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Satmar Grand Rebbe visits convicted sexual abuser Nechemya Weberman in prison
(New York Jewish Week) — The Satmar “Grand Rebbe” Zalman Teitelbaum paid a visit to convicted sexual abuser Nechemya Weberman in prison last month, according to a Yiddish-language newspaper serving the Satmar Hasidic community that has published a series of favorable articles about the former therapist accused of sexually abusing an adolescent girl starting from when the victim was 12 years old.
The visit, and the weekly series of articles in Kiryas Joel Vochenshrift, have riled advocates for sexual abuse victims in the Hasidic community. They say the community’s leadership has a pattern of downplaying abuse charges and in this case convictions, further traumatizing the victims.
A sexual abuse survivor who lives in Kiryas Joel, the Orange County, New York seat of Zalman Teitelbaum’s Satmar faction, told the New York Jewish Week that abuse victims like her feel they are “being stabbed” when they see support for accused abusers in the Hasidic media and among their leaders.
“It’s retraumatizing victims,” said the survivor, who asked not to be named for reasons of privacy and safety. “It’s being stabbed every week, again and again, and knowing that if you’re ever going to open your mouth you’re going to be kicked out.”
The woman said that other survivors within the community told her “that they are not going to come forward so quick again because they see this every week.”
“It’s the most horrific thing,” the source said. “I am reliving all the hell that I’ve gone through. They are taking a molester, who did the worst thing, and they are promoting him, and calling him holy.”
An article from Kiryas Joel Vochenshrift, which is publishing a weekly series about convicted sexual abuser Nechemya Weberman. (Courtesy)
The newspaper serves the faction of the Satmar community that is loyal to Zalman Teitelbaum. It published an article about his visit on Nov. 11.
A weekly series sympathetic to Weberman has been running since August. The articles are written accounts from organized visits to Weberman’s jail cell by members of the community, including prominent rabbis. They include letters from Weberman himself and letters from people in the community to him.
“They say he’s wrongfully accused,” Shulim Leifer, a member of the Hasidic community who has read the articles, told the New York Jewish Week. “It’s written in a sense that it’s a foregone conclusion, that it’s a lynching that he went through.”
Accrding to the article about Teitelbaum’s visit, the rabbi spent over an hour with Weberman and “offered words of faith and belief in God” while the convicted sexual abuser was at Rikers Island for an appeal, the article said. Weberman is now at Shawangunk Prison in upstate New York. “Thanks to Hashem, after much advocacy, we did manage to prevail and we managed to get a visit from the [Grand Rebbe] who was able to come into the dark walls,” the article reported.
The United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, whose leaders act as spokespeople for Teitelbaum, declined a request from the New York Jewish Week for comment.
The articles are written by Rabbi Abraham Yehoshua Fraynd. Neither Fraynd nor the newspaper responded to a request for comment.
Weberman, was an unlicensed therapist who served the fervently Orthodox Satmar community, was 54 when he was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing a young woman over the course of three years beginning in 2007. He was given a 103-year sentence in 2013, close to the maximum permitted by law.
The victim spent 15 hours on the witness stand recalling how she had been repeatedly raped and forced to perform oral sex in Weberman’s counseling office, where she had been sent because of her alleged immodest dress and rebellious behavior.
Many members of the Satmar community stood behind Weberman, who had served as the driver for the late Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum, the father of Zalman Teitelbaum and his brother Aaron, who now lead rival factions of the Hasidic movement. Aaron Teitelbaum went so far as to suggest that Weberman’s accuser was “a zona,” which translates to “whore.” The victim claimed that after going to the district attorney, she received both bribes and threats in an attempt to convince her not to testify. The Hasidic community has long discouraged members from going to outside law enforcement, a practice long decried by advocates for victims of sexual abuse and other crimes.
In an article published Dec. 6, Weberman is quoted saying that his prison trial was “a mesira,” an act in which one Jew informs on another in contravention of Jewish law.
“Yes it’s true that there was a jury trial,” Weberman said in the piece. “It’s true in the course of nature, you can expect to get a prison term from a jury in such a case, but I got something that’s over 100 years. And that is something that’s outside of the ordinary.”
Weberman then laments that he doesn’t have a way to advocate for himself while stuck behind bars.
“I’ve been trying to appeal three or four times, that’s not normal,” Weberman said. “What am I left to believe? Am I supposed to believe that I’m never getting out of here? No.”
