BLOOM BOOKS DESCRIBES POSTVILLE (Raleigh News & Observer, Nov. 24)
Rabbi
Pinchas
Lew, who moved to Chapel Hill three years ago to start a new life
and ended up struggling to defend his past, has given up his ministry after a
rabbinical council decided he could no longer be effective in his job. Lew's
troubles began early this year after a book written by a University of Iowa
journalism professor circulated in the Jewish community here. The book,
"Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America" by STEPHEN G. BLOOM,
described the social collision between the mostly Lutheran residents of
Postville, Iowa, and the Lubavitcher Jews who opened a kosher slaughterhouse on
the outskirts of town. Two chapters in the book describe a
crime involving Lew,
known by his nickname, "Pinny," and a onetime friend, Phillip Stillman. The two
men, who worked at the slaughterhouse, borrowed a car and robbed a convenience
store. During the robbery, Stillman shot the clerk. Lew pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A judge later reconsidered the sentence and placed him on five years' probation.
The News & Observer is based in North Carolina.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080423204018/http://www.newsobserver.com/saturday/news/triangle/Story/840361p-827461c.html
Director of Chapel Hill Chabad House - Chapel Hill, NC
On May 16, 2001, Lew allegedly exposed and touched his genitals repeatedly in front of an unrelated woman in his home.
According to the woman, he locked all the doors to his house, then continued to move in front of her, causing her to fear imminent assault. The same day Rabbi Pinny Lew addressed his felonious past in front of about 100 people at a meeting called by the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation.
Back in 2001 Pinchas Lew's $200,000 bond was paid by a Hasidic organization in Brooklyn. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He served one day of a 10-year prison sentence, before receiving five years of probation.
Lew's light sentence, handed down in March 1993, surprised even his accomplice's court-appointed attorney, who said he thought Lew had been given a "pass,".Rabbi Lew was quoted in saying "I don't feel I owe her the money because of what I did," he said. "I owe her the money because of the court of law. And I intend to pay it."
His victim hit back with the civil suit. On March 18, 1994, a jury returned a verdict that ordered Lew to pay her and her husband, $1.43 million plus 10 percent annual interest.
While on probation Lew, who is married Lew married, traveled to Israel and England, and was ordained a rabbi. After his probation was over, Rabbi Pinny Lew took a position as Director of Chapel Hill Chabad House (Chapel Hill, NC). In November, 2001 he resigned under pressure, and the allegations of sexual misconduct were dropped.
WINNESHIEK Venue change for Lew
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) - February 26, 1992
WINNESHIEK Venue change for Lew denied A Postville man charged with attempted murder and first-degree robbery will have his trial remain in Winneshiek County District Court. District Court Judge Margaret Lingreen ruled Tuesday that Pinchas Lew's trial should not be moved to another county. Lew's attorney asked for the move because of what he termed pretrial publicity. In refusing to move the trial, Lingreen said she found press coverage to be "largely factual" and could find no views expressed on Lew's guilt or innocence. Lew, 22, is charged in connection with the robbery of a Decorah convenience store on Sept. 27 in which a store clerk was shot and wounded. Lew's trial is scheduled for April 29 in Decorah.
Suspect changes his plea Accomplice in shooting 'guilty' of lesser charge
by Val Swinton
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) - July 21, 1992
Gazette Northeast Iowa Bureau DECORAH - The second of two defendants accused of robbing an Ossian popcorn vendor and a Decorah convenience store on Sept. 27 and shooting the store's clerk pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Monday as the jury was being selected.
Pinchas Lew, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forceable felony. The charge, stemming from the robbery of the popcorn vendor, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
He was originally charged with attempted murder and two counts of robbery. He faced maximum sentences totaling 75 years, said Winneshiek County Attorney Karl Knudson.
"I personally would have preferred holding off for a more serious conviction," Knudson said. "But I was not unhappy with the result."
THE PLEA agreement had the blessing of Assistant Iowa Attorney General James Kivi, the lead prosecutor.
Lew, a native of Israel, will be sentenced on Oct. 5. He is free on $100,000 bond.
Lew will have the other charges against him dismissed if he appears for his sentencing and cooperates with corrections officials conducting a presentence investigation, Knudson said.
