YWN had made an editorial decision to ignore any further articles about the tragic story of a Lebanese Muslim man who deceived a frum woman from Flatbush into marrying him. This changed when “Eliya” Hawila went public on Motzei Shabbos in an interview with Zev Brenner on Talkline and stated he was considering filing harassment charges against YWN for being “unethical.”
Although Haliwa seemed to have genuinely developed an interest in Judaism, he engaged in extremely unethical behavior when instead of making the effort to convert, he began lying about his background due to the fear of being rejected by his Jewish friends. And then when he was ready to date, he registered on a Jewish dating site and continued lying despite the fact that he was well aware that Jews are prohibited from marrying non-Jews.
Hawila repeatedly portrayed himself as the victim rather than the people he deceived. He did pay lip service to being sorry for lying but didn’t seem to understand how unethical his behavior was, how damaging his actions were to those around him and how much pain he caused other people, especially the girl he married, due to his intentional deceit.
THE FULL PODCAST CAN BE HEARD ON JEWISH PODCASTS BY CLICKING HERE
Hawila said he was born to a Muslim Shi’ite family in Lebanon but never affiliated with the religion of Islam and never practiced it. “I don’t believe in Islam, it’s not my religion,” he said, adding that he never even stepped into a mosque.
“I had spiritual emptiness growing up,” he said. “My parents didn’t have a healthy relationship, they’re separated. My father lives in Lebanon and my mother lives in Texas with my younger brother. Growing up, I never clicked with people. I didn’t feel like I clicked with Lebanese culture. I suffered a lot. I had trouble communicating with people and wasn’t able to resonate with people on the same intellectual level.”
“My father is a US citizen and in high school, I realized I wouldn’t have any opportunities in Lebanon after I graduated so I begged my father to go to the US and establish himself so I and the rest of the family can join him when I was ready to go to college.”
“In 2014, when I was in high school, someone came to my school and spoke about world religions and I decided I wanted to explore religion due to my spiritual emptiness,” he said. He started exploring Judaism and he really connected to it. He began reading resources about Jewish law and teaching himself Hebrew. “I decided that I wanted to be Jewish and I started telling people this. Then people started spitting on me on the street and I got death threats. My father threatened not to bring me to America if I continued so I began laying low.”
When he came to America, to Texas, he began googling synagogues because he wanted to become Jewish. He claimed he reached out to a Reform synagogue but they never got back to him so he felt like he was being rejected and he decided to just continue his Jewish practices and tell people he was Jewish.
When he started college at Texas A&M University, he went to the Hillel House and when they asked him if he was Jewish, he said yes because he was scared they would reject him otherwise. “I didn’t know any better,” he said. When he started going to the Chabad house, they asked him if his mother was Jewish and he said yes. “It pains me that I lied to the Chabad Rav and no one should blame him,” he said. “They should blame me but they should understand my pain.”
He didn’t want to date a non-Jewish girl so he dated Jewish girls, telling them of course that he was Jewish. He met a few Jewish girls but they didn’t work out and then in January he was matched to the girl he would eventually marry. After a few Zoom dates, he flew to New York to see her.
He made up the story about working for the National Security Agency (NSA) because when he was dating his “wife,” she came to Texas and he took her to a gun shooting site and they had to present IDs. He pulled out an ID, which was a passport card and she saw his legal name which wasn’t Eliya. Later, she confronted him and he was afraid he would lose so he told her that he works for the NSA and the passport card is his NSA identity card for a mission.
A week after the wedding, his “wife’s” father started to Google his last name and they discovered his true background. “They went crazy,” he said. “I wanted to cover things up so I lied more and more. I was afraid they were taking her away from me, I’m finally living a Jewish life. She’s the love of my life and they’re going to take her away.”
“They took her away from me. I was struggling for a week so I can make up something so I can get my wife back and my Jewish life back. I started making up names, making up insane stories.”
