Brooklyn, NY – Two sticky-fingered brothers posing as “good Jewish boys’’ were busted for allegedly robbing three Brooklyn synagogues of sacred articles that were passed down from generations, law enforcement sources said yesterday.
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Solomon Grun, 19, and his brother, Samuel, 23, allegedly grabbed prayer shawls and ataras from the Flatbush synagogues during the spree from June 27 to July 1, the sources said, adding that they were either caught on video or spied by stunned members of the congregations.
They also stole silver items, including two menorahs worth more than $1,000, from their mom, cops said.
According to a press release by the Flatbush Shomrim, these 2 brothers are heavy drug addicts, the teens have been using the profits earned from the stolen ataras to support their drug addictions.
Chaim Deutsche Founder of the Flatbush Shomrim said, He urges District Attorney Charles Hynes to mandate these two drug addicts to an intensive in-patient drug program. Most of the crimes that plague our community are committed by such addicts. Drug enforcement units throughout our city must double or triple to get the drug dealers off the streets and prevent our teenagers from starting early. Drug programs and Probation for mandated drug rehab must be enforced and followed up and violators’ punishment must be severe.” Chaim Deutsch continued by thanking the local detectives, members of the Flatbush Shomrim Patrol and community askanim for their cooperation and the endless hours invested to end the crime pattern.
The article is vague as to whether these two (alleged) thieves were, in fact, Jewish, and whether they were members, or at least frequent visitors, to the shuls in question.
(Jews as drug addicts? Nahhhhhhhh)
Chaim Deutsche has no business telling Hynes what should be done with these two Jewish thieves. Once convicted they should both be thrown in prison, where DOC will wean them away from drugs.
What a joke, one of the brothers was arrested May 25, 2012 for theft!
Nebech on the poor parents of these two bad seeds.
The frum community needs leadership that doesn’t pretend that these problems don’t exist. There are drug addicts in every group, Chassidic, Sephardic, Modern and some are children of great rabbis. There has to be a willingness to admit that it exists . Because of shiduchim issues and general fear of disgrace, many parents prefer to look the other way and let their children eventually die of an overdose.It happens lal the time but you would never know it because the curtain is so solid to keep anyone from finding out the real reason for deaths from drugs.
Most important.
Who were the pawn shops who knowingly bought the stolen goods from these 2 thieves?
Arrest them and you close down the major players
Shame on VIN for posting this article and shame on shomrim of Flatbush of being proud of such tragic situations.
Shomrim is not here to protect us from our own. Shomrim was started by R’ moshe Hoffman A”H from williamsburg to keep goyish theives out of our homes. When our community suffers with our own problems we don’t need shomrim. Is Shomrim gonna help the IRS soon if I don’t pay taxes on time?! Is Shomrim gonna enforce building codes? Are they gonna enforce parking rules? What has happened to the “US” and to the “WE” the jewish people.
Shomrim you are going too far. We don’t need you to tell charles Hynes what to do and how to prosecute us.
Chaim Deutsch I wanna wish you only nachas from ur generations to come and may you never experience such sadness. Please keep up your great work but stay away where you don’t belong.
A Git Voch
Nebach
#12 : A shaila was asked and it is NOT mesira!!!
I was one of their victims and had a sentimental Atara which is irreplaceable. I was violated! Immagine how I felt when I walked into shul Shabbos morning to find my talis beitel empty! My fellow mispallelim told me I was white.
Then another walked in and then one more. There stood 3 of us with empty talis bags. Shock, dismay and utter disbelief barely sum it up.
These are carrer criminals who’ve been at it for years. When one stoop so low as to steal from their own mother, something’s just not right.
“Haba lehorgecha, hashkem legorgo”. We have no way of knowing what a drugged crazed individual is capable of doing should they encounter a surprise visitor in one of the shuls. They don’t process while under the influence. Sadly, they have a habit to feed and wouldn’t think twice about hurting someone.
Prison, besides being punitive, includes mandatory rehab. When they get out, they will hopefully be clean and will also have learned a powerful lesson.
While I feel for the family, I also feel for them and pray that after time served, they will start their lives over and become respectable people.
May H’ guide them.
Publishing the names is probably not muttar at all.
They can always go through rehab and do tshuvah
Drug abuse is a serious problem in the frum community, and B”H it is now recognized, no longer denied, by most leaders in all factions of the frum world. The drawback to this achieved awareness is the access to treatment. There are several angles to this.
1. There are nearly no facilities to offer treatment that are kosher and offer environments suitable to someone who wishes to comply with Torah and mitzvos during treatment. The few we have are not located near frum communities.
2. Treatment is costly. Insurance no longer pays much. Personal funding has often been depleted before the addict is ready for help.
3. Stigma.
4. There are several levels of intensity of treatment, including inpatient/residential, intensive outpatient, and outpatient (less intensive). You cannot overtreat an addict, but most seek lesser levels, with risks of failure.
5. Court mandates are useful, but do not guarantee successful recovery.
It’s great to get someone to treatment, but not all succeed the first time through. Once someone enters recovery for real, life becomes fulfilling, spiritual, and enjoyable. There are many winners.
I personally know both these boys and all I can say is pray for there souls it is a Jews duty to pray for our brothers!do they deserve to be punished?i will leave that up to the courts.they are good kids who got addicted to crack and heroin when you are looking for your next fix you will even steal from your own mother that’s the harsh facts of this disease! I pray for them
im a teenager myself and ive went through years of drug abuse. ive seen all my friends go through the same thing and at 17 years old ive buried more friends then both of my parents. for years ive tried going to rehab, therapists,relapse prevention, and going to jail did nothing for me. what i relized is that willpower is not the answer to this malady. this is a spiritual malady that needs a spiritual solution which ive gotten through the twelve steps. the twelve steps is basically a teshuva process were i had to change my entire self-being. you see for an addict like myself I was the problem and drugs was the symtom as long as an addict does nothing to change himself hes bound to relapse. this is what the community has to realize because everybodys trying to offer solutions without even knowing what this problem is. once people start treating this proplem with the spiritual solution then this problem will go away g-d willing.
btw there is an affordable jewish rehab in north miami that takes you through the 12 steps with a torah hashkafa and its called torah and the twelve steps. its kosher with frum therapist whos a rabbi and there is a frum psychiatrist and its a fourth the price of most rehabs. Look it up on internet as it saved my sons life. just having a chaplain who invites people for shabbos isnt really a jewish program. this one in miami is truly jewish at the neshama recovery level and the rabbi worked with addicts for 30 years.