Wolmark Posts.
All Rabbi Yisroel Belsky Posts.
[Hat Tip: UOJ.]