By COLlive reporter
There is now another development in the never-ending saga over leadership positions in the Jewish community in Crown Heights, which just a year ago seemed to have been on the right path to settlement.
Rabbi Avrohom Rosenberg, the high-profile dayan from Monsey who was brought in to preside over communal matters, has notified Thursday he is resigning from his position.
He has been paid for the mediation work as part of a Zabla Beis Din along with 4 Israeli Chabad Rabbis: Moshe Havlin, Binyomin Kuperman, Yosef Hecht and Baruch Yurkowitz.
In an email sent today to some 26 individuals involved in the case, Rosenberg wrote that as a result “of reasons I prefer not to detail, I have decided not to continue dealing with this case.”
He added that if his colleagues from Israel will fly in to the U.S. and try the matters together, “I will reconsider my above-mentioned decision.”
The Chassidic but non-Chabad Rosenberg has been under fire for rulings he made on his own, leading to an election of a third rabbi to the neighborhood Badatz which some accused was held under false pretenses.
Following an inauguration ceremony and signing a contract, the elected Rabbi Yossi Braun has moved with his family from Australia last week, but senior Badatz member Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba refuses to recognize him.
In addition, an Ikul restraining order requested by a group of individuals in the community on Rabbi Braun’s employment has been put out by a Brooklyn Beis Din (headed by Rabbi Chaim Krauss). Rabbi Braun himself has been invited to a hearing.
But as the sides quarrel, a majority of Crown Heights residents remain in the dark to its developments, seemingly out of a lack and interest, or even disgust, towards the continued infighting.
One of the residents who remain confused, although he is a key player, is Zaki Tamir, Chairman of the Crown Heights Vaad Hakohol which employs the rabbonim.
Elected last year by a large majority in a special election, and busy these days with trying to pull together donations to cover salaries, he admits he is at a crossroads at this point.
“Rabbi Osdoba tells me one thing, Rabbi Yaacov Schwei another, and the person we were meant to come to for middle ground is leaving,” Tamir told COLlive Thursday after hearing about Rosenberg’s leave.
He and Vaad Hakohol members Yossi Hackner and Fishel Brownstein have not yet notified how they plan to proceed forward.
With the advice of mashpiim, COLlive.com has decided to cut down on our reporting on the matter, only notifying the public about major developments.
Zaki, don’t get dicouraged. G-d put you in this position because he believes in you.
This is the worst case of dirty laundry habging in public! this is so typical of the nonsence that it is the community leadership and all the rifraf of Crown Heights even when the rebbe was right there giving specific instractions on how to do things there was always people that tried and sometime succeesed in “interperting” what the rebbe said there is no one in the community that can rise up and have the whole community listen so no wonder an outsider couldn’t do it this is a hameful “badge of honor” the community can ware forever, there is… Read more »
no 1 is saying a word about the concerns from harav ozdoba. just answer there concerns and finish. all your saying is ‘A PASACK IS A PESAK”. if you are so sure he has smiche just show it. and show also all the other issues how money favored one side. what you affraid about
Dear crown heights, after viewing these meshugene events from the sidelines for the past few months with growing frustration, i have decided to step in. I will be running (in a privately managed election) to be the sole independent dictating rabbi/ruler of the crown heights lubavitch community! Pls lend your support. After blowing balloons for almost every simcha in lubavitch , i think i posses the talent and ability to lead lubavitch to worldwide peace and prosperity! All in favor (or chas veshalom otherwise) please respond in the comments. Thank you in advance for your support!
Reb Yoel Kahn is a very Chosuve Yid he however is not a Rov! A Beis Din is made up of Rabbonim, they are the ones who decide and the ones who are to be listened too. This is being said with all do respect – I listen to Reb Yoel all the time, it doesn’t however change the facts
we should challenge Rabbi Shlomo Segal’s possition as a mat”z on the Beis Din.
his position as Chaver Habeis Din was rejected by the Zabl”o beis din. what does he do? he wages an all out war against the person who won the elections.
one who wages war against the interests of the community (and goes to another beis din to shlep them in – AFTER HE LOST in the zabl”o) – simply cannot serve even as a mat”z on the beis din.
game over!
