From Failed Messiah a recording in yiddish by the Skevere Rebbi who under tremendous pressure had to cave in an issue a statement
Skeverer Rebbi finally telling students not to resort to violence!
In this statement the Rebbi does ask that violence never be used, and wished a "Refuah Shlimah" for all those who need it,
 |
| Shaul Spitzer: Photo credit:failedmessiah |
 |
| Lipa Shmelter visits Chaim Aaron Rottenberg |
Journal News:
The Skvere Rebbe has not expressed any sympathy for Aron Rottenberg. He has not even asked his followers to pray for Rottenberg's recovery. This dynastic leader goes on with his regal life as if nothing has happened, as if a man is not lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life with the skin and flesh burned from half his body, simply because he did not want to pray at the Rebbe's synagogue.
Yet under the direction of the Skvere Rebbe a man was harassed, threatened and attacked. And then he and his family were almost murdered.
That harassment and those attacks are crimes. They are violations of Aaron Rottenberg's civil rights and the civil rights of his wife and children. Their attempted murder is hate crime, and the attempted arson of the Rotenberg home is no different than the burning of a black church or the firebombing of a synagogue.
These are federal crimes. They cry out for federal investigation.
And that investigation if faithfully conducted will, I believe, lead to the conviction and imprisonment of New Square's rabbinic and governmental leadership, including Rabbi David Twersky, the not so grand rabbi of the cult and criminal enterprise known as New Square.
Rottenberg's wife, Ruth Rottenberg, told reporters in her home Wednesday that the family had been harassed since her husband started attending prayers at a nearby nursing facility around the High Holidays in the fall. She said he believed prayers were too long in the main synagogue.
Their 15-year-old daughter was soon kicked out of school, she said, and their home and car windows were smashed. A week before the attack, an anonymous phone caller said their house "won't be worth a penny," she said.
Calls to the police went nowhere."It sounded like this was acceptable, to police, to everyone," she said.
Rottenberg's civil rights were violated in an ongoing campaign that culminated in the attempted murder of his entire family and himself.
Ramapo police and the Ramapo government appear to have been complicit in this and, at the very least, their indefensible inaction allowed the hatred of Rottenberg to grow and fester, and made the hate crime against him and his family possible.
The crimes against the Rottenbergs cry out for federal investigation.
The federal government should immediately launch an investigation of Ramapo's police and government.
But Pinches Dirnfeld is also right.
The Rebbe of Skvere knew about the violent and harrassing acts leading up to this week's attempted arson and murder. Yet he never condemned that violence and harrassment. Indeed, his rabbinic court sent out notices ordering residents to harrass the Rottenbergs.
And then early Sunday morning the Rebbe's personal butler donned a mask and (according to some, with several other men) went to the Rottenberg's house and tried to burn it down while the family slept.
But because of the family's vigilance and Aron Rottenberg's bravery, the house and Rottenberg's family were spared.
Rottenberg now fights for his life in a hospital.
His attacker, the Rebbe's butler, Shaul Spitzer, is recovering from less serious injuries and is free on $300,000 bond. Many believe he will flee the country as soon as he is well enough to travel, and that Skvere and its Rebbe will help him.
