New York – More Details Emerge About Abuhatzeira And Acusation Of Massive Fraud

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    New York – “The day my daughter died, I decided to bury him,” said Menachem Ellowich, an ultra-Orthodox resident of Brooklyn, referrring to Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, a kabbalist from Be’er Sheva. A few weeks ago, a man armed with a knife tried to do just that.

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    Ellowich is trolling the Internet to find others hurt by Abuhatzeira – others who, like him, paid tens of thousands of dollars for broken promises. Meanwhile, his pile of papers is growing: printouts from charitable associations, taped conversations with the rabbi’s representatives in the United States and with other victims.

    Ellowich believes that his 24-year-old daughter died after Abuhatzeira cursed her. But if he cannot get the rabbi convicted of manslaughter, at least he wants to get back the $100,000 he paid for the blessing that would end his daughter’s barrenness.

    Ellowich first heard about Abuhatzeira in 2004 through a friend, Chezkel Roth. “I didn’t know a thing about him except that his grandfather was the Baba Sali,” Ellowich said.

    The rabbi told Ellowich that to receive the desired blessing, he would have to bring him $100,000 within five days. “You have to believe in me,” Ellowich quoted the rabbi as saying. “I’m a great righteous person and I promise you your daughter will have children and grandchildren. Her luck will change. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don’t tell anyone, just bring the money.”

    “I don’t know how he does it, but I felt I had met an angel, or God Himself,” Ellowich said. “I don’t know how he hypnotized me. He probably makes a million dollars a day with that magic.”

    Ellowich said he borrowed money from friends, one of whom demanded $7,000 in interest. “Then I came to him with the check and he said: ‘You’re late, but I’ll do it for you anyway.’ With the check in his hand, he stood up with this hood over his face where you see only his lips, and said in a loud voice in Hebrew: ‘I say to you, as you are standing here, that I, Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, in the presence of Hezkel Roth and Menachem Ellowich and God, attest in the name of God that your daughter will be healed and will have children. You have nothing to worry about, it’s in my hands now.'”

    Shortly after the blessing, his daughter met a young ultra-Orthodox man. “When they got married, Rabbi Abuhatzeira sent a message through his sexton that the miracle would take six months,” Ellowich said. But the months passed and nothing happened.

    When the rabbi was next in New York, Ellowich went to see him to find out why the blessing had not been fulfilled. “He said to me, ‘why didn’t you invite me to the wedding? I told you then to come in five days and you were late. You brought the check at 3 P.M. Now you have to bring me another $100,000 in three days, and the promise will come true. You have a choice. Either bring me the money and you’ll have a baby, or don’t bring me the money and you won’t. Her husband will leave her and she won’t have children.’ I didn’t bring him the money. There were other people waiting in line, sick and depressed. He just takes control over you in a moment of despair, when you feel lost.”

    But eventually Ellowich gave in and decided to pay. “I took another loan and went with my brother to Israel, to Be’er Sheva. The rabbi told me, ‘I promised your daughter she would have children and you have nothing to worry about.'” The rabbi gave Ellowich three bottles of wine and instructed him to drink one of them when his daughter gave birth to a son, as promised. “I’m keeping the bottle as evidence,” Ellowich said.

    Two years passed, and still no pregnancy. “When the rabbi came to New York, I went to his agent and asked to see him. He said, ‘the rabbi doesn’t want to hear from you any more.’ I asked if my son-in-law could see him, and he answered, ‘if your son-in-law wants to see the rabbi, he’ll have to pay at least $500.'”

    The son-in-law, Y., said the rabbi received him after a two-hour wait and took the check, which was made out to the “Avraham Avinu Association.” He said the rabbi told him, “‘If you want a son, go tell your wife’s father to give me $100,000. If not, your wife will never have children.’ He tore the check into three pieces, gave them to me and pushed me out the door.”

    Ellowich said his son emerged shocked and crying from the meeting and told him Abuhatzeira had cursed him.

    The curse in action

    When Y. got home, his wife urged him to tell her what had happened. When he finally did, she began to cry. “In March 2008, after I went to work, she died,” Y. said.

    “Ever since my daughter found out about the curse, she lost the will to live,” Ellowich said. “She would cry all day. She started to hemorrhage, she was depressed. The day I found her on the floor in the bathroom, I called an ambulance, but they couldn’t revive her. To the day she died, she carried the blessing around in her purse.”

    The doctors said her daughter had died of an aneurysm, but Ellowich disagrees: “Rabbi Abuhatzeira killed my daughter and stole the money.”

