Rabbis Indicted for Money Laundering

The latest scandal to hit the Jewish community is really hard to swallow! The NYT reports that 5 Rabbis including Rabbi Kassin, an 87 yr old Rabbi of Shaare Zion and one of the leading Rabbis of the Syrian Jewish community, has been indicted by the FBI on allegations of money laundering through charitable organizations. This unfortunately reminds me of the recent the case in which the Spinka Rebbe pleaded guilty to similar charges and is looking at 5 yrs. in prison. We hope these allegations prove to be false but what a devestating effect this has on Jews to see Rabbis in the news like this. This should strengthen our resolve moving into the month of ellul to be more diligent about following halacha in regards to our business dealings. In this merit we should all have much success and merit to see the geulah real soon.

NYT: Syrian Empire: SY's

The NYT has an interesting article that discusses both the wealth and culture of the Syrian Jewish community. Part of the article speaks of the clash between ashkenazim and the Syrian community.I was unaware that they were once described as Arabische Yidden — Arab Jews. It also talks about the edict in 1935 that disallowed the Syrians to marry converts. I was always surprised to learn that although wealthy, the Persian sefardic community does not really mingle with the Syrians.