@ #36 Really you know what the Rebbe’s opinion is? Are you trying to tell me that the Rebbe, who made possesion of Smicha to be one of the conditions for candidacy to be Rov would have accepted a candidate who didn’t have Smicha?
thankyou for that wonderful decision to stop reporting on this matter and fanning the fire of machlokes, iwm sure that will hasten the achdus and revalation of moshiach!
That’s wonderful! So now R’ Braun has “smicha” from Rabbi Kraus! …I hope no one grabs the Hazmona and tears up this smicha.
Statement by Zaki Tamir: By now the word has spread that Rabbi Rosenberg has resigned from the zablo. I have not spoken to him since he submitted his resignation, but from my point of view, the burden that he was carrying was becoming to great. The cooperation that was expected and necessary from key parties and individuals simply wasn’t there. There was also a continuous barrage of attacks and slander. He has numerous other Dinei Torah that need his attention, and had already given his psak regarding Crown Heights. It was not his intention or obligation to have to mediate… Read more »
he was not respected and for his own sake lets not get into details
PLEASE KEEP ALL YOUR HAHORES TO YOURSELF!!
With and without your comments, the facts remain the same.
(Don´t forget that it´s loshon hora, rechilus, motzi shem ra…)
Of course rabbi rosenberg quits. I would too. When you see that all your dealing with is a bunch of hoodlums you don’t want to get dirty as well. All these rabble rousers should go home and work out their personal frustrations and then they won’t feel the need to lace into innocent people and tear them apart.
The real solution would be for Rabbi Braun to step down and start over. I am not sure why he would want the job anyway.
What baffles my mind is Rabbi Braun was a VERY well respected and accomplished rov in Australia. Why did he need the headache of moving to New York to a neiborhood with folks whose only goal in life is to make machlokos and rip the shchuna apart as much as they can!
But for the record, the great and holy Rabbi Osdobe has LIED to me to my face on more than one occasion involving some very very serious matters. What makes him better than any joe blow on the street????
Did he quit because we sees that the community is low on funds to pay him for his time?
I didn’t notice any mention of R’ Feldman @ the Tzescam Leshalom
and now he won’t be so he quit. End of story.
Absolutely butyfull clear and easy to understand! Thanks for posting that link I think every body should listen to it !!
Rabbi Rosenberg Had enough means he had and got enough MONEY and ripped off all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time to go back to Monsey (Money without the letter S) for Purim.
I feel for you. Prime Minister of Iraq might be easier then Crown Heights
even if the Rebbe himself would publicly say that Rabbi Braun IS a rov and chaver habadatz of CH ,the anarchists would continue trying to throw obsticles on his way. these people just need to be completely ignored.
For those of you who haven’t yet, read the Hozmono it refers to Rabbi Braun as “Rov.”
he must follow the majority opinion of the beis din of crown heights. now that we B”H have a complete beis din of 3 chasidishe rabbonim.
26: you’re asking for documents as to the evidence and the reasoning, etc. But the Zablo said all that is secondary to the psak, and the only b’d that can undo the psak is the b’d of the zabla itself. So your eygene svoros, though interesting, are irrelevant. 27: Every single psak was disputed. It was all b’shem haB’d. The reason only he signed is because HE IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE STATES!! (They all came to the US for the Din Torah, remember? And then He went to EY to have them sign the original psak.) How many… Read more »
isnt reb yoel kahan choshuv enough to be listened to
and two while i respect all the rabbis involved can each rabbi of the beis din state clearly they saw rabbi brauns smechaor not before he was placed on the ballot
if they relied on rabbi rosenberg then the vaad hakahal should recieve their 50 thousand dollars they paid him back
Because there are sore loosers that are constantly bombarding him with all sorts of nonsense. HE and the Beis Din have NO problems. They issued clear piskey dinim.