    Ellowich began a private war against Abuhatzeira, exploring and documenting the rabbi’s modus operandi. “He tells people, ‘I’m holy, I’m close to God.'” Ellowich said he has dozens of testimonies from people who say that within a few minutes, they were writing a check. He began taking a small tape recorder to his meetings with Abuhatzeira’s agents. He also demanded his money back, to no avail.

    He approached a Jewish newspaper, a local Jewish politician and finally, the police, who opened a case against Abuhatzeira.

    Ellowich admitted he is afraid and believes he is being followed.

    He even went to see the rabbi’s brother, David Abuhatzeira, in Nahariya. “I don’t speak to him, he’s a rotten apple,” Ellowich quoted the brother saying of the kabbalist. Ellowich said other Israeli rabbis also told him Abuhatzeira is a “bad man.”

    This year, for the first time, Abuhatzeira did not come on his annual December visit to Brooklyn.

    Ellowich’s story recalls the pattern of behavior by Abuhatzeira that Haaretz detailed in a series of articles in 1997: He tries to impress people, persuades them to write a check in exchange for a blessing, obtains more money and threatens a curse if necessary.

    Another man said his father paid Abuhatzeira for a blessing, but the rabbi threatened that if he married the woman he loved, he would have defective children. “That man and his gangsters have to be stopped,” the man said.

    Meir G., from New Jersey, said he heard the rabbi could perform miracles. “When I met him for the first time, he described passionately how my life would change for the better. I was filled with joy and optimism. In summing up, the rabbi said these things would only come true if I paid him $100,000. At that point, it was impossible to refuse. That same day, I started sending him the money. At some point I couldn’t go on, and Mr. Harman [Abuhatzeira’s aide] threatened that if I stopped, ‘your son will die.’ I am a religious man and I took the threats very seriously. Since I met him, my life has been a disaster.”

    M.V., 38, from Brooklyn, never filed a police complaint. But he did supply an affidavit stating that he had given more than $500,000 to Abuhatzeira in exchange for the promise of a baby that was never born. M.V., who has since gone into bankruptcy, said his wife and father will not let him complain because they are afraid of a curse. “But I don’t believe in the curse,” he said. “If his blessings were a fraud, so are the curses.”

    M.V. said he met with the rabbi frequently in Be’er Sheva, and only slowly realized that his promises were hollow. “Abuhatzeira certainly has charisma. The way he says Kiddush, the way he preaches and sings, even the way he drinks whiskey and vodka with you.”

    M.V. said he approached the Israeli tax authorities but has received no response. “If the cases were closed [in Israel], apparently he knows who to bribe. But I believe that up there, he’ll get what’s coming to him.”


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    101 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Hey if you beleive he has powers to curse,watch out fool.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Much of this pain is simply the result of dumb yidden under great stress because of personal tragedies who buy into these yiddeshe snakeoil salesmen who prey on thse victims who believe there is some mystical or magical quality of certain tfilot or objects that will yield greater results wiht the ebeshter than their own davening with kavanah from wherever they have to be located. There is no special yichus to emailing tfiliot over the internet to be put into kvitlach in th kosel or paying some chassid to say tehillim on your behalf at the kever of some gadol. This is borderline avodah zorah. Do your own davening with real feeling and the ebeshter will respond.

    does anyone have personal experience with him?
    does anyone have personal experience with him?
    14 years ago

    Let us know here!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    unreal

    mrs boro parker
    mrs boro parker
    14 years ago

    I remember Mr Ellowich’s daughter as the most beautiful wonderful girl. There was a glow around her, her middos was something to talk about and her marriage and shalom bayis in h home was something that people noted and were in awe of.

    Word is cheap and it is impossible to describe her characteristics in detail but those that knew her know only too well exactlyt we have lost – and that is bitter and painful.

    Mr Ellowich did what any father would do if he had the means to do so, he did not leave a single stone unturned his zest in life was for his young couple’s happiness and that their joy should be multiplied and fulfilled. unfortunately his desperation and anguish was exploited by those that know exactly when a person is at the most vulnerable, at the lowest ebb and when a “rabbi” promises that he has the power, he believe – because he had no other options.

    I remember a family member telling me – of course they will have kids – they have a big bracha from someone notable.

    May her family continue to gain the strength that they need and be comforted by the mourner of zion.

    Gut shabbos.

