Frum drug pushers???

faigie

Sat, Sep 13 2014, 10:13 pm

Whats the deal with this article published in the Post on Sept 12th?
High holy days, indeed!
A crew of Hasidic Jews from Crown Heights who dreamed of fancy Hawaiian getaways tried to score 50 pounds of potent pot from an FBI agent posing as a Texas drug dealer, according to court papers.
Wearing traditional yarmulkes and tzitzits, Boruch “Barry” Rapoport, 47, Moshe “Mony” Horenshtein, 27, and Menachem Jacobson, 30, were all arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday and will have their cases transferred to Texas to face drug raps there.
Rapoport, who is married with kids and lives on public assistance, met an agent posing as a El Paso drug honcho in April and said he needed a staggering 50 pounds of pot a week, according to a criminal complaint.
The leery Lubavitcher asked that he be kept away from the marijuana trove because he and his cohorts “won’t be going to Hawaii for many years” if they were ever busted with the haul, according to court papers.
“Rapoport stated that he didn’t want to be in the same room as the ‘s–t,’ ” the complaint states.
Rapoport also demanded that they use the code words “alfalfa” and “vegetables” for marijuana.
The undercover told Rapoport that his marijuana mountain was located in El Paso and that he would have to have it transported by truck to Brooklyn.
The two agreed to have the pot delivered to a warehouse on Atlantic and Nostrand avenues on Tuesday and that they would close the deal the next day, according to court papers.
Rapoport met the undercover at a Brooklyn hotel to hand over the cash on Wednesday while Horenshtein and Jacobson arrived at the warehouse to inspect the pot and talk business, court papers state.
Jacobson, whose bail was posted by Hunter College Chabad Rabbi Boruch Jacobson, was pleased that the weed was high quality because “you can’t sell that Mexican stuff around here,” according to the complaint.
“Jacobson then stated that he knew about ‘hydro’ and the requirements for growing it because he was asked to grow some before,” the suit states.
Horenshtein, who plays in a Hasidic music band, handed over $3,000 to the agent to cover transport costs and selected two marijuana bricks as samples before the agents pounced. Rapoport — who pays $108 in rent for his subsidized $1,400 apartment — produced $95,000 in cash to pay for the pot before he was arrested.
All three men were released on $500,000 bond and will appear in court in Texas federal court on Sept. 26.
Horenshtein’s bail was posted by members of the powerful Rubashkin family of Crown Heights.
The clan owns a host of businesses — including the a massive kosher-food outfit — and is heavily influential in the Lubavitch community.
Horenshtein’s attorney, Zaki Tamir, did not return a call for comment. Jacobson’s lawyer, Albert Dayan, declined to comment.

pumpernickle

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 2:40 am

faigie wrote:

What I really dont get, is why the Rubashkins gave money to bail the guy out? Werent they raising money to pay their own legal fees???? Werent they asking for donations to cover their relatives bills?

When a person gives tzedaka you have fulfilled the mitzvah. The mitzvah does not include controlling what exactly the people do with their money and besides, you never know where the money used for bail came from.

Also just sayin that pidyon shivuim is also a mitzvah according to the Torah. If they didnt follow the Torah doesnt mean we have to follow suit.

Yocheved84

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 7:23 am

ValleyMom wrote:

What I really Don't "get" is the incessant need to speak Lashon Hara Erev Rosh Hashana??!!

It's not gossip or Lashon Hara. It's a discussion about a front-page news story which only serves to make us, as a people, look bad. So many of my students have anti-Semitic beliefs. I've spent years attempting to understand why, and it's because their only exposure to the Jewish people are the latest news stories, their slumlord treating their family like dirt, the shopkeepers who give them a dirty eye, and comments made to them as they walk the streets of "shared" neighborhoods.

A story like this only serves to further people's perceptions about the Jewish people.

The problem isn't us on this site. It's with Cheechele and Chongele and scamming the government and perpetuating drug-related crime.

ally

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 7:46 am

Yocheved84 wrote:

So the Jews are to blame for anti-semitism?
Do you think African-Americans are to blame for racism directed towards them as well?

