The investigation surrounding the alleged illegal actions of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yonah Metzger seems to be widening as police report additional suspects will be questioned this week.
On erev Shabbos YWN-ISRAEL reported the chief rabbi was questioned by fraud unit police for ten hours prior to being released to house arrest. Other suspects in the case remain behind bars. Their remand was extended while the chief rabbi was released, sent to house arrest. This includes an aide to the rav, Rabbi Chaim Eisenstatt along with the head of the Beis HaTavshil nonprofit in Bnei Brak, Rabbi Shimon Korkovski. Another nonprofit named in the investigation is Tzedek U’Mishpat. The head of that organization, Tzion Tzioni, is in custody as well as is Korkovski. It appears there are other organizations involved as well.
Police are reporting that the chief rabbi used his prominent position to ‘assist people’, with matters pertaining to the Chief Rabbinate, including some who sought assistance in obtaining semicha. The rabbi asked for donations to these tzedaka organizations in return for his assistance. Police allege that he took 50% of these tzedaka funds, which he did not report to tax authorities. The nonprofits issued legitimate receipts for the donations. According to police involved in the case, the rabbi earned “hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past year by assisting people.”
The rabbi is alleged to have taken sizable sums of money and he purchased apartments in the names of family members to launder the income. In addition to placing the rabbi under house arrest and prohibiting him from having any contact with other suspects in the case, authorities have frozen Rabbi Metzger’s bank accounts and placed a lien on a number of apartments owned by Rabbi Metzger and relatives. Authorities report that when the rav was sent to house arrest on Thursday, 12 Tammuz 5773, he was also informed he may not go to his office for fifteen days, not five as was reported earlier.
The daily Yediot Achronot quotes one officer involved in the case saying “The rabbi is in trouble and it appears at the end of the investigation he will be hit with a criminal indictment.
Attorneys for the chief rabbi told the press their client denies the allegations against him.
On Sunday morning 15 Tammuz, the rabbi informed Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Minister of Religious Service Naftali Bennett that he is suspending himself from all activities. While this includes not serving as a dayan on the Chief Rabbinate Supreme Court and attending meetings, Rabbi Metzger has not suspended himself from being chief rabbi. As such, he may still wish to appoint five members of the voting body that will elect the new chief rabbis but if he does actual try doing so, it is likely there will be court petitions against his actions due to the investigation against him.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
One could almost live on that kind of money.
Please Hashem, help that this not be true!! I really hope the police will conclude that he never committed these acts.
It is a truly sad sign of the times when someone who is set on a pedestal as a paradigm of society, to inspire and to lead should even have ‘allegations’ made whether true or not – one really has to be so careful on how they act even behind ‘closed doors’, anything you don’t want to be known in the public arena one shouldn’t do in private either.
Reply to morethanwords:
Metzger was not put into this position to be a paradigm of society and to lead and inspire.The opposite is true. He was put into to the office by haredi backroom deals in order to BLOCK someone who WOULD have fit that description, Rav Ariel.
Metzger had a history of corruption charges at that time and had already made a deal to never run for Rav Ha’Ir in return for having the case against him closed and the charges sealed.
This is precisely why he was chosen, because no one would respect him and there would be no threat to haredi interests.
UncleMo, It’s not entirely up to the police to conclude whether these acts were committed or not. A child can sometimes discover wrong-doing of an adult. Either the crime was committed or not, regardless of how the police conclude the act.
Shomo 2 is 100% correct – the chillul Hashem is that this was widely known in and outside the Haredi & even dati world, but the haredi shadowy ‘powers that be’ allowed – no wanted him – to be Chief Rabbi!