    Passaicer
    Passaicer
    14 years ago

    This is an extreme example of rabbinic abuse, but rabbinic abuse on a smaller scale is actually extremely common.

    Much more common than people realise.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    This is heartbreaking. Although I’ve never actually gone to these “mekubalim” I understand why people are so desperate. I have been very close to desperate myself. I am shocked to read all these details. Why aren’t these things publicized earlier?

    Mr. Ellowich, I am so sorry for you & your family. What a terrible tragedy. And yes, even though there appears to be a medical reason for his daughter A”H death, I believe people die of misery & broken hearts. I have seen it in my own family.

    I hope you find the peace you are searching for.

    Michael
    Michael
    14 years ago

    A whole bunch of lies from a broken person who suffered the loss of a daughter. Every holy rabbi blesses people in the merit of the tzedakah donation that they suggest. It is not a protection against the will of god. No one can promise to overturn god’s will. Desperate people mistakenly confuse the donation and blessing for a guaranteed paid contract. I brought a friend for a blessing to this rabbi with the help of the aforementioned Cheskel Roth, and my friend got blessed without giving a red cent to the Rabbi. I don’t blame the broken person for looking for someone to blame, but do not take everything at face value.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    We have a Kabbala from many Gedolim (including Rav Shach and the Satmar Rov ZY”A) that anyone who demands money from those who don’t have it for a bracha, is nothing more than a FRAUD! R’ Yackov Hillel wrote and excellent Sefer on this subject, which has been translated into english as “Faith and Folly”.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    $500,000???!!!!! There is no way in the world that anyone charging that kind of money for a blessing is a righteous or holy man, if he was righteous or holy he wouldn’t charge for a blessing, he would want to help every Yid for free, even if the money would go for charity he wouldn’t ask for so much money. This is in a way worse than the Tropper scandal, to take suck advantage of sick and desperate people. Hashem yishmor.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I feel sorry how could somebody be fooled like this he calls him self kabbala what to cheat and kill were the arlech geit rebbi

    Passaic
    Passaic
    14 years ago

    Oy Ribbono She’ll Olam, how much longer will you allow these frauds to hide behind their “Rabbanus”?!

    The Rebbe
    The Rebbe
    14 years ago

    Look at the difference between this “Rabbi” and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This “Rabbi” demanded large sums of money wheras the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave people a dollar to put in Tzedakah. Look who’s Brochos actually worked.

    Wise Man
    Wise Man
    14 years ago

    A fool and his money are soon parted.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    A sucker is born every day. I once allowed a so called kabbalist to use my home here in flatbush so he can scam people. I wanted to see baloney with my own 2 eyes. This creep told a divorcee who came for a brocha to ask the owner of the house for 500 dollars so that she can pay him for her blessing. I was gonna break this Israeli menuval not mekubal legs,but I wanted to see more of his con artist activitys. This menuval attracted lots of sfardic and chassidic desperate people with situations and this looney tune told them that the reason they have problems because they closed windows.

    m&m
    m&m
    14 years ago

    Sound like this “Rabbi” is a complete SICKO, it makes my stomach turn reading this story. He has no power whatsoever. I believe the reason she died, is fom depression or whatever you calli it- All because she believed this nut job. Im sure there are other out there, PLEASE BEWARE

    Lawyer
    Lawyer
    14 years ago

    Here is a suggestion. Take out a book Tehillim, and pray with a broken and contrite heart to the Master of the Universe that He should save you from your troubles. Costs nothing.

    TheTruth
    TheTruth
    14 years ago

    “Gedolim” should be after these thieving “Mekubalim” – not R’ Avi Weiss.
    Who is a bigger threat to true Judaism?

    GS
    GS
    14 years ago

    May all who blessed be blessed – and may the opposite be as well.

    Like Bilam
    Like Bilam
    14 years ago

    Like Bilam harasha, may this Rabbi’s curses become blessings.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    This is a terrible story r’l. Please remember though that there are a few real mekubalim in this world, including Rabbi David Abuchatzeira (brother of this fraud in the story) and we should not use this to disrespect those very few and holy tzadikim.

    verite
    verite
    14 years ago

    in these situations it is kedaii to be a litvak i heard about him from a mechutan and i immediately detected that he was a fraud all the stories i heard ended; had you listened this would not have or have happened had he predicted the outcome ahead of time meila but anybody can be a novi yesterday by the way did he ever win the lottery

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    to # 22…why not? they are both gedoilim! their differences don’t matter anymore…they are both on a level above where you & I will ever be. don’t discredit or insult any of them, or any real gadol for that matter, or u will b cursed by hashem himself. you don’t have to agree w everything they represent to see the kedusha in both of them. be very careful what you say. that’s my free warning…no $$ needed.

