Justice for Sholom

It still stands. If 25 years is a life sentence for someone who older, the appropriateness of the sentence depends on precedent, not how old the person will be when it's finished. He committed more than just bank fraud, and I think people are not being objective here - they're crying injustice and anti-semitism because he's frum.

A DOUBLE LIFE SENTENCE IS CRUEL AND HARSH! MR. RUBASHKIN IS NOT A CRIMINAL, HE IS NOT A THEIF, HE IS NOT A RAPIST, HE IS NOT A CEREAL KILLER, AND HE DOES NOT DESERVE LIFE IMPRISONMENT!

To # 32... You are way off mark! Nobody did more for the Kosher meat industry then the Rubashkin family, making Kosher meat available almost anyehre in the US. While there may have been bad business management, to say that they purposely sent old meat to non religious organizations, is a lie and pure slander. The boycott of Rubashkin by some in the frum community was due to to jelousy and sinas chinom. It's a shame that these "frum" people used allegations by anti semites like PETA and the workers unions for their own hatred. When their plants get shut down for the same reason, then they might understand.

Daniela (32), You wrote "Abounded" in caps, but I think it is the word before that, "RUMORS," which belongs in caps. A man does not get a life sentence for "rumors". In fact, one should not get *any* sentence for rumors. As Jews, we all know how dangerous Lashon Hara is, we certainly know that you don't punish someone for "rumors" about their company. On the contrary, if anything, it is the people who spread rumors and repeat them, and even inact boycotts based on them, who should be the ones penalized. The issue at hand is the pursuit of a life sentence (or now, 25 years, still a veritable life sentence) for this case involving falsifying data to get more credit than one's company deserved on a loan. No less than six (!) former attorneys general of the USA (from across the political spectrum) have come out expressing very strongly that this would be a travesty, that it smacks of vindictivness and an abuse of the sentencing guidliness.

he is not as vile as the anti-jewish media would have you believe! were all outraged & everyone i know feels the same way! Were apolled at this lopsided treatment of a man with No previous criminal record at all Nor is he a Danger to ppl on the street! he has surely paid the price many many times over consider the loss of a multi million dollar family business the money lost the public humiliation & witch hunt he & his suffering family endured etc etc remember this man has lived his life 98% proper lets NOT use he 2% to UNDO a very decent man! 2 days ago

Should someone who commits fraud, hires illegals and abuses workers get off lightly because he is older and has a large family? If he gets a sentence considered appropriate by the law of enough years as to be a life sentence because of his age, then it's not out of proportion. He's been an embarrassment to our community for a long, long time! Rumors ABOUNDED for years about abuses, cut corners, year old meat sold to non-frum summer camps, the list is long. If he simply "made a mistake" then how come I've known for the past 4-5 years to boycott Aaron's meat because of their shenanegans, including abuse of animals? I don't think we should be so quick to jump to the defense of a criminal just because he wears a black hat. When was the last time such an effort was made for a non-religious Jew who committed such "white collar" crimes?

We should not be admitting that he did commit crimes, but request the mercy of the court because of his fine character and his family. This is nothing more than a racist witch-hunt! I don’t care if he is guilty of every crime in the book, you can’t single someone out for abuse and then seek legal pretext to punish him! Even the worst criminals deserve basic civil rights, and if these are not met, any evidence or findings against him are rendered null and void, and may not be used in trial! This is the law, and it is designed to protect our basic liberties! The only way to stand up against abuse like this is to call it for what it is. We must strongly protest the injustice of the entire process. Even impartial judges recognize that this is a great injustice and clear anti-Semitism! We must stand up and protest this injustice clearly and strongly. Any other message is validating the abuse. Stop the injustice! Stop the American Shmad! What to do: 1. Pass this letter on to everyone you can! 2. Whenever someone mentions Rubashkin, make sure that his arrest was abusive from the start, and that discussing any other issue at this time only validates the abuse! 3. Protest this outrageous liable as strong and loud as you can! This means calling, writing, and e‑mailing all government officials and letting them know that you are outraged by this anti-Semitic abuse of the legal system! Protest and rally in the streets against this gross injustice! Let the world know that we will not excuse abuse! -- Rabbi Benyomin Walters

Rubashkin’s arrest was abusive!!! This arrest was never about justice. Powerful people were out to get Rubashkin and to make an example of him. Rubashkin’s arrest was an assault on Jews, Judaism, and Kosher Shechita. Any legal findings were purely used to justify his arrest. Every detail of these proceedings, the aggressive nature of the raid, refusing bail, the one-sided trial, and the completely unprecedented request of life in prison! This is all clearly abuse! It is abuse of Rubashkin’s rights as a citizen and human being, and it is an abuse of all of our rights to fair treatment.

