Lincoln Square Synagogue, the iconic Modern Orthodox Upper West Side congregation founded decades ago by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, allegedly told Joseph Allaham, the owner of Prime Grill and several other high-end kosher eateries in the city, that if he doesn’t withdraw his $1.8 million civil suit against Lincoln Square Synagogue, it will make sure that all of those eateries and their related catering operations lose their Orthodox Union OU Kosher supervision.
Above: Shaul Robinson
Iconic Manhattan Modern Orthodox Synagogue Threatens NYC’s Most Prominent Kosher Restauranteur That It Will Have The OU Pull Its Kosher Supervision Unless The Restauranteur Withdraws A $1.8 Million Civil Suit Against It
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Lincoln Square Synagogue, the iconic Modern Orthodox Upper West Side congregation founded decades ago by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, allegedly told Joseph Allaham, the owner of Prime Grill and several other high-end kosher eateries in the city, that if he doesn’t withdraw his $1.8 million civil suit against Lincoln Square Synagogue, it will make sure that all of those eateries and their related catering operations lose their Orthodox Union OU Kosher supervision, the New York Post reported today.
Lincoln Square wants Allaham to move his suit to the Beit Din of America, an Orthodox Jewish religious court controlled by the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), which itself is closely linked to the OU.
The threat is presumably based on the concept in halakha (Orthodox Jewish law) that lawsuits cannot be brought to non-Jewish courts or authorities without the express permission of a beit din or leading Orthodox rabbi. Violating this Jewish law could make one unfit to hold various Jewish communal positions and could lead to excommunication. But in actual practice, people with money and power – including a long list of hasidic rebbes – have easily gotten their decisions to sue an adversary in non-Jewish courts rubberstamped.
However, kosher supervision in the modern era is not based on the level of religiosity of the restaurant’s owner, and even non-Jews can and have owned kosher restaurants, even restaurants that serve meat, the most difficult food item to adequately supervise. That makes Lincoln Square’s alleged threat appear to be extortion.
If Allaham loses kosher supervision it could easily destroy all of his restaurants and related businesses.
The basis for Allaham’s lawsuit is reportedly as follows:
• Allaham agreed to help pay for Lincoln Square Synagogue to build a new banquet hall and agreed to provide the catering services for it.
• Allaham gave Lincoln Square $1.5 million for that purpose.
• Construction on the project was significantly delayed.
• Allaham claims that delay cost him $300,000 in catering business.
• Allaham wants Lincoln Square to give him that $300,000 plus the $1.5 million he paid for his share in building the catering hall.
Allaham does not want to bring the case to the Beit Din of America, he reportedly says, because Lincoln Square’s rabbi, Shaul Robinson, is a member of the Beit Din of America’s parent body, the RCA.
“That’s the conflict of interest,” Allaham told The Post.