33 Responses

1. Respectfully, I disagree with the premise of this article. In fact, it is the comparison that the author uses that disproves his entire position. It is not about Jew vs gentile. It is that 68 people involved is some complex fraud scheme altogether achieved a net gain of under $270,000.00, whereas a simple group of 12 allegedly well exceeded one million dollars. To compete in magnitude, the group in PA would have had to have included roughly 260 people in total to equal what 12 are accused of in Lakewood. So, I agree that this incident is deeply disturbing on many levels, and that media sources most certainly know they will receive better readership when they vilinize Jews. Nevertheless, the truer much more newsworthy story is unequivocally, in stark comparison, the Lakewood version.

2. Pennsyvania is a state of 12 Million people. lakewood is a city of 100,000 people

   Greater population means there will be more law breakers. Im sure there are more arrests in NYC, California, Texas and Florida than Lakewood too, but the percentage was greater in Lakewood.

3. Thank you YWN for publishing this letter. Probably nothing I can say would more powerfully highlight the perverted mindset of yidden who somehow believe that this kind of behavior is perhaps acceptable because its even more common among the goyim. Sadly, there is evidence that the frequency of financial frauds among within the frum Jewish community is disproportionately high even after adjusting for our share of the overall population and normalizing for income disparities. Beyond that the author dismisses the notion that we should hold ourselves as a community to a higher standard, especially for those who run around in chassidish lvush to highlight their sense of “separating themselves” from the larger goyishe community.
   Some readers here who are aficionados of the cartoon strip called “Far Side” may recall one of the best images which showed two deer standing in a wooded setting with one of the two having a bullseye painted on its white behind. The other deer looks at the first deer with some sadness and says, “Bummer of a birthmark Hal”.

   Yidden in galus have a bullseye painted on themselves through their decision to dress in chassidish or yeshivish l’vush and thus should not be surprised when the bullets from journalistic hunters coming whizzing by them.

4. Dave…..buddy…… you’re missing a key point despite having mentioned it. The 12 in Lakewood defrauded over a million. The 68 in Pennsylvania defrauded a couple hundred thousand. If you don’t see the CLEAR disparity between these two events…..well then, I can’t help here.

5. Why is it an explosive national story? Because its institutionalised. Organised. In Pennsylvania it was a bunch of yechidim who all happened to do the same thing. But in Lakewood everyone knows to whom to go to find out what they need to know. If there would be some other group which ripped off the state in an organised fashion the response would be much the same.

6. Thanks for the story, it certainly does soften the blow a wee bit.
   However, those people were mostly small time crooks. Most of the people on that list were stealing relatively small amounts of several thousand.
   The Lakewood chevrah were in the 2-3 hundred thousands!
   The Pennsylvania people were mostly poor minority or drug addict types.
   If instead of the Lakewood people, if it had been other types of highly respected groups such as
   Priests or university professors or upscale rich people from Connecticut suburbs. Then it too would have made all the big time media sites and papers.
   Yes, the fact that it was frum people I’m sure played into the hype, but not as much as you’d like us to believe.

7. I’m very surprised YWN printed this letter. I mean does it make any difference the names and details of arrests in Pennsylvania?? If you want to understand why the Lakewood story gets blown up well you said it yourself. We’re held to a higher standard. Does it make you feel better that some “meth heads” (your term) in pa got arrested?? We need to stop hanging everything we don’t like on anti Semitism. Sometimes we need to look in the mirror as a community and find the problems and fix them. I mean this is probably the dumbest letter I’ve ever seen on YWN and again I’m shocked that they even let it through.

8. Dave,

   Can you please provide the link?

9. yes we claim to be better and it is therefore they expect more, we are “am hanuvcha”r so lets not compere ourselves to them in any way, just try to be the role model to the world and teach our community whats right.

10. There’s no question in my mind that Jews are held to a different standard and we must take precaution on how we deal business and all other aspects of our life. We’re being watched by everybody,and have opportunities daily to create tremendous Kiddush Hashem

11. The arrests in Lakewood are hardly a “national news story”. The story is primarily covered by the NY/NJ press like the Newark Star-Ledger, The Asbury Park Press, and local radio and television stations. Boruch Hashem this story is currently not receiving wide “National”attention.

    Your main point is total and complete nonsense. This is not fake news or anti-Semitism. It is your type of pathetic attitude that refuses to recognize the ills of our society and seeks to play the victim card that allows these shenanigans to continue. Stop whining. Wake up it is time to start taking communal responsibility.

