Yeshiva University ordains 190 new rabbis Page 11 Shalhevet welcomes new principal Page 4 David Seidemann returns Page 16 Starving souls: Q &A with Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser Page 23 THE JEWISH STAR VOL 9, NO 10 ■ MARCH 12, 2010 / 26 ADAR 5770 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM Prison-bound Brooklyn man guilty of abuse By Michael Orbach In what could have been the strangest mo- ment in the trial of Baruch Mordechai Lebo- vits, Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory turned to a witness for the defense, a chas- sidishe man, and asked if he knew what it meant to be a traitor. Not how Yissocher Beryl Ashkenazi, once a rebbe to the boy who brought the charges against Lebovits, asked Gregory in halting English what the word “traitor” meant. Undeterred, Gregory, who is black, con- Bubby tinued. “Do you understand the concept of me- sira?” she asked. The irony of a non-Jewish prosecutor ex- plaining a halachic concept to a rabbi may used to do it have been lost on the 30 supporters of Lebo- vits who fi lled the room at Brooklyn Criminal Court — men and women clutching Tehillim Photo by Janette Pellegrini and Siddurim. The ADA was referring to the Can’t believe it’s Pesach already? Inside the Gourmet Glatt Pesach store in Cedarhurst. pressure Lebovits’ victim faced in coming to court to press charges against his abuser. By Tova Ross The recent trend of specially formu- Moments later, the trial took a shocking Pure chametz lated kosher-for-Passover foods, designed turn when Gregory asked Ashkenazi if he “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s to offer more edible and sophisticated knew a particular Brooklyn boy. Ashkenazi re-engineered as eat” — it’s a familiar mock slogan for culinary choices during the holiday, sat uncomfortably on the witness stand and Jewish holidays, and Pesach is certainly has exploded this year. Kosher Today, a acknowledged that he did know the boy. Kosher for Passover: no exception, except that, of necessity, it kashrut newsletter edited by Menachem “Isn’t it true,” the prosecutor continued, has historically lacked a little in the food Lubinsky, reports that there is a record that Ashkenazi had once touched his knee to new Pesach foods department. number of new kosher items. the boy’s private parts? Matzo, horseradish and hardboiled Manufactured in Israel, Argentina and Ashkenazi, fl ustered, denied that that was are appearing in eggs are familiar Passover fare but no- the United States, the array of products true. body is likely to suggest they have quite include many snack items; gluten-free Then, Gregory named another boy and record numbers the same zing as, say, fresh challah, ap- meals, including noodles, matzo ball mix, asked the witness if, “back in 1998, on mul- ples and honey, and cheesecake. How- and blintzes; and items for the health- tiple occasions, [he] sexually molested him for 2010; is it ever, your Pesach table this year may fea- conscious, including a growing number when he was 13 years old?” ture pierogies, pizza, chow mein noodles of spelt products, senna tea, macadamia Ashkenazi protested to the assistant dis- really kosher? and, yes, bread — all leaven-free and oil, and reduced-sodium chicken con- trict attorney, “I am a holy person!” perfectly kosher for Passover. Continued on page 3 Continued on page 3 Shabbat Candlelighting: 5:40 p.m. Shabbat ends 6:40 p.m. 72 minute zman 7:12 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Vayakhel —Pekudei Zman Kriat Shma 8:23 (Magen Avrohom) & 9:08 (GRA & Ba’al Tanya) Parshat HaChodesh PERMIT NO 301 NO PERMIT 11530 GARDEN CITY, NY CITY, GARDEN US POSTAGE PAID POSTAGE US PRST STD PRST 354596 2 Inside The Jewish Star only simchas! 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In a way, he’s not the most danger- Ashkenazi said that he would swear that ous molester,” Engelman said, because he was he had never done anything with a boy, known to be dangerous. “On the other hand, prompting Judge Patricia DiMango to remind he molested the most vulnerable children.” him that he was already under oath. Engelman estimated that Lebovits had M a Defense attorney Arthur Aidala suddenly molested dozens of children, if not “hun- rc h found himself defending, not only his client, dreds.” ADA 26 12, 2010 Lebovits, but his own witness, as well. Some allege that abuse by Lebovits played “As far as I know, it’s a myth,” Aidala said, a role in the suicide of Motti Borger, the groom outside the courtroom. “That’s the fi rst time who jumped off a Brooklyn hotel balcony last I heard about it and the fi rst time he heard year, two days after he was married. about it.” One 20-year-old friend of Borger, who Afterwards, Ashkenazi seemed to effec- asked not to be named, attended the trial. tively perjure himself by admitting that, con- “He was a very good person,” the friend R trary to what he had said earlier, he had, in said about Borger. “I was his friend... I feel 5770 fact, spoken to a Beis Din about trying to talk bad that this person [Lebovits] could just do the victim out of bringing Lebovits to court. something and get away [with it].” Such was the surreal theater of Lebovits Lebovits, a large man who stands over vs. the People of New York, a case that be- six feet tall, slouched quietly throughout the gan on March 2 and ended Monday with a trial, and did not take the stand.