Postville, IA – Former Agriprocessors Manager Sholom Rubashkin is getting a lot of support from the Jewish Community in Postville. A jury convicted Rubashkin last week of 86 federal fraud charges.
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Several homes have posters of Rubashkin on an American flag reading “Send Shalom Home” in their front yards. That’s upsetting some veterans who say this is illegal.
Now, a sign intended to pay tribute to a man at the center of controversy in Postville has instead created more controversy.
Former city council member Aaron Goldsmith said, “I think they wanted to send a message that Shalom is not forgotten, but they took an avenue they didn’t understand could be been seen as harmful.”
Local veterans are angry about the design of the posters.
“I was outraged,” Veteran Gary Hooper said.
“You got him pasted right into the flag…that’s not right,” Veteran Terry McNally.
They point to a section of the Iowa Code that makes it illegal to desecrate a flag.
Veteran Harlan White said, “The flag is very sacred to me and our country.”
“I sacrificed my blood for the flag, so did my father and grandfather. It means our freedom,” Hooper added.
City and state officials say its unclear whether the poster actually violates the law or not.
Members of the Jewish community say this situation is simply a big misunderstanding.
“I think they misunderstood the symbols of the flag and mixing his picture with that and how that could offend people and be misunderstood and misconstrued,” Goldsmith said.
The initial purpose of the signs was to show support for Rubashkin, but now some would argue these displays have caused more harm instead.
The Postville VFW is preparing a response and also asking for an apology from those who displayed the signs in their yards.
what happened to freedom of speech?
Yellow ribbons are a U.S. symbol for pidyon shevuyim. I do not think people would object putting up yellow ribbons, but some people are very sensitive about the flag and that should be respected.
The way Americans treat their flag is a modern example of avoda zarah. I’m not aware of any other nation that regards its flag in this way.
As a former American Jewish member of the USA Army,l find the SMR photo on an Am flag to be utterly repulsive. Every time I think his followers hit a new all time low, they prove me wrong. Rather, than just pay his dues to society for his crimes of fraud, stealing, and all the others he has been found guilty of, you continue to try and marytr him. The reality is he is a crook, found guilty by a jury of his peers. The best thing you can do is teach your children, that crime does not pay, and the Torah teaches us this. To do otherwise toyour children is a Chilul Hashem. To those of you who try to keep him as a cult figure, where have you learned your Torah lessons from? Please can someone tell me, citing chapter and verse, where it says a man is a baal tzedaka, when he steals from one person to give to another? Is the second man accepting the stolen money from the baal tzedaka as guilty for being compicet with the first in stealing?
I know this is a wake up call for a lot of unzerer but out there the flag means a lot. there are certain “Minhogijm” that must be folled when displaing a flage like it must be lit up at night and the american flag must be the tallest when dispaying other glags. We must understand that those signs can insult people. they shuold be taken down ASAP it is sending the wrong message. It is a very foolish sign.Put the flag on teh side but never write on the flag. It is very “insulting’ as you can see.
It’s easy to have “respect” for a flag. How about respect for another human being.
How about empathizing when another person suffers. That’s what the Rubashkins are famous for. May Hashem bless them with revealed good.
HUH????…how does putting his picture on the flag desecrate it??? something doesn’t sound right to me…these people must have another agenda!
Freedom of Speech is not the issue, even if it protects flag desecration. What you have here is more insensitivity to the citizens of Postville. More arrogance. More lack of understanding of where you are. In short, another huge chillul Hashem and more anti semitism created. A sign with the same message of support could have been designed without the insult to the vets shown in the news clip.
While the signs are certainly legal (the law in question is clearly unconstitutional), they are a very bad idea from a practical perspective.
put him on a picture of a tallis why a flag?
For every day that those signs are up, those who put them up should be charged with a separate count of desecrating the Flag. Then we can send them to jail forever for their terrible crimes.
These people are criminals and what they are doing is major chillul Hashem, and they must pay for their deeds.
Makes sense, right? Or do we say that the punishment needs to fit the severity of the “crime”….?
A picture of the face of a man who admittedly broke many laws of this country has no place on the flag. His followers are delusional morons.
Maybe one of the big mouths on this site can explain how Pidyon Shvuyim applies to this case?