Hashem will surely help! we need to learn from this & pray for him & his family lets hoe that this man will be judged farely (in the context of his overal decency & good deeds!

I have been an advocate of a better way of dealing with these type of crimes. I do not think that people should spend any time in jail for these types of crimes. Instead, I think that they should compensate the community or public that they have harmed. There are caveats but generally I do not see the sense of having a contributing member of society spending time in jail. What kind of justice is that? That is called revenge. I have always felt like this about "white collar" crime and there is not much that will convince me otherwise. If they harm someone then they can work it off. In the meantime, maybe some pressure can be put upon the bank since they are the ones who brought up the charges. Has anyone considered forming a lobby group against this bank? Maybe this is really far out but why not? Maybe I am desperate but I am also very upset.

you treat workers poorly, hire illegals, polute rivers , treat animals inhumanely and defraud the banks. if ever anyone needed a pr firm it was agriprocessors. it could have charged a bit more for its products as it had such a large share.people would gladly eat a bit less meat or cheaper cuts if it meant eliminating many of the above mentioned misdeeds. the fact that he was good to his family and did not live personally in the lap of luxury is meaningless. a full life sentence seems for certain excessive but I'd be surprised if he had to do more than 7 years which seems tough but fair to me. need to check parole options . one never knows as per Pollard but that was national espionage and he ticked off bigger fish. hard to feel sorry for this gentleman as he brought great hilul Hashem and for certain turned many off to the idea of keeping kosher. i hope he has an opportunity to do tshuva and may his family be blessed to reestablish the good family name.

Thank you, Aish, for taking the time and making the effort to help another Jew in need. May Hashem send a complete Yeshua to Sholom and his family.

he is guilty he should have to do max time in jail for all his crimes why should he be any different than a non jewish person

In response to the previous comment, I'd like to say that aish is not condoning his actions. All we want is that Rubashkin should get fair treatment. So far, that hasn't been the case at all. Let's hope that changes fast.

The attempt to sentence Sholem Rabashkin to life imprisonment is nothing short of an outrage. One of the first concepts one learns in substantive criminal law is that sentences for criminal conduct must be proportionate to the crimes committed. This is simply not the case here. Yes, Mr. Rabashkin misrepresented his financial condition on an application for a Federal government guaranteed loan but he maintained the loan's payment schedule and, unlike what has become the case so often these days, the taxpayer lost nothing as a result of this failure. To sentence someone to a term longer than that received by many who take the lives of their fellow Americans is an outrage that must not be tolerated.

The point is that the recommended sentence is outrageous--compared to the crime, compared to any precedent in US history, compared to dozens of CEOs convicted of far greater criminal activity. The point is that the judge invoked Israel's Right of Return as proof that Mr. Rubashkin is a flight risk--implying that every Jewish person is a flight risk by virtue of his Jewishness. The point is that former Attorneys General of a half-dozen administrations have signed a letter stating that the recommended sentence is ludicrous and an abuse of the Justice Department sentencing code. When one of our own who mishandled a business with no personal gain is being treated as a bloody murderer, it is imperative that we scream bloody murder. Please pray for Mr. Rubashkin, and by extension, for continued democratic justice for all in the US.

If Shalom Rubashkin can get an unfair judgment, so can you! Wake up, American Jews - don't defend his innocence, just defend his right to a fair sentence. Jonathan Pollard is in the same boat - his sentence is also entirely unfair -- and he has served far more than a fair sentence already. How many have stood up for him over the last 25 years? Maybe they count on us to be as ineffective with Rubashkin as we have been with Pollard. Something to think about. Let's defend each other, please. And make plans to come home...and don't leave these fellow Jews behind!

The USA leads the free world. It is outrageous for the prosecutors in Sholom Rubashkin's case to demand such an excessive penalty as life imprisonment. Heaven forbid this would be a terrible injustice! For the sake of real justice and for the sake of America's moral leadership may Sholom Rubashkin's case be judged fairly! Chaplain Menashe Kaltmann Jewish Chaplain Melbourne Assessment Prison West Melbourne Australia

Mr. Rubashkin's punishment does not fit the crimes he commited,worse criminals have walked free with much less time in jail. Honorable judge, I have faith in this justice system,do not disappoint me please!!!

when these strange things happen, Hash-m is sending us a message. We have to pray for our fellow Jews, be more honest in business, stop talking loshon hora (slander). Why him? don't know, but we must pray together and save him.

I don´t agree with Aish Ha Torah web site being used to defend thr rights of a jewish orthodox man who did wrong and who is being a bad example to jewish people. Of course he has a wife and wonderfull kids, but he should have think of this before doing ilegal business. Most of criminals do have wonderfull families, buy I think this is not an argument.

i am with you where it counts and it is clear that hashem is with you too.