It is you and your friends that cannot live with the fact that your candidate lost in a democratic election and will go to great lengths to try to undermine the clear Psak Din of the Beis Din.
(obviously, with all sorts of “holy” arguments… לטהר את השרץ בק”ן טעמים )
I think all the Askonim in Crown Heights should speak and/or visit other Anash communities that are run properly and do not have Machlokos and take their advice. Its becoming to a point that the Anash in Crown Heights are embarrassed to tell people that the are from and live in Crown Heights.
המוציא מחבירו עליו הראיה
YOU are accusing Rabbi Rosenberg of forging a Psak Din in the name of the unanimous Beis Din.
if YOU want to challenge this – YOU WILL NEED TO SUPPLY US WITH CONCRETE EVIDENCE.
Otherwise you are just a soar looser trying to undermine and smear good people.
what i don’t understand is: R. Rosenburg who from the first place put R. Braun on the ballot (with out the proper qualifications/ smicha…)- what does it exactly mean that he has “had enough”?
is he not the Rabbi that caused the whole problem from the beginning!?
if you caused a problem- come out to the public and say so!
why can’t R. Rosenburg come to the public and say, ” it was a mistake putting R. Braun on the ballot!?”
@ #22 the logic is quiet simple, up until the final ruling all 5 Rabbonim signed every psak that came out of the B”D, until the final disputed psak, which only one of the 5 Rabbonim singed, that would seem significant to me, doesn’t it to you?
Where is the documented signed by all the 5 Rabbonim to the Zablo.
Did they ever see the original Semicha of Y.Y. Braun before his candidacy was accepted prior to the election process.
The answer to question number one one is no, because the document does not exist and the answer to number two is also no because there was no semicha document in existance at that time.
Therefore the zablo is inconclusive to say the least.
R’ Braun remains a yungerman who can learn well, but has no Rabbinic standing in Crown Heights or anywhere else.
Kol Hakovod Collive for consulting with and following the advice of Mashpiim to not report the infighting, but only when major events happen. This shows on a real chassidishkeit and bittul. Even though some will be upset bec. there will always be people who prefer gossip than what’s right, kol hakovod to you for giving up on this newspiece and doing what’s right. Hashem should bentch you that you shoudl be matzliach only with putting up besuros tovos.
Is there any support for moving for a cherem against any parties who published private correspondences?
a) the private inter-Zablo and Rosenberg-Braun emails, despite R’ Rosenberg’s explicit statement that he wished the emails remain private,
and 2) an email sent by R Braun to a blogger in which he specifically asks that the correspondence remain private.
Anyone else in on this?
No earlier ruling have been withdrawn or reformed.
The last Psak Din issued by the Zabla specified that HaRav Yossi Braun is the third Rav in the Crown Heights Beth Din.
So long as the case is not reopened, the status-quo is unchangeable.
A freilichen purim!
Are you serious? Where did you get your to-secret information from?
Have you seen a written letter from the other 4 Rabbonim stating that they opose the Psak Din singed by Rabbi Rosenberg? (‘in the name of the beis din’).
Where did you dream up such nonsense? Please clarify you position with LOGIC.
The best part of this article is the last 3 lines. The whole situation is embarrassing and it should be dealt with like we deal with an annoying friend – just ignore.
Only R’ Havlin didn’t agree, and he was overruled. 4>1. Every time R’ Rosenberg said anything it was b’shem hab”d. (Thus the latest leaks needed to be leaked: R’ Rosenberg was waiting for everyone to come together.)
listen to this short story the Rebbe relates about how a loosing party to a Din Torah usually reacts…
http://bit.ly/i6n9ck
What a great Purim Costume!
Rabbi Rosenberg is not prepared to continue hearing the perpetual appeals that are sent to him around the clock.
No previous ruling have been retracted or altered.