    Wow
    Wow
    14 years ago

    The power of someone’s last name.

    OMG
    OMG
    14 years ago

    The trust that people placed in this person is appalling .May all frauds continue to be uncovered and “dealt with” here and in shamayim. May the curses of evil be turned into simcha (when justice is served)How dare. Shame on them.

    oysh...
    oysh...
    14 years ago

    our rav always says do not give anybody a penny…and we listen because he’s right you never know who’s a scam artist…there is a rabbi in our area who calls us time to time asking for money for his kollel…..he has mamish such a chutzpah….we don’t give him anything…..i deep down believe he’s a scam artist…..and just to let you know we haven’t a don’t plan too……we are proud to say we have our rav who paskened this……
    we mamish feel so bad for this man who was mamish scammed by this idiot….we think that he should be in jail…..i don’t even call him a rabbi, he’s mamish a ganev who should be in jail sitting in a prison cell with madoff……why aren’t they arresting him yet…….they mamish have a lot of proof……

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    yep. sounds like a thick storm of bad will comes when people think they can bribe god with money. better off you do a mitzvah to help someone, such as visiting the sick, rather then give money.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Tameem Tiheyeh Im Hashem Eloikecha

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Its a shame what happen this mekubil took advantage on people who need help to help him self and take every thing what man had in savings I m sick about this were are all rebbes how come they don’t. Say any thing and they know about that what this mekubil was doing taing yiddish gelt

    lawyer
    lawyer
    14 years ago

    A balanced approach would be to create an escrow account, if the bracha works, the Rabbi gets the dough, if not, he doesn’t. Of course you will need to hire a lawyer to set this up and he/she will take a fee no matter what happens.

    Tanna Kamma
    Tanna Kamma
    14 years ago

    It takes a real moron to believe that $$ buys you a child, why didn’t he pour the money into medical treatment instead??

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    stay away from mekubalim period “lo meduvshach velo meuktzach”.we have great tzadikkim to ask berochos from.
    I went to a mekubel in beit shean .we called the mekubal’s house before and we were told that he’s napping.We told the gabbai that we are american students and this would be our only chance to meet him.He said alright come over.He came out with his pajamas and he gave us a bracha .we all gave him shekalim some gave 100 shekel i gave 50 . After studying the currency he said in hebrew “eifo hakesef americai”.We excused ourselves and dashed for the door afraid he might curse us.
    Another mekubal from leon france stayed by a friend I was invited to come for a bracha . I went with my wife and baby daughter.The mekubal eager to show off his ruach hakodesh said pointing at the baby ,hes a boy right .I said no shes a girl.Then he said you live here .I said no I live in yerushalaim.And then i said (to myself )thats strike two ,strike three and your out.
    stay away you can get more hurt than helped.
    one has to be mevarer where the money goes does he have institutions of torah or not if not he is pasol meikro.
    If the money he takes has no justific

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    All of this reminds us that yiddeshkeit is really about a one-on-one relationship between yidden and Hashem and all this mumbo jumbo about paying intermediaries davening on hour behalf, spending thousands of dollars for a remote baracha or email kvitlach to the kosel, wasting money to travel to the kevorim of gadolim etc. are really for goyim. Daven where you are, with kavanah, and the Ebeshter will hear and respond.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Don’t get it ? Was these Ellowvich’s daughter sick ? That he went to get a blessing ? I am A strong believer in plain simple T’hilim ,if hashem wants nebech to give someone a “TZURE” no money in the world could change that, and only real “TFILE “can help it sure did all these rears , so to ask and to give someone 100’s and 1000’s of dollars is highway robbery

    chaim
    chaim
    14 years ago

    all you fools any one that forces some one to give money for a bracha is a crook
    the lubavitcher rebbe never forcet any one to give money for a bracha dont be fooled by these crooks

    destro613
    destro613
    14 years ago

    there is a reason why a mkubal is called that
    they mikabel your money!!! nothing else

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    when you have to pay someone for a blessing, even the so called biggest rabbi on earth, it’s unreal and abusive,

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    you guys are all crazy! do you not believe in Hashem? obviously Hashem decided that the girls time was up, !!! This man is in major need of working on his EMUNAH!!! We go to a rabbi for a b’racha and we hope in the merit of the Rabbi, Hashem will answer his tefilos but lets not forget who is running this world!!!!!The Rabbi can throw in a good word for us, but Hashem is the ultimate decision maker in this world……and the fact that he gave the rabbi 100,000 dollars and went into major debt, then its his own problem. most normal ppl. wouldn’t go into debt for a beracha…..so stop speaking badly about these rabanim, there is an inyan of zechus avos! He is BABA SALI”s grandson!!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    why did this man go for a brocha before the daughter was married? she wasnt that old why would he give such an enormous amount of money? Is he all there????