His accomplice, Phillip Stillman, 22, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, robbery and escape for fleeing the Winneshiek County Jail. He was sentenced in March to 55 years in prison. He is awaiting sentencing on a second escape charge.
Stillman is accused of wielding the handgun, robbing the popcorn vendor and attempting to rob the convenience store while Lew drove the getaway car in both crimes, according to court records.
When clerk Marian Bakken refused to cooperate, Stillman shot her and fled without any money.
None of the witnesses in either crime was able to positively identify Lew as the driver, which necessitated a plea agreement, Knudson said.
"THE DECORAH Police Department was wanting a plea agreement in this case because of its circumstantial nature," he said. "They were concerned. They wanted to have a conviction."
Stillman also was prepared to testify that Lew didn't know Stillman planned to conduct the two robberies, further weakening the case, Knudson said.
There was some circumstantial evidence, though.
Lew, a rabbinical student working at Agriprocessors in Postville, wore a baseball cap over his Jewish skull cap, apparently to conceal his identity.
Agriprocessors produces ko- Please turn to page 3B: Plea Plea 1B sher and non-kosher meats. Production of kosher meats is supervised by a staff of rabbis and students.
Lew was driving a getaway car registered to the rabbinical staff, Knudson said. He removed the license plate and kept the screws in his pocket.
The two men were arrested shortly after the attempted convenience store robbery.
Bakken, who has a .38-caliber slug near her spine, said Monday she did not have to testify. She testified at Stillman's sentencing.
"I really don't enjoy it. I really don't like seeing those guys," she said.
Though she was satisfied with Stillman's sentence, she is not happy with the fact that he'll be eligible for parole in five years.
"That doesn't seem fair. I'll suffer from this for the rest of my life."
Bakken still has weakness in her right leg that causes her to drag her foot as she walks, she said. She also suffers from a sore back that prevents her from bending over to perform such chores as sweeping.
She will have to return to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a further examination, she said. And while her doctor has cleared her to return to work, she said she is not ready.
If she does go back to work at the convenience store, she won't work nights or alone, she said.
Food not kosher, so prison term on hold
By Associated Press
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) - February 27, 1993
DECORAH (AP) - A Postville man serving a 10-year prison sentence in connection with a convenience store shooting was transferred to the Winneshiek County Jail after he complained he wasn't served kosher food.
Pinchas Lew, 23, was released from the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale after serving one day.
Prison warden Rusty Rogerson said Lew's request for a special diet was impossible to meet.
"He was not ever going to receive it," Rogerson said. "We don't provide kosher diets. We prepare 600,000 meals per year here."
Rogerson said the Oakdale center serves specially prepared meals only on a doctor's order.
A court order issued last week said the transfer was for sentence reconsideration.
Lew was sentenced in December after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He admitted driving a getaway car after Phillip Stillman shot a convenience store clerk during a robbery.
Stillman pleaded guilty last February to attempted murder and first-degree rob bery. He is serving a 55-year sentence.
Winneshiek County Sheriff Floyd Ashbacher said there's barely room in his jail, but he's required to hold Lew until a judge can determine where - or if - he should serve his sentence.
Rabbis bring specially prepared food to Lew's jail cell at their own expense.
Rogerson said Stillman also requested kosher food when he was brought into prison but was denied.
"I don't understand the difference between the two cases," Rogerson said. "I really don't."
Monastic' sentence replaces prison term
by Sarah Strandberg; News correspondent
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) - March 31, 1993
DECORAH - After serving less than three months in jail, Pinchas Lew was placed on probation, with special provisions, for five years.
One of the provisions orders him to live in a Jewish program in which the conditions of his probation would be monastic.
Lew's application to have his 10-year sentence on a Class C felony reconsidered was granted Tuesday by Judge James Bauch during a hearing in Winneshiek County District Court.
Lew, 23, formerly of Postville, had been charged with attempted murder and two counts of first-degree robbery in the shooting of Decorah convenience store clerk Marion Bakken and the holdup of an Ossian popcorn vender in September 1991.
After a plea bargain agreement reached in July, Lew pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which he appealed.
