Wellington, FL – When Loretta Miller’s husband of more than 26 years died in October 2003, her rabbi suggested she donate an ark to house the Torah — in his memory.
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Miller is suing Rabbi Mendy Muskal of a synagogue in Wellington, he claims the rabbis family used the $18,000 she donated to boost their lifestyle, take a family trip to Israel and deliver an ark that cost only $2,000.
Sometime before the scheduled October 2004 unveiling of the ark memorializing Jordan Miller, his widow said, she learned she had been “duped.” While at the Muskals’ home, Loretta Miller said, the rabbi took her into his garage and showed her a wood cabinet with mahogany veneer on top of plywood. “It looked like somebody did it as a hobby and it just looked horrible,” she said. “It looked like an armoire.”
Muskal denies all of Miller’s allegations and says he’s confident a court will agree he did nothing wrong. “We’ll be proven to be meritorious in this,” he said, adding that donations are not spent on a dollar-for-dollar basis. “We need those funds for operating and programming. That’s how we’re able to provide half a dozen classes a week for free.”
On the advice of his attorney, Muskal declined to comment on the cost of the ark or who built it.
we all know an article never has the true story but it sounds that the rabbi did what any shul and rabbi does I hope she dosnt see a penny from this
“Zchus” means. she bought the Zchus of the Aron Kodesh…not the actual piece. Where does it say that in the article. And was that explained to her when she gave that enormous amount of money. 18,000 dollars in a tremendous amount of money to most people. Especially an almunah looking to honor the name of her husband. Where do you all get off putting her down like this. It sounds to me like they used this woman and gave her a shoddy deal.
Yeshiva Math.
One for me. One for you.
One for me. One for you.
So why do I still have the same amount in my pocket?
Oh thank you G-d.
The Rabbi may run into problems, if he didn’t report “benefits” on his personal tax return.
And for not keeping his books open to the public as all none-profits must do.
We will show up in court shaking a pushke to collect our share.
Maybe it was a very nice aron, even if its not worth $18000. the only one saying different is this woman.
While I agree that she has bought the zechus of the aron, she should have a say in the design of the aron itself. After all, in 5 or 10 or more years, people might come to this shul, see the (according to the article) shoddy aron, see the plaque, and think that this woman was trying to get the zechus of the aron in her husband’s name on the cheap. While I wouldn’t expect the Rav to spend the whole $18K on the aron, you can get a *VERY* nice, well-constructed custom-made aron in that area on the cheap. (It is *very* cheap to get custom cabinets in south Florida. There are many Cuban immigrants there who are master cabinet builders. In fact, it was cheaper to do a recent kitchen remodel in MD using custom cabinets from FL — including freight — than to buy them in MD.)
12:46 2:51 and 3:31 are all right you dont buy a zchus at cost
it happened 2 years ago what changed now?
rabbi mendy stay strong
this happens lots of times where the husband supports a shul and the women is upset that he’s becoming to frum and after he dies tries to get back the shul
if she wins we can sue every shul.in the world for the same reason every rabbi neads to live and needs food on the table and gets a salary from the shul which comes from our tzedakah if u don’t like that rabbi don’t give money to that shul
the women did this all to try to ruin the rabbis shul so she can start her own
this women is wrong nobody gets rich over 18,000 dollars she has other issues I hope the rabbi wins no reason to.destroy a community because u don’t like the way a shul is run when u give tzedakah think twice before giving and if u don’t like to give money donate it yourself no the ark is a beautiful peace of art
I wonder what this woman is really upset about. I am sure there is a larger issue at hand here.
The shul is not a store. He wasn’t selling her an ark for 18,000. He was selling her the opportunity to be the one who buys the Ark for the shul. If she is unhappy with the Ark that the Rabbi had made, she can go to a store and buy a different one. But the 18,000 still belongs to the shul.
Yes, she knows what an ark is and n teh Rabbis is not a Rebbitzen. Did you actually read the post? HIs name is Mendy, my assumtion is that he’s Lubavitch.
Oy, why do ppl feel the need to type before they think and read?
DID SHE KNOW WHAT A ARK IS ? Is the rabbi a rebitzen ?
it sounds like camp driver is involved or is related to someone who has a shul or yeshiva buisness opps I almost forgot (non for profit yeshiva or shul buisness) with closed books and contracts given only to freinds and family
it happens in every shul. this lady does not understand what the word “Zchus” means. she bought the Zchus of the Aron Kodesh…not the actual piece. When a shul sells the mezuzah of the front entrance for $1000.00 they are not gonna buy a mezuzah for that money or even a mezuzah case with that money (or even the plaque) it is the Zchus they are selling. I hope she loses in court. and what the rabbi does with the money is not anyones business…he is the owner of the shul…if you dont like the way its ran then dont daven there…or dont give him any money.
Hey, If I donated 18,000 dollars for an Ark I would want to see and Ark worth that amount. Not a little piece of wood covered in Whatever. That is Chutzpah.