    It takes 2
    It takes 2
    14 years ago

    While I feel bad for those who were scammed I reallyy don’t understand how people can be so stupid. I’m a lot younger than a lot of those who were scammed yet it is common sense to me that a real Tzaddik doesn’t extort money out of people. Even if a
    Tzaddik needs money he asks for a few $1000 from those who have it. Who heard of these huge amounts? This is like a bernie madoff.

    Moish
    Moish
    14 years ago

    Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira had four sons. What a shame that we only speak about the one that fell to the wayside; the other three are great talmudai chachomim in their own right. There is no reason to shame the family any further. The three brothers know who they have and are currently not in speaking terms. The word we are all looking for is “Vigilant”; and anyone who has gone to the other three brothers know that you can come and go without leaving one penny and they will greet you with a smile when you leave as well. You might have to wait a few hours to see them but it’s well worth the wait. If we would all believe in ourselves instead of looking for shortcuts things would look a lot different. All we really need is to look up hight , because we know “ Ein Oyd Milvado”

    Just like Kupat Ha-Ir
    Just like Kupat Ha-Ir
    14 years ago

    Sounds alot like Kupat Ha-Ir – give them $ and your troubles are solved.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I don’t under stand were all the other rebbis don’t call eliaszer bachtzary to stop defrauding so many people he is makeing bad for all other frum people. All rebbis wake up and stop this abachzary what he doing makeing a chullil hashem

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    you people are soooo ignorant. there is a story of the baba sali who refused to see a person unless that person gave the baba sali $50,000. the baba sali said that he saw in ruach hakodesh that this person stole $50,000 from his business partner. so i guess the baba sali was a fraud too for asking for that money. what you people don’t understand is that there is such thing as midat hadin and midat harachamin. most kabbalists are midat hadin and rebbes (like the satmer rebbe) are midat harachamim. so when a person goes to a rebbe even if the person has many sins the rebbe will most probably give him a blessing for free. not so the kabbalist because the kabbalist holds the person accountable his sins. and there’s such a thing as tikunnim. you people have no idea the tikkunim these people who were supposedly defrauded need. but don’t dare just start saying that rav elazar abuchatzeira is a fraud. he is the real deal. you people understand nothing and run your mouths based on this understanding. the fact that rav david abuchatzeira calls his brother a rotton apple means nothing. it is known that rav shach would call the lubavitcher rebbe an apikorous this is too shut the satan up

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I know a first hand account of someone who was a terrible sinner (rasha) who went to see rav elazar abuchatzeira in Brooklyn, N.Y. rav elazar greeted everyone that day for 6 hours. when this person came in to see the rav he took one look at the person and immediately put his head very far down, withdrew into himself and refused to even look at the person. He even embarrassed the person so that they would leave. it was obvious the Rav was suffering from the impurity from that persons sins. now if the rav did this while he was a guest in someone else’s home it means all he cares about is doing hashem’s will and could care less about his own kavod. now if the rav was a fraud don’t you think this kind of behavior would prevent people from coming to him which he wouldn’t want because then he can’t take their money? Now does that sound like a charlatan to you who just wants to take people’s money?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    I asking why tis mekubil take so much money he dosent give to nobody just fr himself has no yeshiva has just apalace with gold disheis and gold slipper. He has no pitty

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Thetruth will come out soon how all his gabuiam live wealth. And the rich big home from the mikubil money what he splits up when they bring victims who need yeshua and they robbed and fooled

    100021
    100021
    14 years ago

    It is stories of cynical,calculating, fraud and deception by so-called ‘mekubalim’ that push the doubting and hesitant ‘baalei teshuva’ right back into the clutches of secular Jews.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    Where is the world to let a elazr abuhetetzeiri get away with such a crime where the isreli gov.wake up tell your freinds to be aware from such evil people

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    14 years ago

    i dont understand why do you beleive that he cursed your daughter and it was mekuyem if he is fraud then he is fraud in every way for good and for bad? please explain