12. um..maybe it’s because just 1 of the people in the orthodox allegedly took more than the the entire 68 in Pennsylvania combined…just a thought.

13. Congratulations, Yeshiva World, you managed to lower the bar even more with this argument.
    Seriously?
    You are using this as “proof” of prejudice, when 12 people stealing millions make the news, when 64 people stealing 4k each doesn’t?
    Let me clue you in a bit.
    A person living in a $850,000 home stealing from welfare: news
    A person making 1.5 million in income stealing from welfare: news
    A bunch of people committing petty crime by stealing 4k each: not news.
    Oh, we know the prejudice is there. I am not fooling myself.
    BUT….
    Focusing on the amount of people arrested and not on the scope of the crime and the opulence in which the criminals lived in makes this one of the more stupid arguments I have ever seen.

14. Yup it is what it is anti Semitism thanks for bringing it to the light. Now we can start feeling the galus and await Moshiach and then he can come. Like the chofetz Chaim used to say “if we would be waiting for him he would come obviously we are not anxiously awaiting him”.

15. obviously a few ‘meth heads’ as you describe them who each steal 2-3 thousand dollars are NOT as newsworthy as ULTRA Religious Jews to whom proper behavior should be very strict who steal millions.

    It is a chillul haShem when Yeshiva men steal, we expect their behavior to be exemplary but we do not expect simple poor people to have high virtues.

    If you are rabbinic, realize that the eyes of the world are upon you; you are a representative of G-d so behave with a higher standard or dress down like a simple slob so when you get arrested it is not a chillul haShem…

16. You clearly don’t understand the concept of “news”. News is relative and contextual. The bigger the variance with the “norm”, the bigger the story. We should all really worry when events like this are NOT big stories. (Unfortunately, we’re well on our way to that being the case.)

17. You are totally right about antisemitism but even on the local news is a chillul hashem

18. 68 people in an entire state vs 12 people in a small community? You still think Lakewood is being singled out? The proper response from the religious community is to be repulsed by welfare fraud. It’s the same thing when other horrible practices happen in the Haredi community. The response is always that making it public is “discriminatory” or that it is a “stain on the community”. The correct response is for everyone to accept that it is happening and say all at once that we despise these wicked acts. Nobody assumes that any community is immune from criminals of any sort. When the community takes responsibility for those offenders, they are seen in a good light.

19. I’m guessing that in Dave Braunstein’s school adding and spelling wasn’t in the curriculum. Maybe the focus was on the 10 commandments לא תגנוב or on finding a היתר why stealing from the government is allowed.

20. Mr. Braunstein: Why was the Lakewood story reported and not the one in Pennsylvania? Simply because the PA arrests were undertaken by the LOCAL authorities (PA IG). The Lakewood raids were conducted by the FBI making it a national story. Of course you will ask why was the FBI involved? Probably the amount of money allegedly defrauded is much greater.

    Moderators Note: Get your facts straight about who made all the raids.

21. Thank you YWN for posting a wide range of opinions.
    I just don’t believe how many of us are turning into self hating Jews in the comments.
    If you are trying to be so liberal in your views then why can’t you except someone else’s view to be heard (some even writing that YWN should not post such articles that don’t agree with your view).

22. So much talk about numbers without a clear understanding what statistics actually means. In simple terms, the two stories – the Lakewood vs Pennsylvania – represent one event (basically one month). Statistically that proves nothing. A trend of extended periods of time is required before any attempt could even begin. As one possibility, maybe the main reason the Pennsylvania story is low on the media is because it is a dog-bites-man story, happening every month (literally, patch.com gives a month -by-month breakdown for 2017, each month hardly different than the next) while the Lakewood story is a man-bites-dog story.

23. for the moderator: If my facts are wrong why did you allow it?

24. Federal prosecutors said the arrests stemmed from a massive joint investigation by the FBI, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the state Comptroller’s Office, the state Treasury Department’s Office of Criminal Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration and Lakewood police.

    Again mr moderator these are federal charges. The PA case is state charges.

    Moderators Response: The FBI only did some of the arrests. Most are state crimes / charges.

25. The difference is that those arrested in Pennsylvania were all over the state–from Erie County on the west to Dauphin County to south central —NOT one zip code 08701–Bikitzur–if you dress the part, act the part–how do you compare the Lakewood dozen to a bunch of meth heads in some cases. And by the way, iacisrmma, not all the arrests were conducted by the FBI. Some were arrested by state.