When Brenner asked him if he really thought he could get away forever with his lie about being Jewish, he responded: “All I was thinking about was that I didn’t want to lose her.” In answer to Brenner’s question about whether he realized he caused her pain, he said: “I will beg her for forgiveness for the rest of my life and beg for a second chance.”
“I am begging anybody to convert me and I prefer to be converted in Israel,” he concluded.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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73 Responses
Sounds like he needs a good shrink and medication.
What a brazen liar! He lied about EVERYTHING! Poor girl.
Whoever thinks this is the last we are hearing from this liar, it wont be. Save my message and remember this well. We will hear from him again. Likely in another major story.
I am literally davening for this poor woman for the past week. I am dead serious.
But couldn’t help but laugh out lousd when he asks her for “a second chance”.
Like she is going to marry the most deceitful lying piece of garbage we have ever seen?
No Rov should ever be megayer this imposter.
A relationship cant be based on lies and more lies, How can she ever trust him? His happiness cant be at the expense of trampling on her honor. I am sorry that he was in a bad situation and wanted something that wasnt his to have. It may be sad that Syrian community wont accepts converts (thats true by the way), but if he would give his life for her, as he says, then surely he wouldnt want to hurt her.
Netflix will buy this story, thats for sure..
Kishmo ken hu. Interesting how the podcast begins when the interviewer pronounces his name “Eliya” as “A liar”. What a sad story.
Haha he’s busy saying what Yeshiva World did was unethical… but I guess what he did lying through his teeth wasn’t unethical???
He keeps saying he loved / loves her. LIE if he loved her he wouldn’t do it to her. Even being afraid of being rejected. He loved himself and only himself, the most selfish act he can do is only care about himself.
I dont understand how they got married…whoever was masader kiddushin was supposed to verify his geirus process. I wonder if they were married with a rabbi?
Is it ETHICAL to produce false family trees?
ואהבתם את הגר yes 100 percent! But please keep in mind he’s not a גר. And if he wasn’t caught would have no intentions to convert.
Among other things he conveniently doesn’t hear any of the questions. Only the complement he heard perfectly!
I feel extraordinarily bad for the young woman of course — but it seems this man fell deeper into his web of lies due to a difficult upbringing and circumstances that need to be pitied as well . I’d like everyone for a moment here to stop the reflexive condemnations for a moment and put yourself in the guys shoes for a brief minute .
I don’t condone what he did but the macro picture needs to be considered as well before every prosecutor here continues the cathartic anger game .
It’s sad – everybody knows it’s sad —and despite that we need to act like an am hanivchar with the utmost dignity and sensitivity .
We know from Pinchas what the halachic penalty is for a sheigetz that is mezana with a Yid.
Whatever his future, he has to attempt to find more solidity in fundamental studies of middos within Torah, particularly the Sheva Mitzvos given to the Benei Noach, and preciously nurture the need for honesty. Not keeping Shabbos as a gentile doesn’t have to be more than that such a person forces him or herself to turn on or off a light switch toward the end of the day on Saturday afternoon, but it has to be done in order to reinforce the reality of one’s present tense if they are not halachically Jewish – at least that they not fall to delusion.
Whether he is able to rise above all of these significant judgments now against him or not, his sense of quietude and feeling for respect for others does come through and should help him continue in a spiritual direction. This might even eventually prove his worthiness as a Jew – if he were to convert, and to those who have become a close part of this saga from the Jewish side as well, where a heter might even be found within the decree against taking gerim within the members of the more staunch Syrian community.
If not, his future and ongoing commitment to doing what is correct and right would bring more honor to the world in one way or another and help him find a solid future. Our father Yaakov aveinu did not give approval for the actions of Shimon and Levi. What is in the balance is the degree for the call of temperance rather than zealousy. Shame is relevant. How much can be resolved over time? Many of us might have done similarly in this person’s place – to some extent anyway.
lasrword: “Many of us might have done similarly in this person’s place – to some extent anyway.”
No way! Thats what he says and it just isnt true.
