{"id":58,"date":"2010-06-15T10:13:08","date_gmt":"2010-06-15T10:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.html"},"modified":"2010-06-15T10:13:08","modified_gmt":"2010-06-15T10:13:08","slug":"the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm","title":{"rendered":"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin"},"content":{"rendered":"

So much for Christian charity.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sister Mary McCauley, the former pastoral administrator at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa, who provided support for families affected by the Agriprocessors raid, publicly condemned the complete acquittal of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin on charges of child labor violations as a tragedy. “I was heartsick,” she declared. “I had to just sit and deal with the heartbreak I was feeling.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Never mind that a jury deliberated only 12 hours
\nto reach a verdict exonerating Rubashkin on all 67 counts. Never mind that
\nRubashkin, a father of ten with a long of history of charitable acts feeding
\nthe hungry and the poor, has been so demonized in the press that it was practically
\nimpossible for him to receive a fair trial, and still he was found innocent.
\nThe good sister is convinced that the man should have gone down. Her heart
\ntells her so. The jury be damned.<\/span><\/p>\n

Funny that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When I, as a Rabbi and broadcaster, read of the
\nunending accusations against countless priests and even nuns for molesting
\nchildren, and against the Pope himself for covering it up, I went on the air on
\nmy radio show on America’s most listened to station, WABC 77AM in New York
\nCity, and begged my audience to place the allegations in perspective. The Pope
\nhad been tried in a media circus without being given an opportunity to respond
\nor defend himself. Further, all judgments about the morality of the Church had
\nto be assessed in the context of the global good it does in running the world’s
\nlargest network of orphanages, hospitals, and schools. Whatever crimes were
\ncommitted against children by men and women sworn to G-d’s work were despicable
\nin the extreme and abomination against all that is decent. And they would have
\nto be held accountable. But wait before you lynch any innocent man.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was heavily criticized on the air by my own
\ndevoted listeners, with the angriest calls coming from Christians and Catholics.
\n‘How can you defend our Church, Rabbi Shmuley? You who promotes family values
\nand ethics? Do you not understand what these men have done?’<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, of course I understood. But allow the
\nfacts to emerge before you disparage the whole of the Church. Don’t paint with
\na broad brush. Point a finger only at the Priests who are guilty and refrain
\nfrom assailing the papacy itself until you hear more. Amid the caller
\nonslaught, I stood my ground. All people carry the presumption of innocence
\nuntil proven otherwise.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unless you’re Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, that
\nis, in which case even once you’re found completely innocent on charges of
\nchild labor by a jury of your peers you are still guilty.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Obama, campaigning in Iowa to be
\nPresident in August 2008 and promising a new era of civil American political
\ndiscourse, forgot his commitment when it came to Rubashkin: “When you read
\nabout a meatpacking plant hiring 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds – that is some of
\nthe most dangerous, difficult work there is. They have kids in there wielding
\nbuzz saws and cleavers? It’s ridiculous. And the only reason they’re hiring
\nthese folks is because they want to avoid paying people decent wages and
\nproviding them decent benefits.” The President is a politician and might be
\nforgiven for pandering for votes, although it would still be encouraging if
\nnow, in light of the acquittal, he would publicly apologize for his slander.
\nBut sister McCauley is a nun consecrated to Christ and has no such excuse.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have no doubt that the sister is a good woman
\nwho wants to defend immigrant children, even as they admitted under oath to
\nfalsifying their work papers in order to work at Agriprocessors. I agree Sister
\nMary that these children were desperate. The cowardice on the part of the
\nAmerican government in repeatedly failing to address the immigration crises
\nwith serious reforms leads to these tragedies. But does Sister Mary not reserve
\neven a tiny sliver of her heart for Rubashkin’s ten children, one of whom is
\nautistic, even as their lives have been turned upside down as their father has
\nbeen painted as the anti-Christ?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let me be clear. I am on record in several
\ncolumns as saying that Rubashkin is no hero. He has been found guilty of
\nfinancial fraud and will be punished. Whatever good he and his family have done
\n– and they are justly renowned for their charity and philanthropy – in no way
\ncancels out his conviction, even if his intentions were to temporarily avert
\nnear-certain bankruptcy that was caused by an INS raid and eventually pay the
\nbank back. Wearing a yarmulke and a beard, Rubashkin is a public representative
\nof the Jewish faith and he has let us all down. In our religion there is no
\ngreater sin than desecrating the divine name. No doubt the pain Rubashkin feels
\nin having done so is more excruciating than anything the penal system can do to
\nhim. He will have to repent of his actions before G-d and man. He will also
\nhave to serve time, tragic as that is for a man with a large family who are now
\ndestitute.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But the time served must be fair and just. For
\ngoodness sake, stop the never-ending lynching. Treat the man fairly.
\nProsecutors, stop portraying him as a monster. Stop the absurdity of demanding
\na life sentence. Don’t subvert justice in the name of justice. Six former
\nAttorney-Generals of the United States have already strongly condemned the
\nrecommendation for a life sentence. Let the insanity end.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On the home page of the Sisters of Charity of the
\nBlessed Virgin Mary, with whom Sister Mary is affiliated, it declares, “We are
\nwomen of steadfast love called to live the mission of Jesus through our core
\nvalues of FREEDOM, CHARITY, EDUCATION, and JUSTICE.” Those are values I applaud
\nand respect. Are you listening sister?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the founder of This
\nWorld: The Values Network. His new book is ‘Renewal: A Guide to the
\nValues-Filled Life.’ (Basic Books) Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley. His
\nwebsite is www.shmuley.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So much for Christian charity. Sister Mary McCauley, the former pastoral administrator at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa, who provided support for families affected by the Agriprocessors raid, publicly condemned the complete acquittal of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin on charges of child labor violations as a tragedy. “I was heartsick,” she declared. “I had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-values"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin - Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin - Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So much for Christian charity. Sister Mary McCauley, the former pastoral administrator at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa, who provided support for families affected by the Agriprocessors raid, publicly condemned the complete acquittal of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin on charges of child labor violations as a tragedy. “I was heartsick,” she declared. “I had…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-15T10:13:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin - Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin - Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed","og_description":"So much for Christian charity. Sister Mary McCauley, the former pastoral administrator at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, Iowa, who provided support for families affected by the Agriprocessors raid, publicly condemned the complete acquittal of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin on charges of child labor violations as a tragedy. “I was heartsick,” she declared. “I had…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm","og_site_name":"Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed","article_published_time":"2010-06-15T10:13:08+00:00","author":"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm","name":"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin - Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-06-15T10:13:08+00:00","dateModified":"2010-06-15T10:13:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/#\/schema\/person\/0621b4391203aa7af99ea2f3def86931"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/2010\/06\/the-never-ending-lynching-of-sholom-rubashkin.htm#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Never-Ending Lynching of Sholom Rubashkin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/","name":"Rabbi Shmuley Unleashed","description":"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/#\/schema\/person\/0621b4391203aa7af99ea2f3def86931","name":"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/01f\/01f8c83e190b723e02d92a1ed9750af4x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/01f\/01f8c83e190b723e02d92a1ed9750af4x96.jpg","caption":"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach"},"description":"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is host of the award-winning national TV show, Shalom in the Home on TLC. He is also the international best-selling author of 20 books, including his most recent work, The Kosher Sutra: Eight Sacred Secrets for Reigniting Desire and Restoring Passion for Life (Harper One). His book, Kosher Sex, was an international blockbuster, published in 20 languages, and his recent books on the American family, Parenting With Fire and Ten Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children, were both launched on The Oprah Winfrey Show.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/author\/dbigbee"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/rabbishmuleyunleashed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}