Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yonah Metzger has written a letter to Florida Governor Charlie Crist asking him for a 60 day stay of execution for Martin Grossman.
(FULL TEXT FOLLOWS ARTICLE)
Rav Metzger writes, “It has come to my attention that new evidence has surfaced in this case and changes in the law have taken place that merit consideration of clemency. I am convinced that there is sufficient cause to at least delay this execution until all evidence and legal arguments are presented.”
Grossman on death row for over 25 years is scheduled to be executed this Tuesday night 6:00PM EST.
This letter comes on the heels of a historic letter to the Florida Governor written and signed by the leaders of seven major American orthodox organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Jews, including:
Agudath Israel of America, National Council of Young Israel, Orthodox Union,, Satmar (UJO- UJC) RCA and Chabad urging the Governor to grant clemency to Mr. Grossman. A personal request by Rabbinical leaders to meet has so far been ignored by the Governor.
Leading Askonim feel that all possible efforts, both political and financial, must be brought to bear on Governor Crist. But they acknowledge that the greatest chance for success in saving Grossman’s life lies with the grass roots. “Every call, email and fax to the Governor can make the difference. Don’t wait until its too late, contact the Governor now” said a leader of the campaign to save Grossman.
The following update and message from the committee to save Martin Grossman was sent to YWN:
Less than 30 hours are all we have left to reverse this bitter decree. Yes, it is a fact that the Governor has been overwhelmed with pressure but it has not been nearly enough. Every possible avenue is being exhausted. Political and financial pressure from the top down and the bottom up is being exerted but-
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!
CONTACT THE GOVERNOR – NOW!
Contact Gov. Charlie Crist:
[email protected] ,
Or
[email protected]
Phone- (850) 488-7146
New phone number for Governor Crist that is being answered and they are still counting calls 850 488 5603
Fax -850-487-0801
Ask the Governor for a 60 day stay for martin Grossman.
Sign the petition to Governor Crist http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-martin-grossman
Who will live….and who will die…..
Please pray for Martin Grossman
Michoel Yechiel ben Miriam Sorah
TEXT OF LETTER FROM RABBI METZGER:
[CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]
The Honorable Charles Crist
Governor of Florida
U.S.A.
Dear Governor Crist:
Thank you for your steadfast support of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people!
I am respectfully writing to you in the name of the Jewish people here in Israel and around the world concerning the case of Martin Grossman.
As you no doubt are aware, the American system of jurisprudence is rooted in the Biblical and Talmudic code of law. The Biblical tradition teaches that although capital punishment is permissible; it is only permissible under very circumscribed circumstances, and only when every reasonable opportunity has been given to review new evidence and testimony.
It has come to my attention that new evidence has surfaced in this case and changes in the law have taken place that merit consideration of clemency. I am convinced that there is sufficient cause to at least delay this execution until all evidence and legal arguments are presented.
Biblical tradition, which has become the common heritage of most of the world. Is known for its pursuit of justice. But Biblical tradition also emphasizes that justice must be tempered with mercy, and justice must be scrupulously administered to avoid any possible miscarriage. This is particularly true in the case of capital punishment.
Thank you for considering my plea for a stay of execution until all of the relevant evidence and legal arguments are presented.
Sincerely,
Yona Metzger
Chief Rabbi Of Israel
(Dov Gordon – YWN)
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22 Responses
I think that if the Governor got a letter like this from (l’havdil elef havdalos) the pope, there is no doubt that the stay of execution would be granted.
If for no other reason than that people WILL realize that, and the governor wont want to appear anti-Semitic, b’ezrat HaSh-m he will grant the stay.
Very difficult to call this a rush to judgment. Just because the chareidi olam just found out about this doesn’t mean that tehy’re rushing. He’s been on death row for well over two decades.
As a Frum Jew I don’t think it is right for it to be our new cause to be to get a admitted murderer off death row, what we can do is Davin for him and hope that they wont kill him, but I think it is a Chilull Hashem to beg for his life all because he is a Jew. There is a family that doesn’t have a daughter, sister, mother all because of Marten Grossman I have better Jews to help out then him.
To #3. I would leave it up to the Rabbis to decide what’s considered a Chilul Hashem. Insulting Rabbis is definitely a big one. Please don’t bash all those who care for every fellow Jew.