Mr. Haliwa was told by the NYPD that he could file a defamation suit against a certain individual and a social media outlet. Haliwa, responded that as he is serious about converting he couldn’t consider mesira. Yet our community has indviduals filing blatantly false restraining orders r’l! Should Haliwa convert he will be a diffcult tzapchas to klal yisroel. We must take a strong stand against mesira as it is a aveira chamorah which involves chillul shem shmayim r’l.
Fact is that this was a terrible situation but essentially a private matter. Those who publicized it were assuming that he was a terrorist with bad intentions, but there was nothing about the story that indicated such. We were used to the missionary stories and bundled it together with it. Any bit of common sense and one would realize that there was much more behind the story (I said it before I heard this side of the story, it was clear from the start).
“This changed when “Eliya” Hawila went public on Motzei Shabbos in an interview with Zev Brenner on Talkline and stated he was considering filing harassment charges against YWN for being “unethical.””
I’ve listened to the entire interview, and he (Hawila) actually said the opposite. He said that, although informed that he COULD go after the YWN for defamation, he WILL NOT because if he’s sincere about becoming a Jew then that’d be mesira and he simply won’t do that.
Seichel hyosher, you are nuts. A non-Jew lied and was mezana a Yiddish daughter and all you care is about non-existent mesira?! Let’s see someone do this to your daughter! If you still think like this then you are not a normal parent.
@mtmt – Yea. He mammish a Tzadik.
Get a grip buddy.
This lying Muslim, deceived and then defiled a bas yisroel. He lied about everything and everything under the sun. In fact NOTHUNG he said was honest in the past 8 years. And you believe a word that comes out of his filthy mouth? Seriously? “Mesira”? This animal is worried about “Mesira’?
LOLOLOL
Not to worry. No Jew will ever make a geirus on this rasha.
he needs medical help.
Misleading. He said he isn’t considering filing charges.
Mr. Eliya,
If you’re sincere in wanting to convert properly, I commend you and will even invite you to my Shabbos table.
But I have one question for you.
We Jews have what’s called תורת אמת, a Torah of truth. Truth is truth whether you like it or not, whether you have fear of rejection or not.
If you were serious about Judaism, why didn’t you just go to the chabad rabbi who you refer to as one of the nicest people, and sit down with him and say listen, I lied to you about my Jewish identity because I wanted in, now before I cause more damage let me come clean and help me convert and become a real jew? Chabad rabbis don’t turn away people who want to convert.
You went out of your way to produce fake documents and trees. Lied on top of your previous lies, why should we as a Jewish people believe you now?
Why do you still call him a Muslim when he never made shahadah? He is a ger Sheba lehisgayer but the racist rabbis make it too hard.
The bottom line is very simple: a Goy was mezana a Yid under false pretenses, where she’s innocent and he’s guilty. Even if it had been mutual consent, which under the circumstances it isn’t as he bears the full only guilt, he would face the gravest penalty under Halacha.
Of course he, as such, is disqualified for geirus. Even if he hadn’t done this halachic crime he wouldn’t qualify for geirus, as we reject conversions for purposes of marriage. But as he committed a capital offense in the most grotesque manner, he isn’t worthy of anything.
All that said, he can shop around and find a self-described “Orthodox” rabbi (OO/MO/RZ) who’ll purport to convert him, due to false sympathy and Western non-Jewish values. Of course such a “conversion” is worthless, even if claimed to be “Orthodox”.
@Sechel hyosher:
Mesira? What’s wrong with mesira? At the outset of Coronavirus, there were many cutting edge Rabbonim that told us that it was a chiy
@Kolemes – It pays to actually listen to what he said. He said he reached out a REFORMED TEMPLE in Texas to have him convert him. Multiple times. And they ignored him. He never said he reached out to Rabbonim.
So when you wrote “racist rabbis” we must assume you meant the Reformed rabbis that he claims to have reached out to.
Otherwise, you are just another self-hating Jew.