At least according to the Rambam, and every other source I could find, Pidyon Shvuyim is when a person is taken captive and held for ransom, and is in danger of thirst, hunger, torture or his life is in danger if the ransom is not paid.
This situation IN NO WAY MEETS THOSE REQUIREMENTS.
furthermore, someone who is sent to prison for a crime he committed is SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED from the issue of pidyon shvuyim.
And lastly, regarding the abominable offers of putting up sifrei torah for “ransom”. there is CLEAR limitation with Pidyon Shvuyim that we NEVER ransom someone for something that is more than he is worth. At last count, I believe six Sifrei Torah were being offered up. I cannot for the life of me believe this person is worth even one of them.
Some of these ehrleche Postville yiddin will end up sharing a jailcell in Postville if they don’t mind their midos and respect the flag. This is not BP or WB. They take their flags and patriotism seriously in Iowa.
In my opinion, those Veterans are just a bunch of Anti-Semite’s, I don’t think it has anything to do with the Flag. Our white house desecrates the flag alot more, with all their shetik. These complainers are merely jealous that Jews in Iowa are so caring for each other. We should learn what caring is all about, from them!
Rubashkin’s supporters are no better than those who claimed OJ Simpson was framed. Same blind ethnic bigotry, same paranoia, same disregard for American law and common sense.
This may well be considered a second offense for Sholom Rubashkin. His brother Moshe just got out of jail for bank fraud, which would certainly deter any normal and decent man from committing the same offense. SMR should get a punishment sufficient to scare some of us straight and keep “frum” felons out of the headlines.
As a liberal and ex military E-5, I personally always believed in freedom of expression and always agreed with the Democratic view that we do not want to amend the constitution in regard flag desecration. All said and done the imbeciles who display the signs with SMR photos superimposed on the flag are not helping him, actually they are hurting him, the fact is that they are trying somehow to wrap SMR with the flag when everybody in the community knows that he never did anything for the veterans, just the thought makes me vomit, as for the yellow ribbon at least none Jews wouldn’t know that it is for SMR, they will assume it is for some military person.
humans are humans….he didnt kill anyone!!!
he made a few mistakes which most people in business do…smr isnt saying he is completely innocent hes willing to take responsibilty for his actions but cmon 100 + years doesnt make sense. people in america get away with murder, crimes like that and they go to prison for ten years. is he worst then a murderer? the answer iis no! he is an amazing person who everyone who knows him loves him…always greeting everyone with a smile, and everyone knows they could find a place in his heart and home…..
We hold that the torah is sacred does that mean that we can’t have a picture of the torah in a newspaper with a picture of something else on it its a picture not a real flag if it was real I would understand just like putting something on a real sefer torah
I personally asked R’ Tuvia Goldstein O”H this ?
If a person robs a bank and goes to a yeshiva
drops the money on the desk as a donation is
it considered tzedakah?
His response:
Absolutely NOT- No schar Mitzvah
and if the rebbe accepting it knows it was
stolen then he is over a lo sa’asea
Nuf said.
The father ( AAR ) taught his children well.
Yiush? Shinui Reshus?
How sad that the lamdin of our generation have decided to stoop to using learning not the way it was meant, but by now twisting it into justifying theft and fraud.
Yes, when I was robbed at gunpoint I was “Me’Yayesh” the money that was taken. It was therefore hefker, and the robber did nothing wrong, because the money was now clean.
When you can take a case like a robber dropping stolen money on a Rosh Yeshiva’s desk as tzdaka, and the Rosh Yeshiva knows where it came from, and justify both the robber and the RY as having done nothing wrong Al Pi Halocha, that is the point where you can take the Halacha and all of Yiddishkeit and throw them in the garbage, as they are both worthless.
It is heartbreaking to see how far people are willing to bend halacha to justify wrongdoing, and which people they choose to make heroes and martyrs of.
I AM ASHAMED TO BE A JEW IF THIS IS WHAT BEING A JEW HAS BECOME!
One more point, assuming Dina Demalchusa is a sevoro deOiraiso and this could POSSIBLY affect the ownership of the stolen money, the fact that Yiush doesn’t appear in the Dina does not take away from the fact if the bank was meyaesh then there is yiush…