Kach 613,
what if he was chas v’shalom your son? In fact, he a yid and therefore a part of all of us. We have to try to help him. He is not some serial killer etc etc. — he was a young mentally disturbed kid on drugs who killed out of panic and a completely distorted sense of morals and reality. I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that capital punishment can not possibly be applicable to his case that had no premeditation. I know that I will be booed and hooed… i could care less so save it.
The bottom line is that yes, he murdered. He is bad and he deserves to pay for it… he is already paying for it. Still, he is a fellow yid with a yiddishe neshama and whatever he did we must do our hishtadlus as well as daven. Does Hashem want us to JUST TURN AWAY??
Kach, As Hashem is ALL Compassionate, your lack of compassion is the true Chilul Hashem. Please reconsider your comments.
#4 I never bashed anyone. I’m just giving my humble opinion, and you know what im sure plenty of people agree with me. Now if you actually read what I wrote I said I would Daven for him, but I wont call the Governor and beg to save a convicted murder all because he is Jewish. I can guarantee if he was Irish and now found God and it was the same situation as this case, no one would be calling the governor, that’s why I think it is a Chilull Hashem.
To # 3 (kach613) You should not use that name, you seem to have only 612 mitzvos, the mitzvah of Pidyon Shivoum is for every jew, especially for a criminal, it was not said for a good jew that was put in to jail for nothing at all, it was said for a thief and murderer. Now, you may disagree with that, however that is what the Torah says to do, Hence, change your user name to 612.
secondly, The Rambam wrights That Chilul Hashem is doing something that the torah says not to do, in other words when you do an Averah in public you are disrespecting the name of Hashem, Hence Chilul Hashem.
Imagine for a moment what you would say to the relatives of the police officer who was murdered.
Imagine for a moment what you would be saying if the police officer was Jewish and the murderer was a non Jew with an IQ of 79.
Does the FL Governor has a Din of a Rodaif? Le halacho and not lemaase.
There are cold-blooded terrorists who kill people in Israel, premeditatedly, and I mean really premeditatedly, not in the middle of an ensuing struggle and in a sudden act of violence. Nevertheless I haven’t heard any jews calling for these terrorists to be executed. And, I haven’t heard them calling on ANYONE who committed murder to be executed. Jewish law makes it very difficult to execute someone. And even in Talmudic times, executions were carried out extremely sparingly – on very rare occasions- only upon numerous stipulations and conditions.
#8 Well said. They would be shouting how can you let him out he killed a cop!!!
#5 I don’t want to think what I would do if my son murdered a law official, as you said he is a Yid so is Shlomo Dwek, and he never killed anyone, yet the things people say about him, and rightfully so.
#7 There is nothing I can do about my name, it’s a ton of paperwork to change it, so I will leave it as is if that is O.K. with you of corse.
THERE IS LESS THAN 24 HOURS!… Go to http://WWW.SAVEMARTINGROSSMAN.COM , where you can see all the facts. Additionally there is a recent psychology evaluation report that states he had severe brain damage from all the drugs that he took. Martin Grossman also wrote a letter that can be seen on the website or by going to this link: http://www.chabadbeaches.com/templates/page_cdo/aid/1125119
I highly urge everyone to read it!
The poor man went through a hard life of neglection and full of misery. He grew up all by himself with no siblings and taking care of his sick father, his father passed away at a young age. His father, grandfather and relatives all passed away during the same short time period leading to his depression. He had no choice but to turn to drugs and alcohol as a means to shed some light in his life.
He clearly can’t be blamed for his actions!
Please help by cotacting the governor and other officials, also by filling out the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/save-martin-grossman
There is nothing wrong with us trying to get the execution stopped. There are plenty of mitigating circumstances in this case as to why he should be spared & given life in prison.
There is a system in place & the system allows us to send protests to the governor asking for mercy. This is no different than asking the president to pardon people on his way out of office.
Let us continue to ask the FL governor to stop the execution.
3,
You are going against just about every posek who has weighed in on this issue. HKBH doesn’t care how frum or not frum the persoon is.
As Rabbi Metzger noted, we do believe in the death penalty however Sanhedrin had to make 100000% sure the person was guilty. If there was any doubt to the guilt there would not be an execution & they would lock him up.
