It is looking more and more likely that Sholom Rubashkin will do his best to flee to Israel rather than serving his prison sentence for the crimes of which he has been convicted and/or will be convicted at his next trial.
Today, the WCF Courier reports:
Rubashkin’s attorneys presented more than 1,300 letters and e-mails of support, 43 homes worth more than $7 million offered as collateral from supporters, and letters from six rabbis who offered their Torahs in exchange for Rubashkin’s release.
Defense attorney Guy Cook argued Rubashkin would bring shame to the entire Jewish community worldwide if he were to flee.
Some points to consider:
- The judge is not going to take Torahs from rabbis. That’s just a silly publicity stunt.
- The 43 homes worth more than $7 million are irrelevant, because if Rubashkin skips bail, Chabad will raise the money to pay the forfeited bail from gullible frummies who still think Rubashkin is innocent, by embarking on one of its shady, tax-sheltered pidyon shvuyim fundraising blitzes. None of those 43 homes will end up being forfeited to the court if Rubashkin flees.
- The reality, which Cook knows full well, is that Rubashkin doesn’t care about the people who think it would be “shameful” for him to flee to Israel.
- If Rubashkin cared even one iota about bringing shame on the entire Jewish community, he would not have just been convicted of 86 counts of fraud and be about to go on trial on 72 separate immigration charges.
The plain truth is that once Rubashkin has decided that prison time is inevitable, he’ll be on the next boat to Israel, where he will claim persecution, demand asylum, and claim Israeli citizenship under the Right of Return. The Israeli government, in turn, will drag its feet and bog down the extradition process, as demanded by the religious parties which hold disproportionate power in every ruling government coalition, and it will be many years, if ever, before Rubashkin is extradited back to the U.S.
And that, my friends, will bring shame upon the entire Jewish community. We can only hope that the presiding judge has enough common sense to realize the insanity of letting Rubashkin out on bail.
