TEXAS (VINnews) — As previously reported by VINnews, a Lebanese man deceived a Jewish girl from Brooklyn and married her, after spending time with the Chabad and local Jewish community in Texas.
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The following statement was released by Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff, the Chabad rabbi in Texas:
Since 2007, the Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center at Texas A & M has been serving all Jewish faculty and students to explore their Judaism.
A student, presenting himself as Eliyah Hawila, who frequented campus Jewish institutions (including serving as president at one), began visiting Chabad in 2018 (he never studied at a Chabad affiliated yeshiva, nor was he proficient in Hebrew).
Last year he met a woman from N.Y. on a Jewish dating website.
He falsely presented himself to her as observant. When I was asked by the woman, I informed her that from what I observed his conduct did not reflect that of an observant Jew.
The fundamental responsibility of the officiating rabbi at a wedding, the mesader kiddushin, is to determine the Jewish status (birur hayahadut) of the couple and ensure that they are both Jewish, single and allowed to marry each other in accordance with Jewish law. I was not officiating the marriage ceremony, nor were we involved in the wedding preparations and our attendance was predicated on the understanding that the officiating rabbi had done their due diligence to confirm the groom’s Jewish status.
The wedding was supposed to be officiated by Rabbi Ezra Zafrani of Lakewood, NJ. He prepared the ketuba, but was ultimately not able to attend and his son, Rabbi David Zafrani, officiated.
Prior to the wedding, Rabbi Ezra Zafrani and Rabbi David Zafrani did not inquire with me about his Jewish status. In advance of the wedding, the father of the bride asked me about his Jewish status and I told him I don’t know and the officiating rabbi needs to determine that.
Mrs. Zafrani requested that we join the wedding at the couple’s behest, as my wife and I would be in NY then. At the wedding, I was told that his Jewish status was confirmed. As the groom had no family attending, at the request of the couple and the Zafranis, we walked him down to the chuppah and I signed the ketubah.
We were clearly all misled about his identity. Our hearts go out to this woman, her family and everyone else deceived by this individual here in Texas and in New York and New Jersey.
Rabbi Yossi Lazaroff
Rohr Chabad Jewish Student Center at Texas A&M University
What a terrible terrible terrible story.
It is very very very important to check out yichus of people. Don’t just rely on the fact that they claim they’re Jewish.
Nebach nebach.
I wish people would stop “blaming”
This is a very sad story – so very sad for the girl and her family..
Blaming does not accomplish anything. We need to learn from this,
It’s very sad that this girl had to be the one to remind us how very careful we must be in general when it comes to halacha and especially in these instances.
Pleez don’t make this a Chabad or Lakewood issue – Let us ALL learn from this. Every single one of us can learn from this. How many times did some of us almost mix meat with milk? Did any of us ever forget and eat dairy soon after eating meat? If and when that does happen we become more diligent. That is what we should derive from this horrible story – The blame game accomplishes nothing!!!
A great sadness for the “bride” and her family. Hope she can get free of this evil person.
Did this Lebanese guy have nefarious plans or was he simply delusional about his ancestry?
Is he a terrorist? She is asur to a cohen now as she was involved with a goy.
What is the Halachic status of the woman? Is the arab bum in custody? What is the Lakevood Rabbi’s response to all this? OY!
It is sick how many people are asking if he is a terrorist – if anything it is the fault of the rabbis for not converting him – he wants to be frum and all of you racists don’t do the right thing – the halachah is clear if someone wants to be frum, we convert them, but the racist zionist ra bannut tries to make it so hard, this is what you get.
Pathetic!
Rather than accepting responsibility – admitting that we’re all human – didn’t recognize the red flags, vow to change and not fall for such a thing again, and encourage Jews everywhere to increase our vigilance….. we blame others and continue in our pathetic ways and fix nothing…. because it wasn’t our fault.
No – Chabad doesn’t have a policy to run background checks on whoever walks in, but you established a relationship with him enough that you were comfortable enough to vouch for him when you were called.
Yosi – you flew to the wedding, and stood in for his parents under the chupah!
Leadership means having a backbone and accepting responsibility. Not pointing fingers.
leave me alone with chabad mitsvois a few weeks age they met a priest and asked him if he jewish whats this mashugaa teaching every one that enters torah regardless if u are jewish
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a world where they will not be judged by, which mother they came from, but by the content of their character.”
There’s much more to this than has been reported. Not free to discuss it. This was a deep cover operative. Could have been very serious. Far beyond a wannabe Jew. Question is if there are more like him.
Years ago there was an issue within Habad Lubavitch in the UK, when their shliach, Samuel Boteach, was welcoming members of other faiths to their programs. My recollection is that he was terminated (at least in part) due to this issue. Yet here, many years later, such a case is being reported.
The question is, does Habad Lubavitch have no safeguards against such mixing at their programs?
Oy