It is simply shocking tom me that anyone believes a word that this liar says. He lied about everything possible.
Why doesn’t he move back to Lebanon now and open a Shul there?
Be fun.
@mtmt
What a Tzaddik!
Mesirah = big no no
Lying about your religion and fooling a woman to marry you when you no that if she knew the truth about you she would not look at your way = totally ok!
Please understand “my pain”
Your pain was caused by your own actions.
And the reward for this is cherem so sad. He should have converted before hand.
Mr. Eliya,
You sound like you have a good side to you. A sincere one. But you will only succeed if you realize this IMPORTANT point:
Hagar, the mother of Yishmael also wanted to be close to Judaism. The family of Abraham calling out the name of Hashem and living by it also looked so beautiful to her, and she left EVERYTHING to join Abraham’s family as a maid rather then live in royalty. But she didn’t make it in. You seem to be of that spirit, for now. You want and love the Jewish people, but you have to be willing to stand the tests of truth. Be willing to take the long road with all it’s tests Hashem has for you.
When Hagar saw she was pregnant and Sarah was not, she right away saw it as vindication that her initial sacrifice to marry Abraham makes her a Jewish mother, and she went around saying so… That spirit of loving Hashem but trying to pull a fast one on him – is Yishmael.
Yishmael tries to pull Hashem to their side, while we try to pull ourselves on Hashem’s side – that’s the fundamental difference between the Jewish השקפה and relationship with Hashem, and the relationship the Muslim world has with Hashem.
You must study this point. Study the history of the Jewish people, the lives of the ones who succeeded to get close to Hashem, and בעזרת השם you’ll one day succeed.
Shoita Gamur & Yanky01, I’ll daven for your refuah shleima. You’re both clearly in need. I’m also sorry that the yeshiva system failed you, so that you’re entirely incapable of simple textual comprehension.
even if he would convert, lets remember the the syrian edict.
Syrian community doesn’t accept converts.
that is the edict.
mtmt, the real shoita gumar is you for believing this rasha. You don’t care that he defiled a Jewish daughter. Shame on you. The yeshiva system didn’t fail, you failed to the extreme that you identify with a liar and manipulator instead of the victim.
The first half of this interview is him making excuses for his lying behavior, the interviewer keeps trying to move him along to get to what we all want to know, why this man lied and deceived an innocent Jewish girl. He boasts unnecessarily about how he is so smart and gets all these scholarships….what a load of garbage. He should never be allowed anywhere near her or her family again. He also clearly loves this attention he is getting, his suffering is no excuse for his deceit.
I heard this audio. It is true that he lied and what he did is irreversible. Whether he is being completely genuine or not is very difficult to tell, even though it seems he is being genuine. The question is if he loves yiddishkeit so much why did he not just convert the right way?
But to those who are cancelling him out and disproving this marriage just because he lied, (not what he lied about), then it’s funny because there are so many Yidden who have lied about VERY important things in marriage which If the other party knew about would never get into such a marriage and sometimes they find out once it’s too late. The only difference is that at least they are Jewish. But we all know and have heard of such detrimental marriages, deceivers and liars.
If all this guy did was lie about being Jewish(which of course is REALLY serious), but is genuinely a good guy, I think those who are saying he has some disorder is a bit harsh because we know that when it comes to relationships people can do the craziest things.
No I am not defending what he did and what he did has consequences as we can see, but to say that he’s a bad guy because he lied and is not Jewish, does not mean he is some pathological liar in general. Like I mentioned before, there are so many severe cases in the Jewish community itself unfortunately of horrendous deceit when it comes to marriage/relationships.
It’s a difficult situation but there definitely are people out there who feel more Jewish and want to be Jewish more than some who are born Jewish. But it’s difficult to ever know if couples match since so much of it can be an illusion due to the false reality many see in the beginning of the relationship/marriage. Who knows.
what this guy did to this girl is unforgivable ! throw him out, sue him and hold him accountable – he must pay both physically and materialistically !! dont let him get away with it so that we set an example of what happens with scum like this lie cheat and deceive people !!