In another article, Weberman said, “I’ve accepted that God put me through this for reasons that I can’t understand.”
“Even though I’m wrongfully accused, I think one day, I’ll be out,” Weberman said.
Throughout many of the articles, Weberman is called many honorific names, including “a tremendous Hasid” and “shlita,” an acronym reserved for revered members of the community.
Leifer said that there are sexual abuse survivors within the community who are “beside themselves and disturbed by how this guy is lionized and idolized.”
“Sex abuse victims feel hurt and betrayed by this behavior,” Leifer said. “There is sort of a widespread undercurrent in the haredi community that we don’t do a good job with sex abuse, in terms of exposing it, preventing it, or helping victims.”
A Hasidic community member in Williamsburg who is close with the Weberman family told the New York Jewish Week that “no one really knows what happened behind closed doors,” referring to the abuse charges.
“It’s a pity that he’s been in jail already for such a long time,” the community member said.
The source added that Weberman, 64, is now “an old, broken man, with a family who suffers.”
“The community felt like he didn’t have a fair trial,” the source said. “If it really happened, he’s no longer a threat, that’s for sure.”
The source also said that according to Weberman’s family, the convicted felon is being kept in “inhumane” conditions. “There’s no air conditioning, no heat, no TV, it’s freezing,” the source said. “I’m not sure why we are not allowed to give a voice to someone who is inhumanely treated.”
David N. Myers, co-author of “American Shtetl,” a 2022 book about the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel, told the New York Jewish Week that Teitelbaum may have visited Weberman in prison due to the rabbinic principle of “pidyon shevuyim,” which translates to “liberating captives.”
“Haredi Jews take this principle seriously,” Myers, a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote in an email. “There is a strong ethos of providing assistance to and seeking the release of fellow observant Jews who are incarcerated — often on the presumption that they, as good Jews, must have been treated unfairly or imprisoned under false pretenses.”
Myers added that there is a growing sense among haredi Orthodox Jews that they are under siege by the media and secular authorities. He noted the community rage over a New York Times investigation in September that reported on Hasidic schools that are not meeting New York State standards in secular instruction.
“Many New York-area haredim feel under siege,” Myers said. “To be sure, the Weberman case precedes this new wave. He has always had some supporters, as well as many accusers and critics. But the current moment is one in which people in the haredi world feel greater liberty to say that the media are biased against them.”
In August 2021, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez wrote to then Governor Andrew Cuomo and asked him to commute Weberman’s sentence. (By then, Weberman’s sentence had been cut in half under a state law that requires a maximum of 50 years for the type of felonies for which he was convicted.) Gonzalez had long sought leniency for people with lengthy prison sentences, but local activists said his request smacked of politics.
Cuomo, who resigned in August 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, did not respond to Gonzalez’s request.
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When Is a Wedding Too Extravagant?
A wedding ceremony, illustrative. Photo: Jason Hutchens via Wikimedia Commons.
It has been part of my life as a rabbi to attend weddings — more often than not, to “perform.” I reckon that I have attended approximately 100 weddings of various sizes, styles, numbers, and traditions. Some I have enjoyed, but I am finding it increasingly hard to feel comfortable about many of the religious weddings I have attended.
They are getting more and more protracted. People are forced to wait for hours. A wedding I once attended was so overcrowded by jostling relatives under the Chupah, that the father of the bride couldn’t get close enough to give his son in law a sip of the cup of wine.
One band plays for the reception, another for the Chupah, a third for Hasidic or Israeli dances, a fourth for ballroom dancing, and a fifth for a disco. One singer is for Ashkenazi cantorial style, one for Hasidic pop, one for Sephardi tunes, and another for Carlebach. As for food, a loaded reception is offered as people arrive, and sushi is a must. There are multiple servings and meals, and if there’s a Hasidic Mitzvah dance at the end, you’ll get a complete breakfast too.
It is fashionable in the Diaspora to fly in rabbis from Israel. An oligarch recently hired an airliner to ferry over musicians, artistes, and security alone. Consider the millions being spent each year on religious weddings. And then consider how much charitable and educational work could be accomplished instead of a one-night bash that disappears into photo albums a few hours after it is over, to be glanced at perhaps once a year thereafter. The cost and the waste is mind blowing.
