Melbourne Unites for Rubashkin

Over 500 men from all sectors of the Melbourne Jewish Community came together in a show of support for Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, at a gathering held at the Adass-Gutnick Hall, on Wednesday, June 15 (Sivan 13).

Rubashkin, former manager of a kosher meat-packing plant in Iowa, was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to 27 years, but many legal experts have questioned the conduct of the judge. An appeal for Rubashkin will be argued before three judges of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 15, in the Thomas Eagleton U.S. Federal courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri.

The event was chaired by Rabbi Chaim Zvi Groner, who emphasized the need for heightened sincerity when Davening, and the importance of Achdus (unity). This was followed by the heartfelt recitation of several chapters of Tehillim (Psalms), led by Rabbi Opman.

Rabbi Zvi Telsner spoke about the legendary kindness of the Rubashkin family, something they were already famous for over a century ago. Providing one specific example, Rabbi Telsner recounted that when Rabbi Koppelman (may he have a speedy Refuah Shleima) lived in Samarkand in the 1940’s, basic necessities were so scarce that he couldn’t even obtain a pair of pants. It was the Rubashkin family who provided him with one, and when recounting this incident many years later, Rabbi Koppelman concluded that “no bad could possibly occur to the Rubashkin family.”

The next speaker was Dayan Katz, who again emphasized the importance of helping our brethren in their hour of need. Dayan Katz echoed the concern of many prominent Rabbis in the U.S. that the initial efforts directed against the Rubashkin family were led by special interest groups who sought to attack the institution of Kashrus.

Dayan Katz was followed by the main speaker of the evening, Meir Simcha Rubashkin, the 24 year-old son of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin. He began by noting how heart-warming it was for him to attend a unity gathering in support of his father on the other side of the world.

In the minutes that followed, Meir Simcha Rubashkin provided a brief but jarring account of the travesty of justice that his father is undergoing. He recounted how, in the most recent developments, defence lawyers successfully sued the U.S. Federal Government in order to obtain documents pertaining to the raid and its aftermath. (Under normal circumstances, such documentation would have immediately been made available to the defence as part of standard procedure.) These documents were finally released under the “Freedom of Information Act”, and they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the judge who presided over the case, Judge Linda R. Reade of the U.S. District Court of Northern Iowa, was actively involved in planning various aspects of the infamous raid at Agriprocessors. Even more revealing is the fact that the U.S. government blacked out large sections of these documents, in order to prevent the defence from discovering any further details. When the defence presented their appeal, which centred on the judge’s perceived lack of impartiality, Judge Reade presided over the appeal herself, and she ruled that she had been impartial! The defence referred the matter to a hearing before the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, but in another bizarre twist, it has emerged that two of the three judges presiding over the final appeal are scheduled to sit in on another case earlier in the morning – with the very same Judge Reade whose partiality they are to decide on later in the day. Due to the late hour, Meir Simcha Rubashkin wrapped up his remarks by reminding everyone to place their faith in Hashem.

After the event concluded, many in the crowd expressed their shock and indignation at such an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

To discover all the facts of the case for yourself, and to help support the legal battle in affording Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin’s right to a fair trial, please visit www.justiceforsholom.org.