Shechem raped Diinah in this week’s parsha. Fooling this Jewish woman into thinking he was Jewish is not much different .
Lying is against the sheva mitzvos.
@UJM
umm…no, not rally. The story of Pinchos is specific to who did it and not just the act. There is no halachic obligation to go around killing any non-jew who lives with a jew.
What ever happened to the saying “do not judge a fellow until you have come into his place?” Which one of you, if born into the circumstances that this neshamah found itself in, would continue on regardless in order to embrace the Torah? Essentially he is a ger and the Torah commands us not to oppress a ger. There are issues of lashon hara and essentially humanity involved here. This is equated with shedding blood.
Those that have written such harsh and vitriolic comments must be Tzaddikim who have never told a lie or sinned ever in their lives. That means they do not receive the rewards of a ba’al teshuvah. It also means that they are not Chassidim in the Talmudic definition.
A web of lies. I doubt most people here actually listened to the podcast. It’s raw painful and hard to listen to. To me he sounded sincere. He messed up bad but I don’t think he himself realized how bad. On the other hand there is absolutely no excuse to lie you’re way to a woman this way. He was deceitful. It’s a hard one. Really painful spectacle.
For what crime could you legally sue him? Legally he can claim whatever religious identity he wants. Constitutional law does not conform to halachah. He could very easily take advantage of today’s ever so popular identity politics.
rightwriter, what in the world does lying about one’s entire identity have to do with a MINORITY of Yidden lying about one aspect of their lives? Frum people do NOT lie about their entire identity, their work, their families. If there is such a manipulator out there they certainly can’t be excused in any way but I have never heard of such a thing.
I wonder. I know of 3 cases where people were either determined to be megayer or were dating Jews. In the end it turned out their mothers were actually Jewish. One lady who worked with me actually knew her entire maternal line married to goyim for 4 generations was descended from a rabbinic family. Her daughter married a Jew. So who knows what may be motivating this man.
Why didn’t the poor woman check his background and friends?
“Frum people do NOT lie about their entire identity, their work, their families.”
-ok philosopher, keep being naive. Also I didnt say everyone deceives. My point was how everyone is bashing this guy saying he needs psychological help or is off the rails simply because he took an easier route (which was wrong) to try to integrate and become Jewish. Aside for the very important technical factor that he is NOT Jewish, how can you judge that the Shidduch isnt right? It sort of seems it matched. Also he sounds like a pretty level headed guy. Again im not defending what he did. But dont be so quick to judge. People do crazy things for relationships, and certain people genuinely feel Jewish but were born in a different religion and know that us “picky” Jews would never accept them even though we are commanded to respect a Ger on a much higher level than a Yid from birth.
Having said that its a very tricky situation because essentially he was married as a non Jew.
Sincere? Bad life ? What? What? What? Every 13 year-old in public school receives classes on personal safety, and is aware that people are not always who they appear to be. The world is full of bad people with bad lives, Who are total charlatans and will deceive others for their benefit. Only naïve people believe Whimpering and tears of an individual who has hurt someone terribly. Eliyahu attended Chabad for a long long time, sat in the walls of Ateret Torah and dated a Frum girl for many months. He was very aware of what he was doing and he clearly didn’t care. Secular papers are full of stories like this all the time, And the repercussions are sometimes terrible. Bh you are all so sheltered to be unaware of these phenomenons and to insert false purity in the tears, zen brenner why oh why did u give this evil man a platform …..did u invite Bernie madoff in the past? Bad is bad and good is good! Do not confuse the two. Hi
Those Who have pity on the cruel Will eventually be cruel to those who need Pity …..Young woman who is the victim in the story.
Not trustworthy. Shame the lie continues.
Not trustworthy. Shame the lie continues.
He should go back to the Reform temple that he originally tried to hook up with.