Successful businessmen have to invite business contacts, flaunt their success to attract new capital, and invite gaggles of rabbis to prove their religious status and legitimacy. It is not just spoiled daughters who clamor for excess; it’s magnates, too.
Over the past 50 years of rising Jewish affluence, as well as continuing Jewish poverty, many religious leaders of all denominations have tried hard to limit excessive expenditures on weddings, to absolutely no avail. Desperate parents have offered apartments and cars instead of huge weddings. Occasionally, you hear of a couple who elope to Israel or just take a rabbi and two witnesses into Central Park, but the pressures are great — and in most Jewish circles, it is simply not an option.
Recently, I entertained a relatively humble Rosh Yeshiva from Israel with 10 children who has personal debts of $500,000 because of marrying off his five daughters. It was not just the cost of the wedding itself or all the celebrations. It was the need to buy an apartment for each that left him staggering under such a heavy load of debt. And at the same time, he must help and support his five sons who are also married but are studying full time. This is not atypical. A rented apartment is unacceptable nowadays. And the chances of someone with no serious secular education getting a good job are massively reduced in Israeli society, indeed in any society nowadays.
Judaism is expanding because of its families blessed with many children. And it is true that social welfare (incidentally a product of the secular culture they despise) enables this mindset. But eventually, at some point, social welfare will have to be cut back as fewer enter the workplace to fund all this with their taxes.
For our own good as a people, we must call a halt to throwing so much money away on pure self-indulgence. If we care for our future, we must give as much attention to supporting Jewish education as we do to celebrating occasions. And the place to start is weddings. Make your calculations. Then set budgets, be realistic, and divide the sum evenly between your needs and those of others.
It is a huge mitzvah to rejoice at weddings and to help couples get married. Every day in our prayers, we are reminded how important Hachnasat Kala is. But that doesn’t mean we should go overboard. There should be limits.
The author is a rabbi and writer based in New York.
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PLO: ‘Every Achievement of Hamas Is a Victory for the Palestinian People’
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the bodies of deceased hostages, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Hamas’ terrorism is considered a Palestinian national achievement and its successes belong to all Palestinians, proclaimed a member of the PLO’s governing body on Palestinian Authority (PA) television.
While Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has been exposing the PA’s ongoing open call for cooperation and/or unity with Hamas, this time the Palestinian official went even further:
Palestinian National Council member and political commentator Hamada Farana:“Whether there are political agreements, contradictions, or disagreements between this faction and another, [Hamas] is part of the Palestinian people.
Every achievement of the Resistance [Hamas] is a victory for the Palestinian people on a cumulative, gradual, and multi-stage level. Likewise, every loss [of the Resistance] is a burden for the Palestinian people and will delay or postpone the process of final victory.” [emphasis added]
[Official PA TV, Capital of Capitals, Nov. 27, 2025]
Seeing Hamas’ victories, including October 7, 2023, as a Palestinian achievement is the reason why the PA continues broadcasting a clear message to its people that Hamas is an inseparable and indispensable partner of the Palestinian national movement.
Just a day after Farana’s statement, Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor declared that the PA’s “hands are extended and our hearts are open to … Hamas:”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash:“Despite all our reservations regarding Hamas’ policies, positions, and actions, we still consider it and we will continue to consider it as part of the Palestinian people, and no one can deny it that.
Therefore, it has the right to engage in political activity within the framework of Palestinian law and under the umbrella of Palestinian law and as part of the Palestinian internal house. However, Hamas cannot have its own weapons, nor can it have its own rule … Our hands are extended and our hearts are open to rapprochement with Hamas, and as I said before, Hamas is still part of the Palestinian people, despite all its shortcomings.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, YouTube channel, Nov. 28, 2025]
Habbash is well aware that Hamas, because of its “success” on Oct. 7, remains the most popular Palestinian movement. To counter Hamas’ popularity, the PA recently bragged about employing terror against Israel long before Hamas came into existence. Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub recently called upon Egypt to help the PA “bridge gaps” with Hamas.
Of course, Mahmoud Abbas would prefer that Fatah rule alone, but it is not because Fatah differs ideologically; rather, it is because Abbas does not want to share power. Nevertheless, since Hamas is overwhelmingly popular among Palestinians and the PA cannot afford to alienate that base, the two movements operate as partners of convenience: Abbas gains international recognition and funding, and unity with Hamas provides popular legitimacy among the population.