The last Psak Din to be issued by the Beis Din stated that Rabbi Yossi Braun is the third rabbi in the Crown Heights Rabbinate. So long as the case is not reopened, the status quo is unchangeable.
Furthermore, in order to change the previous rulings, all five members will need to sit together again.
Much thanks to collive for staying out of the slander and mudslinging.
I would rather get the full story when this saga ends, instead getting hit with rumors and slander.
The Zablo did not rule yet, Rabbi Rosenberg ruled on his own, the other 4 Rabbonim did not seem to agree.
I for one am glad he has left, he was hopelessly nogia bedovar because he didnt vet R’ Braun like he should have.
HALACHA dictates that we must follow the ruling of the accepted bais din (in this case zabl”o).
Unless I missed something, ALL the rulings of the Beis Din were very clear.
Lets try to use some logic.
Rabbi Rosenberg states that he is signing בשם הבית דין.
Who told YOU that the other 4 Rabbonim aren’t part of it? Did you hear from ANY ONE of them? (you would need a majority…)
You thought that you can’t make this up in real life? will here you have it.
he gave two CLEAR psokim. both saying that Rabbi Broin is Rov.
but the Baalei Machlokes on the losing side cant rest, so they complain, get “Ikulim”.. everything to undermine the Zabl”o.
what Rabbi rosenburg is saying is
ITS REAL EASY TO SEND ME FAXES AND EMAILS WITH NO SUBSTANCE, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING SUBSTANTIAL PAY AND BRING ALL THE RABONIM IN, OTHERWISE SHUT UP!
so until we hear otherwise Rabbi Broin IS THE ROV OF C.H.
While I greatly admire COL for consulting and following mashpiim’s advice, I am outraged at their advise to cut down on the reporting!! What possible justification could they have for censoring the coverage of such a vital issue?
Any kind of reference to loshon horah or chilul hashem must be countered and weighed against the damage that is allowed to occur when “nobody’s looking”–under the cover of their censorship.
What do you expect? He’s received all types of threats from the losing side. He’s been harassed by them. Check the other “news” website and see what the commenters have been calling him (whenever they lose on a ruling, that is). They won’t let him eat, breathe or sleep. He okays a smicha, and they want another smicha. He okays the other smicha, so they want handwriting analysis. He ruled one way, they run for an ikkul. He rules on the ikkul and they start a campaign of intimidation against him, culminating in posting his private emails on the Internet.… Read more »
Does Rabbi Havlin agree with this? Has he made is opinion known to anyone – in an official manner?
Crown Heights now has another chance to get it right without using narrow minded methods.
Its time there we elect a five member Bais Dian that will better represent the very diverse Crown Heights community and then all can feel they have representation in the Bias Din.
“He and Vaad Hakohol members Yossi Hackner and Fishel Brownstein have not yet notified how they plan to proceed forward”
There is nothing for them to plan. The Zabl”o Beis din issued a CLEAR PSAK DIN.
Ay, some people (from the loosing side) have questions? they will always have question! (since they didn’t win the fair, open, democratic elections..
Why cant we be clear: ” Ikul restraining order requested by a group of individuals” is LEAD BY R’ SHLOMO SEGAL. he considers himself part of the beis din!
in my uneducated opinion, when a psak din is given by a beis din – that is final.
If in the future a opposing psak din comes out – we would have to deal with it at that time.
No all his Psaking – that he made on his own without consulting the other 4 Rabbonim – are null and void!
all the written rulings of the beit din were very clear. in my opinion, unless there is a new/different ruling of the beit din, the last decision stands.
“The Chassidic but non-Chabad Rosenberg has been under fire for rulings he made on his own”
This statement is wholey inacurate. Rabbi Rosenberg clearly wrote and signed in the Psad Din that it is “in the name of the entire beis din”.
Is someone accusing him of lying? Did the other 4 members (or at least a majority) state publicly that the psak was issued without their express approval?