UJM, “kanaim pogim bo” does not apply in this case. Even in cases where it does apply, it is not an obligation. Double check the Halochos.
While I hope the victim (the girl) will be able to move on, I also hope she’ll be far more careful about online dating.
I myself went on some of these frum websites, and I encountered a lot of dishonesty. One was still married; another was after a Green Card. Yes, at least they were Jewish, but we don’t lack for our own sleazy characters. B”H there are people who meet their basherts, but usually after intensive screening.
This guy lied through his teeth–to the point of fake documents, all of which make me lose any sympathy. He knew enough about the importance lineage to prove his Jewish identity, but didn’t care about the steps to legal conversion. Gimme a break! He was selfish, if not devious.
These days everything is hidden.
When Moshiach comes the real truth will be revealed.
Also, the 10 Jewish lost tribes will be revealed.
And some people will find out they were Jews all along.
It’s a sad story. But let’s not forget that he is not the victim even though he makes himself one. “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”
One “little” lie led to this disaster where he was willing to walk down the aisle knowing he was defrauding an innocent. He might love Judaism but he forgot the basic rules. Without truth religion crumbles to dust.
As for the Sephardic community- the takanah was put into place many years ago due to a serious threat of intermarriage when the community was not very religious. It was accepted by all and continues to be enforced today. Not only gerim, but also their children, are not accepted. It was only done to protect, not to exclude gerim god forbid. Marrying a convert would mean someone would basically have to leave the community forever – their kids wouldn’t be welcome either. Harsh but it was done for the right reasons and has saved many neshamot.
I am disgusted by all the vile comments and hatred amongst so many people here . We all know how serious it is if a Jew marries a non new. This man obviously didn’t know the extent of the seriousness. I wonder how many people here if they were in his shoes would do different. Once a person gets caught in a web of lies it just gets worse and worse . Someone who is born Jewish doesn’t get a choice to be a Jew. This man went through so many obstacles and he truly wants to be a Jew. Whatever terrible things he caused by what he’s done , has nothing to do with the fact that he truly from his heart wants to be Jewish. I wish him peace and I hope he finds true happiness . And I hope Hashem forgives him for what he’s done. As was said by a previous poster , don’t judge another until you walk a mike in their shoes
David Y “Which one of you, if born into the circumstances that this neshamah found itself in, would continue on regardless in order to embrace the Torah? Essentially he is a ger and the Torah commands us not to oppress a ger.”
His adherence to Emes shows his embracing the Torah.
You see embracing the Torah in his eating Gefilte Fish?
What are you smoking?
B”H I never went this far, and I would have never gone to the point to hurt any yid. I lied to a Chabad House so I can eventually find a way to get to Israel and have the opportunity to learn Torah; till I saw shiurim about it and stopped doing so. This sort of behavior will surely disqualify him for Geirut. I feel his pain because I was in his shoes in some way, but there is a point where the onesh will come and it will be too late to convert. I have seen many other potential converts like me that just fall off for their stupid actions and are scared and start lying about things. Thankfully due to the teachings of my holy Rav Yaron Reuven, I understand how important it is to stay away from even any visible Jewish associations till you are converted. B”H I met him and his teachings guide me and it is still not too late for me, despite being pushed this far. One thing I kept in mind and I think that saved me is that I would never chas v’shalom touch a Jewish woman and even think of doing this nonsensical thing like getting married as a goy to a Jew. Yes, I kept Shabbat as a non-Jew (not fully as I did not know all halacha) and learned some Gemara (but so do Koreans do so in Korea) and almost every shiur has some Gemara in it. Not justifying my behavior, but B”H this person truly does not realize how much he destroyed by lying about Judaism.
One more thing I would like to add, despite whatever sympathy I have for the kid, and how close I was to being like him if HKBH did not save me from utter destruction is he should listen to his own foolish mouth. He said that arriving at Emet is intellectual and not emotional. Hence, he should stop crying and understand he has messed it up and no Rav would convert him now unless maybe HaShem wills it and he does such Teshuva and tries so hard that gates open up for him.