This is the PA’s dual-track strategy, presenting “Hamas-free” governance to the West while preparing to reintegrate Hamas once international support is secured. It continues to make a mockery of President Trump’s 20-point plan — which required Hamas to play no role in Gaza’s governance — and exposes Mahmoud Abbas’ claim at the UN that “Hamas will have no role in governance” as a lie.
Thus, Palestinian officials or political voices are frequently affirming the same message: The PA and Hamas are partners in the same national project, differing only in structure and timing, not in goals.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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Erdoğan’s Sanctuary: Why NATO’s ‘Ally’ Is the Quartermaster for Hamas’ Next War
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan is welcomed by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 22, 2025. Photo: Murat Kula/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
The intelligence bombshell dropped this week by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency confirms what strategic analysts have long feared: Turkey, a nominal NATO ally and a pivotal European partner, is actively serving as the operational and financial command center for the Iran-Hamas terror axis.
This revelation is not about a few misguided transactions; it exposes a sophisticated, Iran-directed cash network operating within central Turkey, utilizing the country’s financial infrastructure to move hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas. This massive illicit funding flow is designed not merely to sustain the terror group, but to systematically rebuild its capabilities outside the Gaza Strip, ensuring its ability to launch future attacks against Israel and destabilize the entire region.
The intelligence is forensic and undeniable. Israeli agencies have identified key Gazan operatives, including Tamer Hassan, a senior official in Hamas’ finance office in Turkey, and currency exchangers Khalil Farwana and Farid Abu Dair, who are central to this Iranian-directed operation.
Turkey is providing the sanctuary — the physical space, the financial rails, and the political protection — that enables Hamas to bypass global sanctions and regenerate its forces. As one expert noted, the very presence of these Turkish-based operatives demonstrates how Hamas has successfully diversified its financial footprint precisely to evade the very border controls and sanctions the West is supposed to enforce.
The most immediate and self-defeating policy failure exposed by these findings lies in the ongoing US debate over post-war Gaza. How can the West entrust the post-war security of Gaza — a mission predicated on dismantling Hamas — to a nation that is providing the funding infrastructure for Hamas’ reconstitution right now? Inviting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s military into Gaza is akin to asking the arsonist to lead the fire brigade.
Erdoğan’s motivation for this dangerous double game is rooted in domestic political survival and ideological positioning. He has relentlessly framed himself as the global champion of the Palestinian cause, a stance that solidifies his support among his conservative, Islamist-leaning base. This aggressive, public hostility toward Israel is vital to his political legitimacy at home.
Yet, as reports confirm, this public defiance is often paired with private pragmatism. Individuals within Erdoğan’s inner circle have reportedly asked Hamas leadership to “leave Turkey quietly” and even pushed the terror group to accept the Trump administration’s earlier Gaza proposals, despite provisions unfavorable to Hamas. This is the portrait of a leader who is prioritizing his own domestic political calculus over any commitment to the NATO alliance or genuine regional peace. He sustains a permissive sanctuary for terrorists while simultaneously maneuvering just enough to avoid the complete diplomatic breakdown that might jeopardize his economic lifeline.
Turkey’s role must be identified for what it is: a hostile sanctuary. A core NATO responsibility is collective security, yet Turkey is using its access to Western financial systems and its geographical position to actively facilitate the rebuilding of a designated terror organization directed by the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. The failure to shut down this financial conduit proves that Ankara is prioritizing the Tehran-Beirut-Gaza axis over its commitments to its Western allies.
The time for cautious diplomatic language is over. The US and Israel must treat Turkey not as a problematic ally requiring careful handling, but as the operational partner of a hostile terror network.
The intelligence is clear: Hamas cannot be defeated on the battlefield only to be rebuilt in the banking halls of Istanbul. The long war against Iran’s proxies is fundamentally a financial war. To secure Israel’s long-term future and stabilize the broader Middle East, the US must move immediately to impose comprehensive, crippling sanctions on the Turkish financial infrastructure that is enabling this terror funding. The only way to stop the cancer of Hamas is to surgically remove its life support, and the intelligence confirms that the critical, vulnerable breaking point is currently located inside a supposed ally. The security of the Mediterranean, and the long-term viability of the Abraham Accords, depends on holding Erdoğan accountable for his nation serving as the Quartermaster for Hamas’ next war.
Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx