I was shocked and appalled at the recently conducted interview with the “chosson” of a frum Jewish girl who was exposed as non-Jewish and an inveterate liar. To be quite honest, the interview was so slanted and so sick that I am disgusted that YWN even posted the audio of it.
Throughout the interview, Haliwa cast himself as a victim of circumstances. He grew up in Lebanon to Muslim parents, wanted to convert to Judaism but was having a hard time, and really wanted to be a nice, Jewish boy who could marry a Jewish girl. So, he says, of course he had to lie – what other option did he have?
Sadly, some people are falling for his victimhood shtick. But let’s put this really plainly: while I would have felt bad for him had he been open and honest about his struggles to be megayer, I have no pity for him because, instead of being honest, he chose to lie to everyone around him, including a poor Jewish girl who was baited into marrying him.
The victims here are the girl who gave him her trust and affection, the Chabad that believed his story, and the rav who performed the “kiddushin.” They were duped by a man who had only his self-interests in mind.
Think about it: if he really loved his “wife” so much, why did he concoct a web of lies? Sure, it was the only way he could “marry” her, but he knew quite well that he was in fact really hurting her. But he chose to lie anyway because it furthered his own interests.
He lied to Chabad and the mesader kiddushin too, all for the sake of getting what he wanted, without any regard for the people he was damaging or for yiddishkeit itself, which he knows very well does not allow intermarriages.
Haliwa was in it for himself and crushed other people in the process of achieving his own goals. He’s the aggressor, not the victim, and I hope everyone realizes that, despite his tears.
Avi N. – Brooklyn, NY
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22 Responses
And with this article we can finally say the horse is dead.
Thank you for this letter. It’s terrible that this liar is perceived as the victim by many.
This kind of thing unfortunately happens too often in Israel where Muslims pass themselves off as Jews, lure Jewish girls in and get married to them and when the truth comes out it is usually very hard for the girl to extract herself from such a marriage as they often use emotional manipulation as this liar has done now casting many under a spell to feel sorry for him. And then these liars, besides snaring innocent Jewish girls, very often end up being not only liars, but abusers as well.
I am not sure the point of this letter. He never claim to be a victim, and was consistently blaming himself. After all that was concocted about him he wanted to tell his story. I’m not sure why people can’t handle it.
Chill out.
Yes he IS a victim of circumstance.
He went about it in a completely terrible way, but he isn’t PORTRAYING himself as a victim. He IS one.
A person can be wrong about how they deal with their misfortune.
Your inability to acknowledge that is turning a terrible situation into an ugly one.
Sir, ur missing the point.
He considered himself Jewish and therefore not against Judaism for her to marry him.
I know it’s not true, but alot if converts think that they are Jewish even if they don’t officially convert. I personally know of many such people. They are wrong, but that’s what they think.
The entire premise of ur letter, that he intended harm, knowing its wrong for her to marry him,
is totally off!
I feel bad for all the people who were lied to in this situation. This guy probably never understood what is a big deal to lie that he is Jewish. If opened doors for him to places that he would not otherwise reach. Its not easy to become a Ger, and everyone on YWN make themselves as angels who never lie. O, please, I am sure many of you lie when it comes to income tax, hiding profits, doing business under radar, our school lie to government that kids wear masks while no one does until inspections come. How many of you guys fake “vaccine cards or covid tests either to go to Israel or other countries, or to stay on the job that requires. You may think it’s different that pretending to be Jewish, but to him that was no choshuv neither, and I know some people pretended to be Jewish in order to go on Birthright Israel free trip, or get some Jewish grants etc. Its same thing, so we do cheat goyim or government sometimes, don’t be shocked if someone cheats us.
Don’t get so upset. What else do you expect from a goy? You want him to be a good person like one of us? He’s a goy. That’s why he lied. All goyim lie. Always. If you haven’t noticed that yet
chase, he’s the “victim” of circumstances?! Wow, we have so many liberals here always excusing the criminal. This guy lies, lies and lies again and he’s called the “victim”?!
לעזב תגובה מספר ששית הוא סכנה גדולה. אני לא מבין מה אתם חושבים
Anon21, I assume you are a troll.
I totally agree with the writer of this op Ed
I don’t trust the guy for a second
Alexfrommy, well I guess for you making up where you come from, your name, race, your family, where you work and what you do, in short, making up stories about who you are to your own wife or husband is the same as trying to travel where you need to despite not wanting to be injected with an experimental vaccine. It’s the same to you as not wearing masks because the tyrinical government imposes mandates that are in violation of the constitution.
I’m sure you have a great marriage being that you equate the importance of honesty to your spouse of who you are and what you do to such matters that you presented…
look, this guy wanted to be Jewish. To be a Muslim, all you need to do is say that Allah is great and Muhammad is his prophet – no beis din, no immersion in mikva.
He says he wants to be Jewish, so maybe to him that is enough.
If he was marrying a reform or conservative Jewess, no big problem. Here the problem is he wanted to marry a frum girl.
BTW Chabad did not say he was Jewish, they host many many people, some of whom are definitely NOT Jewish, but they did not say he was Jewish. The mesedar kiddushin messed up by not checking and assuming he was indeed Jewish….
“Anon21, I assume you are a troll…”
Or just a plain jerk to make such a stupid comment.
This man lied to a Jewish girl by telling her that he was Jewish, when he was not Jewish. He caused a Jewish girl to be intimate with him, when a Jew is forbidden to be intimate with a non-Jew and is certainly forbidden to even be in Yichud with a non-Jew of the opposite gender. He caused Hashem’s name to be said in vain multiple times at the wedding, because the blessings made at the wedding were not blessings made for Jew to marry Jew. This man is completely unaware of all of the sins that he has done and has caused to be done.
He only came clean because he was caught. How long would he have continued this charade if he hadn’t been caught? Forever?
“Loved her”? WRONG. Was infatuated with her, same as Shechem ben Chamor.
What happened to dropping this story? i think YWN did enough damage… nothing good can come from talking…
Wow, so many people are feeling bad for him, claiming he didn’t know what he’s doing, calling him a “victim of circumstances”. Unbelievable.
To all the people defending this pathological narcissist, feel free to take him as a son-in-law.
So now we have a new kind of shidduch crisis.
RamatShilo, wrong. It’s important that this story be publicized and people learn from it to help prevent future disaster, c”v.