29 years ago Halloween, a 16-year-old yeshiva student, Chaim Weiss, was hacked to death with a hatchet-like instrument in his third floor dorm room in the Long Beach, New York haredi yeshiva. It was Shabbat night, and when Weiss's body was discovered Shabbat morning, the behavior of yeshiva officials hampered the police investigation. Chaim Weiss's murderer has still not been arrested. Here's part of reason that is so.
Above: Chaim Weiss
Twenty-nine years ago Halloween, a 16-year-old yeshiva student, Chaim Weiss, was hacked to death with a hatchet-like instrument in his third floor dorm room in the Long Beach, New York haredi yeshiva.
It was late on Shabbat night, Weiss didn't have a roommate, and when Weiss's body was discovered Shabbat morning, the behavior of yeshiva officials hampered the police investigation by claiming they could not fully cooperate or answer police questions until Shabbat was over. As the Daily News reported that Sunday:
…Police said their initial investigation was hampered because yesterday was the Jewish Sabbath. Officials of the yeshiva would not agree to discuss the case extensively until sundown, when the Sabbath ended.…
The idea that halakha (Orthodox Jewish law) prohibited full cooperation with police is laughable. If anything, halakha would mandate full cooperation, even violating Shabbat if necessary, to catch a murderer who might kill someone else.
That means one of two things: 1. The yeshiva's rabbis were ignorant of basic halakha. 2. They knew the murderer would not kill again or would not kill in the immediate future. If #2 is the case, that would mean they knew (or strongly suspected they knew) the motive for the murder. And that means they likely knew who the murderer was. And that likely makes the murderer one of them, a rabbi or a yeshiva student. (For other reasons this is likely, see here.)
Chaim Weiss's murderer has still not been arrested.
Who is this murderer? Is he your child's rebbe? Is he your neighbor? Is he a rabbi who decides halakha for you?
Police are still looking for Chaim Weiss's murderer. One day, maybe even one day soon, they'll have enough proof to arrest him. And if there is any such thing as Divine justice, that arrest and perp walk will take place on Shabbat or Yom Tov.
Related Post:
Haredi Yeshiva Student Likely Murdered By Rabbi Or Fellow Student, Cops Reportedly Say.