26. David, The problem here is many of us know people in Lakewood who maybe are doing things illegal, or if legal not ethical. By arresting these people it has shined a light on these kind of issues. The problem is there may be hundreds of people who are doing things not correctly right now. I cannot imagine what would happen if they actually went after people who stole the amount of money mentioned in PA . Thank your lucky stars they only went after 7 couples and not more (yet).

27. Also ahirsch brings up a very good point when he says “When the community takes responsibility for those offenders, they are seen in a good light.” This is so true. Forget about the outside, just here in our community when they have cover-ups with abuse it has hurt the view of our leadership. We truly need to change our ways. Reliance on government handouts should be for those who really need it. Not for people living in Kollel since they do not want to work.

    If no changes are made then this story and all of it’s comments will all go to waste. But if that happens I am afraid more people will have even more less respect for our Rabbonim and leadership.

28. You all missed the boat. Why don’t the Rabbanim write an article about the laws against stealing. The last time I looked its still written in the Torah “La Signav”. People, it is against the laws of the Torah to steal, what difference does it make if the Goyim in Pennsylvania stole this much and the people in Lakewood stole this much! Whatever the amount is its forbidden by the Torah to steal! This should be the topic in every shul Rabbis speech this Shabbos, and not just this Shabbos, but every Shabbos! Rabbasai its Ussar to steal, no matter how much, or from whom, or what, its considered stealing. The Chillul Hashem these stories cause do tremendous harm to Kallal Yisroel and possibly all kinds of Tzares. This is what has to be emphasized. By all Rabbanim Chasidishe, Litvishe, Yeshivishe, bent down hats, not bent down hats, all over the world where there are Jewish communities.
    And the stupidity of why this was covered and why this wasn’t covered, don’t we know yet that the world media is biased? Not just against Israel, but against Yidden in general. The mug shot of a Yid with a long beard is much more news and noticeable in the papers than some peasant from Pennsylvania.
    Its time for us to do Tsuvah not such for our own benefit but for the sake of Klal Yisroel!!!

29. Those arrested in Lakewood, as frum Jews, allegedly accept the Torah which quite clearly tells us “don’t steal”. The idea that it’s OK to cheat because it’s from goyim, or because others do it does not make it correct. As one commentator stated above, we do have a bulls eye on our ourselves. When we deliberately don’t live up to the standards we should be, the world takes notice. And the end result isn’t that it’s anti-Semitism reporting it. It’s that these actions result in anti-Semitism not just from the non-Jewish world, but internally as well. Try to convince a non-Frum Jew that Kashrut is important and must be followed to the nth degree, but it’s OK to steal. And we wonder why we haven’t deserved Moshiach yet?

30. To Dogo
    You say “I just don’t believe how many of us are turning into self hating Jews in the comments.”

    Seriously?

    If we speak out against long Sheitlach or smartphones were are “Askunim” but if we speak out against Geneiva we are “Self Hating Jews”

    Methinks you are precisely part of the problem.

31. I realize that the reason for the obsession with those arrested is because they are frum. Had they been non-Jewish it wouldn’t still be the top story at the end of the week and the press wouldn’t have taken every opportunity to gratuitously remind us of their nationality. You can be sure that if they are acquitted it will be a blurb at most.

    But IF the accused are guilty they should have taken that into account beforehand.

32. @ C S
    So you say you are here to speak out against rampant Geneiva in our community not just from those arrested?
    A) That is an accusation of anti semitism
    B) Why are you only speaking out now? Can you point me to another blog that you wrote about this issue?

    You write “Methinks you are precisely part of the problem.”
    I’m not sure if you are claiming that I also steal or if by the fact that I’m not accusing a community as a whole then I am part of your problem?

    As a side note, you seem very convinced, calling those arrested as stealling millions, that they will be convicted of doing anything wrong. Read through the court documents and don’t just rely on news reports which may have an agenda, similar to yours.

33. @dogo
    1) I never used the word “rampant”. That is you, not me

    2) as far as being “part of the problem” I am referring to people who are all in agreement with the notion that Kol Korehs are find for “important” issues such as long Sheitlach, smartphones and internet, but as soon as you make a Kol Koreh about Geneiva, it’s suddenly “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Lashon Harah!!!!’

    3) My agenda is that the Frum community should garner as little media coverage from the outside world as possible, but whenever it is covered, it should be for something positive. In other words, MY agenda is Kiddush Shem Shamayim.

    It’s a shame that it isn’t yours.