Phillip Stillman, who was with Lew at the time of the crimes and was accused of shooting the clerk, began a 60-year sentence in March for attempted murder, first-degree robbery and two escape charges.
Lew dropped his appeal in February and was to have begun serving his sentence at Oakdale. He was ordered back to the County Jail pending the reconsideration hearing because prison authorities would not give kosher food to Lew, a Hasidic Jew.
During Tuesday's hearing, Lew's attorney, Lawrence Scalise, questioned Rabbi Shalom Lipskar about the Aleph program that Lipskar started 12 years ago as an al ternative to prison.
After an extensive background check, Aleph officials determined that Lew could benefit from the program, Lipskar said.
The program involves intensive study, prayer and rehabilitative counseling.
Bauch ordered Lew to take part in the Aleph program, which will include residing in Morristown, N.J., for at least six months.
Lew will then be placed under house arrest for six months at his father-in-law's residence in Brooklyn, N.Y
During the year, Lew will be required to live as a monk, with no leisure activities, Bauch said.
In resisting the sentencing reconsideration, County Attorney Karl Knudson called Bakken to the stand and questioned her about the extent of her injuries as the result of the shooting.
Bakken, who walks with a limp, said she continues to have pain in her back from the bullet, which lodged next to her spine. Doctors have said removing the bullet is dangerous.
She said she has difficulty walking, and doctors have told her that her condition will not improve. She works part time and will not work alone.
Knudson said the court should consider leaving Lew in "a tightly controlled environment operated by Iowa."
Before signing the order, the judge said that during his years on the bench he had watched the erosion of the criminal justice system due to a lack of space in state institutions.
According to the judge, the requirements of the Aleph program are much more difficult than anything Lew would face in an Iowa prison.
Robber-turned-rabbi is in trouble again
by Sarah Strandberg; News correspondent
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City)
June 16, 2001
POSTVILLE - Pinchas Lew, the former Postville man accused of driving the getaway car in a Decorah convenience store holdup 10 years ago, is now a rabbi working with college students in North Carolina.
Lew, 31, was arrested this week in Chapel Hill, N.C., and charged with exposing himself to a woman in his home, a misdemeanor, according to Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies. Lew is scheduled to appear in court July 9.
Marion Bakken of Decorah, who was severely injured in the 1991 Decorah holdup, said Lew's arrest is just another indication he has not reformed, despite his ostensible interest in a religious vocation.
Bakken was the cashier at a Petro & Provisions convenience store when she was shot during the Sept. 27, 1991, robbery.
The man who pulled the trigger, Phillip Stillman, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, first-degree robbery and two escape charges. He apologized to Bakken before he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. But Bakken said Lew, who served only one day in prison and received five years' probation, never said he was sorry.
"He needs to face up to what he did," said Bakken, who still has the bullet lodged next to her spine.
Lew, 22 at the time of the robbery, was also accused of driving the getaway car in the holdup of a popcorn vendor in Ossian, the same day as the Decorah store robbery.
Lew now conducts services for University of North Carolina students at his home 106 Park Place in Chapel Hill. He is married and has five young children.
He moved to Chapel Hill in 1997 after being named director of Chabad House, which serves students, the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun reported.
His past apparently surfaced there after the New York Times reviewed Stephen Bloom's book "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America." Bloom, a University of Iowa professor of journalism, mentions the convenience store robbery in the book.
The latest charge against Lew resulted from an alleged incident May 16 in his home, the same day Lew addressed his felonious past in front of about 100 people at a meeting called by the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation.
The Herald-Sun quoted Rabbi Yoseph Groner, who recommended Lew's appointment at Chabad House, as saying that the robbery "was a turning point" in Lew's life.
"Lew became not only spiritual but remorseful," he said. "He's a man who has changed himself inside and out."
Lew was charged with attempted murder and two counts of first-degree robbery. In a plea bargain, he entered an Alford plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but after an appeal the sentence was reduced to five years' probation.
Portions of this story came from Gazette wire services.
Onetime robber in trouble as rabbi - Felon unrepentant, says Decorah victim
Sarah Strandberg; News correspondent
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) - June 16, 2001
POSTVILLE - Pinchas Lew, the former Postville man accused of driving the getaway car in a Decorah convenience store holdup 10 years ago, is now a rabbi working with college students in North Carolina.
