Chabad rabbonim has established a pidyon shvuyim fund to prevent the extradition from Israel to the United States of Yitzchak Shochet who is wanted by authorities in NYC for a “hate crime”, the alleged 2008 unprovoked beating of two black men in Crown Heights.
According to a Chabad Online, rabbonim in Eretz Yisrael have enlisted the support of Chabad communities around the world, seeking to prevent the young man’s extradition. Shochat, who is married and has children, was arrested in Israel a few months ago in line with the extradition request. The courts recently removed the last roadblock, approving his extradition to face charges for the hate crime in NYC.
COL reports “The cost of a proper legal team is sky high. An activist on Shochat’s behalf said, ‘Pidyon Shvuyim is not just a concept from the old Chassidishe tales. It is here and now.’”
Rabbis Menachem Mendel Glucowsky and Yitzchak Yehuda Yeruslavski co-signed the letter on behalf of the Beis Din, requesting the assistance of all of Anash in Israel.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Is there a mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim, whether the allegations of beating two non-Jewish men are true?
Does Pidyon Shvuyim override possible chillul Hashem??
It’s getting ridiculous sometimes this whole pidyon shvuyim thing. There are times when it is a true mitzvah such as the three boys in Japan who were duped into a crime unknowingly and there are times where people SHOULD suffer the consequences of their actions. If this person is guilty, then why should I lay out even one penny to help him??! Let him be extradited and face the music. If he is innocent, then why did he run to Israel and why is he afraid to come back!?
Good question but I believe so…many of the chazal tried to save yddin from gentile hands even if it meant saving a Jew who was guilty of committing a crime- I don’t know the facts of this case- but with pollard and rubashkin unjustice- the american system has enough blood on its hands