Yocheved84

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 8:03 am

ally wrote:

So the Jews are to blame for anti-semitism?
Do you think African-Americans are to blame for racism directed towards them as well?

Of course not. But, we all have a responsibility to show off our best qualities on a daily basis. Bill Cosby speaks of this same issue in the African American community.

If we want to be perceived as welcoming people who aren't racist frauds, then we need to come together and act like it.

Of course, a minority of people is ruining this for the majority (us). Of course, the news will only show the negative stories.

But my students have their rent collected each month by a Jewish slumlord as the rats and filth coat the floors (I have pictures). My husband has been called names (in Yiddish) in certain neighborhoods because he doesn't look the "part" of that community. I've heard shopkeepers talk. And on this site, I've seen women admit to fraud and treat it like it's nothing.

Well, it is something. Something we should be ashamed of.

That's why I'm saying that we need to work together as a community to only showcase our best.

wispalover

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 8:06 am

ally wrote:

So the Jews are to blame for anti-semitism?
Do you think African-Americans are to blame for racism directed towards them as well?

You know what? Yes, I do think we are to blame for some of the anti-semitism. Some of the threads on here alone make me pray that no-one from the non-Jewish world is reading them.
Do people really think H' is looking down proudly as people work off the books and collect another section 8 check? That is not Torah. I am sorry but I think that those who publicly engage in acts that are anti-Torah and make a massive chillul H are indeed partly responsible for anti semitism. Not that it was not there before, but engaging in certain types of unsavory actions reaffirms those beliefs.

ally

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 8:46 am

I don't know.
I think this type of attitude is a dangerous slippery slope.
When I hear Jews from a certain sect speak about "sh**rtzes" in a derogatory manner, I don't think - well, their views are understandable because they grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of violence and crime. I think that they are racist and bigoted.
So I don't see why I need to judge non-jews "favourably" in this sense. I should not have to explain that there are good and bad Jews. And that just because some Jews commit crimes that fit racist stereotypes, it doesn't mean the stereotypes have any truth or validity. These things should be a given.

Of course, that is not to say that we do not have a responsibility to act morally, and not cause a "chillul hashem". But I think this is separate from anti-semitism.

chani8

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 9:19 am

ValleyMom wrote:

What I really Don't "get" is the incessant need to speak Lashon Hara Erev Rosh Hashana??!!

We're supposed to speak loshen hara l'toeles and speaking about this topic, that there are drug dealers in our community is noteworthy loshen hara. After all, did you know such a thing was happening? Maybe you don't have teens, so it doesn't matter. But I certainly am shocked that the teens might be getting encouraged to smoke pot, from frum men. Scary to think this is happening in our very own community.

You can put your head in the sand, and try to silence this news by exclaiming "It's Rosh Hashana!", but after suffering from other cover ups, frankly, I want to know about stuff like this. How can we protect and guide our kids if we don't know what they're up against???

33055

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 9:42 am

The newspapers sensationalize when frum men get caught. I am not sure if they are anti semitic or trying to sell papers. Frum men are often labeled rabbi when there is no basis for this.

Would a black drug pusher have the fact he is receiving welfare and section 8 featured twice in his drug bust?

Drug dealing is not unforeseeable when fraud and tax evasion is widely accepted. When people like Perlmutter are revered for their tzedaka and lifestyle instead of being vilified for their corrupt business practices, a bad message is being sent out by the community. We give the newspapers the fodder for their stories.

wispalover

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 10:06 am

Squishy wrote:

I think it was the fact they are receiving section 8 yet had 95k in cash. I don't often read newspapers here but I do read a lot of online newspapers from the UK. I do believe they would have noted it about anyone receiving public assistance yet had cash in hand.
I am about to drive but I will respond to Ally's thoughts later Smile

33055

Sun, Sep 14 2014, 11:07 am

wispalover wrote:

In the inner city government handouts are also ubiquitous. It is not printed when a gangsta is getting welfare and dealing drugs. It is the beard and yamakah that is titillating not drug dealing and section 8.