Lew, 31, was arrested this week in Chapel Hill, N.C., and charged with exposing himself to a woman in his home, a misdemeanor, according to Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies. Lew is scheduled to appear in court July 9.
Marion Bakken of Decorah, who was severely injured in the 1991 Decorah holdup, said Lew's arrest is just another indication he has not reformed, despite his ostensible interest in a religious vocation.
Bakken was the cashier at a Petro & Provisions convenience store when she was shot just before 6 p.m. during the Sept. 27, 1991, robbery.
The man who pulled the trigger, Phillip Stillman, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, first-degree robbery and two escape charges.
He apologized to Bakken before he was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
But Bakken said Lew, who served only one day in prison and received five years' probation, never said he was sorry.
"He needs to face up to what he did," said Bakken, who still has the bullet lodged next to her spine. "I believe people can change, but I don't see where he can at all. He's lying now. He should straighten out his life."
Lew, 22 at the time of the robbery, was also accused of driving the getaway car in the holdup of a popcorn vendor in Ossian, the same day as the Decorah convenience store robbery.
Lew now conducts services for University of North Carolina students at his home in Chapel Hill. He is married and has five young children.
HE MOVED to Chapel Hill in 1997 after being named director of the town's Chabad House, which serves students, according to an article in the Durham (N.C.) Herald-Sun.
His past apparently surfaced there after the New York Times reviewed Stephen Bloom's book "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America." Bloom, a University of Iowa professor of journalism, mentions the convenience store robbery in the book.
The latest charge against Lew resulted from an alleged incident May 16 in his home, the same day Lew addressed his felonious past in front of about 100 people at a meeting called by the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation.
Lew could not be reached for comment for this article, but one thing he reportedly addressed during that meeting was the lawsuit Bakken filed against him after the robbery.
A WINNESHIEK County jury heard the case and awarded Bakken $1.6 million in damages. Lew did not show up for that trial. Bakken said she's never received a cent of the award and doubts she ever will.
Rabbi Steven Sager said that Lew, during the May 16 meeting, "said time and again that he was in compliance with the civil suit. He did not go into detail, although he was urged to several times."
The Herald-Sun also quoted Rabbi Yoseph Groner, who recommended Lew's appointment at Chabad House, that the robbery "was a turning point" in Lew's life.
"Lew became not only spiritual but remorseful," he said. "He's a man who has changed himself inside and out."
Bakken's lawyer, Dennis Larson of Decorah, said he has always been bothered that Lew, when arrested in 1991, "instantly plunked down two $100,000 checks for his bail."
Larson said he doesn't know anyone in Decorah who could do that.
"Who would have that kind of money in a checking account?" he asked.
Lew originally was charged with attempted murder and two counts of first-degree robbery. In a plea bargain, he entered an Alford plea of guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but after an appeal, the sentence was reconsidered, and he was placed on five years' probation.
AS FOR BAKKEN, she said she lives with constant back pain and her legs go numb after she stands for a while. She works part-time at a dry cleaner's in Decorah, work that requires her to be on her feet.
She still thinks about the shooting.
"I'll never work in a convenience store again," she said. "I don't go out alone at all at night. I'll always have that fear. My children don't forget either. My oldest daughter is very hateful because of what they did to me.
"(Lew) has definitely gone around the law. The sentence he got was just a slap in the face."
Portions of this story came from Gazette wire services.
by Yonat Shimron; STAFF WRITER
The News & Observer - August 11, 2001
HILLSBOROUGH -- An Orange County District Court judge on Friday dismissed a misdemeanor charge of assault on a female against Rabbi Pinchas "Pinny" Lew.
Lew, who runs an Orthodox Jewish center near the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was accused of exposing himself and touching his genitals in front of his maid in his home.
But after hearing testimony from the maid, a 20-year-old Spanish-speaking immigrant, the judge granted a motion to dismiss, arguing that the facts of the case didn't satisfy all the elements of assault by show of violence.
The dismissal represents a victory for the 31-year-old rabbi, who took a leave of absence after the charge was filed. According to an e-mail message sent to his followers in late July, Lew indicated that he would return to his ministry this month.
