Kiryas Joel, Brooklyn and Sullivan County

Posted 8/21/12

KIRYAS JOEL, NY — It was reported in dozens of media outlets that the FBI raided various locations in Kiryas Joel, the Orange County village populated mostly by members of the Hasidic community. …

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Kiryas Joel, Brooklyn and Sullivan County

Posted

KIRYAS JOEL, NY — It was reported in dozens of media outlets that the FBI raided various locations in Kiryas Joel, the Orange County village populated mostly by members of the Hasidic community. The raid occurred on May 12, but just what the FBI and other officials were looking for is not clear (a couple of articles reported that members of the Sullivan County District Attorney’s office were involved).

Several news stories over recent days, including one from News 12 (tinyurl.com/zjn98j3) reported that two videos surfaced on social media sites a couple of weeks ago showing a principal of a school, or yeshiva, run by the United Talmudical Academy (UTA) improperly touching young boys. The raid has been connected to that by some outlets.

In other media accounts, the raid has been connected to an investigation into the possible misuse of federal funds awarded by the government to pay for computer and Internet expenses. There were also raids at Jewish orthodox schools in Rockland and Orange counties in March connected to that investigation, according to multiple news sources.

The Forward, however, reported that the raids in March “were focused on funds provided by the National School Lunch Program, which subsidizes food for low-income students” (tinyurl.com/zv88rf2).

Multiple sources also reported that one of the buildings agents entered, and from which they removed boxes, was a property run by the UTA, which has a connection to the Town of Bethel.

In 2009, UTA built what was called at the time a synagogue and community center on Shultz Road in Bethel. The neighbors complained loudly about it, and the matter ended up in court with Judge Frank LaBuda ultimately granting UTA authority to use the building. It was, however, built without the necessary permits and planning board approvals. The building inspector at the time, Tim Dexter, was forced out of his job over the matter.

The documents regarding the marketing of the controversial development Villages at Chestnut Ridge, which were unsealed by a federal judge in April, referenced the matter on Shultz Road. Part of the executive summary of the development project read, “Since January of 2012 the developers have been engaged with deep discussions with Satmar Askanim, a father-and-son team named Moshe and Volvy Smilowitz. He is a well-known baker and community activist. They were key players in the Satmar-Bethel victory this past summer. We have had a number of informal ‘deals’ with the Smilowitz team.”

The Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews is based in Brooklyn and Kiryas Joel, and divided into two distinct groups, with each accepting one of two brothers as their grand Rebbe. The Rebbe at the head of the Kiryas Joel group is Aaron Teitelbaum, and his brother Zalman Teitelbaum is at the head of the other. According to various reports, Zalman has an interest in the Bloomingburg development Villages at Chestnut Ridge, which according to the executive summary, was always intended as a development for Hasidic families. The offices of Shalom Lamm, the man behind the development, were raided by the FBI in March 2014, but no arrests have resulted.

A Twitter post from April 8 shows a picture of men in Hasidic garb with the text, “Satmar Rebbe Zalmen Teitelbaum of Brooklyn visited Bloomingburg this week to celebrate opening of 396-home complex.”

An article on the website FailedMes siah.com, which appeared before the site became inactive (tinyurl.com/hkc5d2u), says Zalman also visited the Bloomingburg site in December 2013.

What are askanim?

An article in Haaretz describes askanim this way: “Some dictionaries describe askanim as community workers, but in practice the word has less in common with the dedicated advocates for the poor who might be conjured up by the term ‘community workers’ and more with those smooth-talking behind-the-scenes operators who know just the right words to whisper into the ears of all the most important people. They might be political advisers or media consultants or they might be faceless to those out of the loop, but for the most part, they’re not the ones in the public spotlight; they’re the ones spreading off-the-record rumors aimed at benefiting whichever political, business or other interest they’re promoting.”

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