Of course he should be punished but,life for a crime which bankers are being REWARDED the whole time for is a little exaggerated.MISREPRESANTATION,is NOT a crime,if you look at the Goldman Sachses of today,who are basically accusing HIM of wrongdoing,because they ARBITRARILY,decided to cut people's credit are the real villains. Is the USA becoming so anti-JEWISH (the semites of course,only being our cousins),that it can't see the forest for the trees.

i would like to inform you that whilst you are handing out life-sentences to crimeless people in the society, you are allowing others to get away with murderous acts, such as that of violent criminals of the head of the largest car maker in the US (Toyota). Sholom Rubashkin has clearly not been senteced with the right measures of justice that US claims to have! Please listen to his side in order to clearly see the misinterpretation that you have taken!

Please could you reconsider the sentence victimless crimes of for the the justified approach towards Shalom Rubashkin

You don't put people in prison for life, on money charges !!! This guy did'nt kill anybody !!!!!!

Dear Readers, I am a U.S. citizen and ashamed of the direction our government has turned since Obama became President. I believe antisemitism is growing in his administration. If I were you I would expose him and his administration for who they are with facts and never give up till he and his kind are gone. At the same time pray to G^d to deliver the righteous from the likes of him. Sholom Rubashkin committed a crime worthy of fines and some jail time but not life! You can expect more Muslim favoritism from Obama and less justice.

It's very sad that Sholom Rubashkin may spend the rest of his life in prison. What is even more terrible is that we as an orthodox community will now make our primary focus the miscarriage of justice which may take place but once again avoid dealing with what I believe is the real issue: People within our community are doing immoral things that are antithetical to Torah values.

I think punishment should fit the crime. To give a person a life sentence for lying to the bank is a horrible crime in itself.

This is a good man who made a mistake , and shouldn't be treated like a common criminal. What Toyota did was deadly and it's ceo was tapped on the wrist.

I can't believe any normal legal system would even think of a life sentence, unless its Iran, for white color crime..........Jeffery Skilling is as bad ?

I do think it is sad he went to that length in what he did. The former CEO of the company I work for got caught stealing millions from the company. He had to pay back all he stoled, lost all his benefits, got fired of course, got fined, but didn't get sent to prison. I wonder, was it because he was a white, caucasian born in the US? What are these products labeled, that he manufactures? I would like to contact the grocery store I shop at; to see if they can start carrying them. Life sentence? Very extreme! If he is over 70 yrs old, he needs to look into the U.S. laws concerning that on theft and fraud. He has a case to win!

Thank you aish.com for taking issue with this injustice to a fellow Jew. This travesty is not just against Sholom Rubashkin...it's against all of us. It affects us all.

clear anti semitism he was just moving money around and didn't kill any one

Many spys got only a few years in prison for betrayal of country. When a Jewish spy forwards nuclear information to USSR, the Rosenbergs are unfortunately sentenced to death. So it is in American jurisprudence. Perhaps this is residual judicial prejudice for another great scandal perpetraded by wealthy Jewish madoff pyramid sceme. Jews always get judged as a group. How to reverse this trend? Perhaps when we have our own country, a country lead by Torah Jews, then we can erase these glaring contradictions. Oh so sorry we thought we had such a country, it has more contradictions than even America does. Please See Arutz Sheva article comparing Judge Procaccias harsh solitary confinement prison sentence of 14 year old protestor to house arrest of super spy anut kam. Do you trust the Hashgacha of a person A.who mistreats his workers? B.Who doesn't pay on time? C.Who lies? Does anyone feel decieved and embaressed by this scandal? We tolerated this situation and now it has come to bite us back. We have collectively failed to plead for mercy for Jonathan Pollards measure of justice. I can't see the communitys efforts on behalf of this man to fare any better. For all the "Chumros" on glatt kosher meat, maybee we should save a few chumros for complying with american civil law? I wish him well, but well, this man has put himself in a deep well.

Based on what similar small-time white-collar criminals have received in the past, requesting a life sentence for Sholom Rubashkin reflects unjustified brutality on the part of the prosecutor. And this is without taking into account his unusual family situation (ten kids, etc.) and the good that he's done for the community in the past. There are times when the heart should take precedence over the mind...

MR. RUBASHKIN DID NOTHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT ANY BUSINESSMAN DOES IN ORDER TO KEEP THE DOORS OPEN AND PAY THE BILLS. HE IS, NOT UNLIKE JONATHAN POLLARD, THE VICTIM OF OFFICIAL AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM ANTI SEMITISM.