After the trial, attended by Lew's father, a rabbi from London, and about two dozen supporters, Lew said only that he needed "time to heal."
The three-hour trial before Judge Joe Buckner was dominated by the tearful testimony of the maid. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she and Lew were alone in the house on the morning of May 16. After cleaning the bathroom, she asked Lew for a new vacuum cleaner bag. When he came down the stairs, he was wearing a green bathrobe. After giving her a bag, he exposed himself to her, touched his genitals and asked, "Do you like it?"
The maid testified she said no, and went to the library. Lew then turned the bolt to lock the front door and exposed himself again to her in the foyer, asking, "Do you like it?" according to her testimony.
When she refused his second entreaty, he went upstairs, she testified. The maid said she then grabbed her bag and fled through the back door, fearing that if she unbolted the front door he might come back down the stairs opposite the door and attack her.
But Lew's attorney, Marilyn Ozer, asked Buckner to dismiss the case, arguing that prosecutors charged Lew with assault on a female when they realized their original intent to charge him with indecent exposure didn't apply in a private residence. Furthermore, she said, there was no assault and no immediate threat of physical injury to the maid. Indeed, Lew never touched the maid.
Buckner agreed with Ozer. In his narrow ruling, Buckner addressed only the question of physical danger. "The testimony from the victim is that (Lew) withdrew upstairs," he said.
The rabbi, who is part of the Lubavitch sect, has been embattled with the larger, more liberal Jewish community in Chapel Hill and Durham. Several months ago, the community discovered he had a 1994 felony conviction for his role in a 1991 armed robbery of a convenience store in Decorah, Iowa, in which a woman was shot.
Caption: photo
file Caption: Lew returns to his ministry this month.
by Yonat Shimron; STAFF WRITER
The News & Observer - November 24, 2001
Chapel Hill -- Rabbi Pinchas Lew, who moved to Chapel Hill three years ago to start a new life and ended up struggling to defend his past, has given up his ministry after a rabbinical council decided he could no longer be effective in his job.
Lew, who ran the Chabad House, a center for Lubavitch Judaism near the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, put his house on the market and left town recently. His phone was disconnected, and he could not be reached for comment.
Since earlier this year, the 32-year-old rabbi has worked to restore his reputation in the Jewish community after word got out that he drove the getaway car in an armed robbery that resulted in the shooting of a convenience store clerk 11 years ago in Iowa. Lew's reputation was not helped when he was charged with misdemeanor assault on a female earlier this summer. An Orange County District Court judge dismissed the charge.
Rabbi Yosef Groner, the senior Lubavitcher rabbi in the Carolinas, said his organization was committed to a presence in the area and would send a new rabbi to take Lew's place.
"We are confident that the rabbi we bring will devote himself entirely to the community," Groner said.
It was not clear where Lew was headed or what he would do. His home, at 106 Park Place, registered under his wife's name, is on the market for $584,900.
The Lubavitch rabbinic council entered an arbitration process several months ago to decide whether Lew could continue his work in the area. Last month, the council decided he could not.
Lew's troubles began early this year after a book written by a University of Iowa journalism professor circulated in the Jewish community here. The book, "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America" by Stephen G. Bloom, described the social collision between the mostly Lutheran residents of Postville, Iowa, and the Lubavitcher Jews who opened a kosher slaughterhouse on the outskirts of town.
Two chapters in the book describe a crime involving Lew, known by his nickname, "Pinny," and a onetime friend, Phillip Stillman. The two men, who worked at the slaughterhouse, borrowed a car and robbed a convenience store. During the robbery, Stillman shot the clerk. Lew pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A judge later reconsidered the sentence and placed him on five years' probation.
In May, the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation called Lew to a public meeting to explain his past. It did not go well for Lew. Many said he was not repentant and therefore was unfit to teach students about Judaism. The federation, however, had no authority to dismiss Lew, because he was appointed by the Lubavitch organization.
Rabbi Pinchas Herman, who leads Sha'arei Israel, a Lubavitch synagogue in Raleigh, said he thought there were misunderstandings on Lew's part and that of the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish community.
Herman said he would miss Lew, whom he described as a friend.
"I wish him the best," Herman said. "I hope it all works out for him."