1,000 at Los Angeles Protest

Nearly 1,000 people gathered Monday evening at Moshe Ganz Hall in Los Angeles to pray on behalf of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin.

The main ballroom was full with standing room only, with many attendees choosing to sit in a nearby overflow room.

The tone of the evening was set by the MC, Los Angeles businessman and noted philanthropist Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz. He began by expressing his amazement at the remarkable diversity of the crowd and how inspiring this unity was. He then proceeded to outline the many injustices of the case and how disproportionate the proposed sentence is.

The entire crowd stood as Rabbi Berish Goldenberg, Principal at Yeshiva Rav Isaacson, led the crowd in reciting Tehillim, verse by verse.

Rabbi Yaakov Krause, Rabbi of Young Israel of Hancock Park, spoke about the legendary kindness of Sholom Mordechai and the entire Rubashkin family. He reminisced about meeting with the Rubashkin family in the Catskill Mountains and recalled how impressed he was with their support of a camp for special needs children and the extraordinary Mesirus Nefesh the family’s patriarch Rabbi Uziel Chazanow had as a Schochet in Russia.

Meir Simcha Rubashkin, son of Sholom Mordechai, followed by describing the difficulty the Rubashkin children are having adjusting to life without their beloved father. He shared a letter that his father wrote during the verdict expressing his steadfast, unwavering faith in Hashem.

The evening concluded with Rabbi Ezra Binyomin Schochet, Rosh Yeshivah at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad. He discussed the importance of not only being inspired by Sholom Mordechai, but using the inspiration to make actual improvements in our personal Avodas Hashem.

The event was well attended by a cross-section of the entire Greater Los Angeles community, with a strong representation of prominent local Rabbonim, Roshei Kollel and Yeshivos.