I also want to point out that the ‘cop’ he killed was not a trooper or cop as we normally think of. This was an animal warden. Again a life is a life is a life but for those making a fuss about the victim being a cop, they are not being truthful.
she was a duly sworn wildlife officer with arrest powers that mr. levin is a police officer status we have wildlife officers in new york and they fall under the same category and by law they have a higher degree of protection just like a NYPD or State Trooper would; furthermore mr. levin his guilt is not in question as he himself admitted to this heinous crime. Martin Grossman is a coldblooded killer and he deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law and in this case the law calls for execution which will take place tomorrow. Anyone who defends this animal is calling for special treatment for jews and I think that is just wrong. If you are just an avid opponent of the death penalty that I would like to see evidence of petitions for clemency for all death row inmates of all races and background. Dina d’malchuta dina.
To effie 123: I will not discount the points you made. However, the same dina d’malchuta dina you invoke is set up to allow such pleas for clemency and review of the case. If done appropriately it will not reflect badly on us in the future.
I just sent the following e-mail to Governor Crist:
Dear Governor Crist,
Although I am very much in favor of the death penalty, there are numerous mitigating factors in the Martin Grossman case that should be considered very carefully before this irreversible step is taken. Among them: Martin Grossman did not commit premeditated murder. Rather, his tragic killing of Margaret Park was unplanned, impulsive, and the product of a serious mental illness that can now likely be proven by medical technology that was unavailable at the time of his sentencing.
Do these mitigating factors excuse his crime? Not at all. Do they mean that the ultimate punishment is inappropriate in this case? Very possibly.
Professor Alan Dershowitz, who I often disagree with, has noted that “[e]ven those who strongly support capital punishment would limit it to recidivists or people who commit the most heinous of crimes. Martin Grossman fits neither of those categories.” One need not agree with Professor Dershowitz’s liberal views on the death penalty, which I don’t, to realize that he is right in this case that the ultimate punishment does not fit the crime or, perhaps more accurately, Mr. Grossman’s state of mind at the time he committed the crime.
If there was ever a case where a 60-day stay of execution was appropriate, this is it. Please allow Mr. Grossman’s supporters to gather the necessary evidence and present his case for clemency. No one should be rushed to execution while doubts remain unresolved.
Sincerely,
*******
15,
I pray you are never in that situation. I will also tell you that the same laws in effect to kill him also are there to protect him for being killed. What about the anyone pardoned by the president? William Clinton pardoned many people – including yiddin – on his last days in office. Were you so up in arms then? The argument isnt that he should be set free, merely that he should spend the rest of his real life in jail.
I have no choice but to spread the words of the only sane person on YWN with sincere hopes that he doesn’t mind!
“DINA D’MALCHUTA DINA”?!?!
In that al pi din a) a Noachide (secular) court does not have jurisdiction over a yehudi, b) a Noachide (secular) court does not have authority to impose misa on a yehudi, c) without 2 witnesses who provided warning beforehand there is no death penalty and d) a yehudi is not chayiv misa under any circumstance for rotzeach of a nochri — even in Beis Din.
And therefore, as a result of the above, every yehudi has a legal obligation of pikuach nefesh in saving this yehudi.
Comment by volvie — February 14, 2010 @ 6:59 pm
It’s as simple as that!
You are over on LO TAAMOD AL DAM RE’ECHA!
and I must add, for Miss 613,
You honestly call him an admitted murderer? You leave out the tiny fact that this happened 25 YEARS ago! The man has been sitting in jail for 2 1/2 decades and I would dare assume he has been off drugs for that long, he was a troubled teen at the time of the crime, YES under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol on top of the medication he was taking for mental issues.
WE ARE NOT HIS JUDGES. We are simply here to follow halacha – (see my last post)!
And that’s besides for the fact that no one is asking for his release, the rabbis are pleading that he be left in jail for life.
Does it bother you so much when people want to help a fellow Jew? Well then you better pray hard that you are never in need of assistance from Klal Yisrael, I wonder if after this you would be zoche.
You have better Jews to help out than him?!
Your obligation is to help those who NEED your help. You are so misguided I hurt for you!
Someone needs a hashkafa makeover!
why my comments keep being deleted?
#1, I notice only now your message. FWIW Pope Ratzinger has been contacted successfully and he sent a letter to the governor, he did what he could despite being informed at the last minute.