The conversion world is not easy, it’s not supposed to be. For all future converts (myself included) please, please do not make it harder for you, and then also for the rest of us that want to do it the right way!
Only in this fardreite crazy society can people feel bad for this lying animal and not feel the pain of a violated Jewish girl. Shame on all of you defending him.
@philosopher (interesting name choice, for someone who can’t understand what he reads), I never condoned what Mr. Hawila did, on the contrary, if you see my comments on other articles about this case, you’ll see my position, including pointing out his real name. It kept being reported that his true identity wasn’t known, but that’s only because the people saying couldn’t read the certificate he’s holding, which I and many other Jews still can, and didn’t bother fact-checking. Knowing his real name is important so that others remain aware of what he did, and to protect us from further deceit.
However, the information YWN provided at the beginning of this piece is factually incorrect. I can’t say if it’s a case of deliberate spreading of misinformation or if YWN simply didn’t bother listening to the interview and relied on what someone else incorrectly stated, but the truth is that what he said was the opposite of what YWN has reported, and many won’t have the time to listen to something almost an hour long. If YWN is a serious publication, then it should not be deliberately reporting misinformation. Whether others will believe him, or not trust him at all (which is my position, and it’s funny that you accuse me of ‘eating up’ his lies simply because I’m not calling people names), it’s up to each individual. If I’m, as you say, a total failure for not maligning others, then so be it.
MDD: If this gentile rasha was brought to the Sanhedrin for what he did to this Jewish woman, he would be sentenced to Misa.
I don’t believe a word he says. If you listen closely, he keeps victimizing himself instead of being repentant and saying he did the wrong thing. 1. He sounds like a pathological lyer, and a person literally can’t change their personality overnight just because they were caught. 2. If you read/study about muslims, and read real life accounts of women and other people who were caught in their lies and abused and then escaped, there is a concept about lying that the whole world ignores and even says is not true. Muslims are taught to lie. This is not a racist comment. This is a factual comment. They take the Jewish practice of “lying for shalom” (which everyone agrees has specific parameters, NONE of which his story falls into) and pervert it to their own practice called Taqiyya. Taqiyya is a practice whereby an individual may be less than fully truthful, when such an individual is reasonably afraid that the consequences of being fully truthful may place him or her into serious jeopardy by an oppressor. In Muslim culture, any western influences are considered oppressive and serious jeopardy. If you read the book “not without my daughter”, a true story written by an American woman who married a muslim, she went back to his country and got stuck there, you will see first hand how they are encouraged to lie to all Westerners. 3. Why does anyone feel the slightest bad for someone who worked for so many years to deceive so many people, and then lie to the person that was supposed to be the closest person to him? Its not as if he lied for a few months, (that would have been bad too) But for many years! This shows a deliberate course of action. Not a mistake. He says he is born a shiate, They practice Teqquiya exclusively. Online source:
https://www.meforum.org/2095/islams-doctrines-of-deception ” According to the authoritative Arabic text, Al-Taqiyya Fi Al-Islam: “Taqiyya [deception] is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it. We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream…Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era.”
As proof of this, he quotes Muhammad’s companions. Abu Darda said: “Let us smile to the face of some people while our hearts curse them.” Al-Hassan said: “Doing taqiyya is acceptable till the day of judgment [in perpetuity].”
mtmt, you bashed 2 commenters who felt the pain of a violated Jewish daughter and weren’t fooled by this lying animal. Your clarifications regarding the name is important but why did you criticize the other two people who criticized this bastard?
Lie after lie after lie after lie. It’s all about him. He felt like “he’s building a Jewish family” while not being a Jew. I’m so angry and feel terrible for this girl. I’m also angry at Chabad. Stop with this “kiruv” business. Non-Jews, missionaries, LGTBQs this is whom you’re opening the back door to inner sanctum of our holy nation.
According to him the TYW defiled his name… lol.
He only stopped lying when held accountable and his lies became known.
He makes himself like a nebach fearing he’ll lose this girl but do people realize that he went on a Jewish dating site claiming he was a Jew before he “fell in love”?!
I have to say this girl closed her eyes and went into this despite all the glaring red flags.
how do we know he is not deep cover for terrorists like al qaeda or isis?
Everyone should read RD Torah is Emes. Whoever is feeling bad for this liar is stupidly naive. You have so many of these stories in Israel where many Jewish girls fall for Muslims passing as Jews and only later do they find out that they are Arabs. Oftentimes it is too late for then to leave the marriage and then these “loving husbands” turn into violent monsters.
And some people will find out they were Jews all along.
RD Torah is Emes has a valid explanation for his behavior. But I would go further and dare to say (please don’t beat me up for this) that the Midah of Sheker was “in his blood”. This is what he grew up with. Not that it exonerates him for his behavior, but perhaps we can view it like we look at addicts and their deadly addictions. Once addicted to lying, one needs deep therapy to get out of that cycle. Perhaps he should have received the help and awareness he needed earlier on in life. But in essence he was alone in the world, against a pack of wolves who would kill him for his Jewish practices. His fear incapacitated him to think logically at some point. He broke emotionally when his mother kicked him out physically and he viewed this girl as his only new chance for his future. I wonder if Halacha takes into account one’s state of mind and emotional stability when doing some forbidden actions. I’m not justifying his actions and please don’t be mean to my response, I’m just taking a more therapeutic view on the matter.
I kind had something like this happened to me. I found out a few good years later about it. My husband’s grandmother was a convert, he himself and his siblings (except for one of them new that’s how we found out) didn’t know anything about it and when he found out was so upset and embarrassed about it on his mother side of the family…his mother (and her family) is no where near religious….. Long story sort I was every upset as well as my husband we had to find out if we we’re considered really married if that’s the case because we have to find out if he was really Jewish and let alone if our children can marry cohenim. B”H everything in the end turned out to be 100% kosher and there was no issue between us or with our children but I can say if anyone were to do it to my own children oh no I would be so beyond upset and from this whole situation me and my husband have learned you always ask even if it’s a mother father grandparent I don’t care I want to know 100%
what a tzattik i relly think he means well who ever puts him down will have to wait to the next world to see whos right.
I love all the Tzaddikim here worrying about “a goy being mezana a Yid”.
Are you also worried about the thousands of Yidden being mezana with Yidden, because our pure young daughters have no chance to find a shiduch if they aren’t Size 2 perfect girls from “perfect” families who oh btw have a lot of money. Or at least lie about having money.
Our standards are so shallow that a sweet girl like Sally had no chance of dating a regular boy.
I’m not just talking, I know her well. She’s my student and she never had a chance.
And THOUSANDS of such girls exist in our circles.
And many are “mezana”, but not with intent to marry the guy and not because they are lowlifes. Just from loneliness and desperation.
Do we give a crap about them??
No, we only want to pile on to this poor guy because we’re insulted that a filthy Goy was mezana with a Yid.
He’s not filthy, and she’s not damaged.
The actual issur is waaaaayyyy less Chamur than a Panui Haba al Penuya (Nida).
So get a grip.
And btw, I can’t tell from a single interview how sincere he is. But if he is, than he can go to Israel and do a geirus and plenty of girls will want to marry him.
I hope he succeeds. And truthfully I hope that a courageous American rabbi allows him to do a proper geirus and Sally can then consider marrying him.
Because she deserves to be married, and none of you pontificators will ever let get within a million miles of your “perfect” sons.
Moshe Kapoier,
I don’t know if Sally is his wife or just a random name, but for your information, when a Jewess has relations with a non-Jew, and afterwards he converts to Judaism, she is not permitted to marry him.
Rif, for your information that is utterly untrue. Kindly cite a source for your “information”