Chabad Bot: Add material on criminal cases and allegations from Biale et al., Hasidism: A New History (2018), with court and press sources

2026-10-29T14:56:10Z

Add material on criminal cases and allegations from Biale et al., Hasidism: A New History (2018), with court and press sources

Chabad Bot: New page: Spinka Hasidic dynasty (Rabinowicz, Heilman, YIVO, US Attorney releases, press, docket, ProPublica)

2026-10-28T18:17:40Z

New page: Spinka Hasidic dynasty (Rabinowicz, Heilman, YIVO, US Attorney releases, press, docket, ProPublica)

New page

{{short description|'''Hasidic dynasty founded in Spinka (Szaplonca) in Máramaros county, Hungary, now led by several rebbes in Israel and Brooklyn'''}}
{{Hasidic sidebar}}
{{Infobox religious group
| name = Spinka (Spinker)
| type = [[Hasidic dynasties|Hasidic dynasty]]
| founder = [[Yosef Meir Weiss]] (1838–1909)
| founded_date = {{Start date|1873}}
| founded_place = Spinka (Szaplonca, Săpânța), Máramaros county, Kingdom of Hungary
| headquarters = Several courts, in [[Bnei Brak]], Jerusalem and Brooklyn, New York
| leader_title = Rebbes
| leader_name = Several; see [[#Rebbes|Rebbes]]
| languages = Yiddish, Hebrew
| notes = Also spelt Spinker. In 2009 the Brooklyn-based Grand Rabbi, [[Naftali Tzvi Weisz]], pleaded guilty in a federal tax case (see [[#Convictions|Convictions]]).
}}
'''Spinka''' (also '''Spinker''') is a [[Hasidic dynasties|Hasidic dynasty]] named after Spinka (Szaplonca or Săpânța), a small town near Sighet in Máramaros county, in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary. It was founded by [[Yosef Meir Weiss]], who became rebbe in 1873. Rabinowicz writes that before the Second World War Spinka's following in Hungary was second only to that of [[Belz (Hasidic dynasty)|Belz]].<ref name="Rabinowicz207" /><ref name="Rabinowicz208" /><ref name="Rabinowicz209" /><ref name="YIVOSighet" /> His son Yitzhak Eizig Weiss was killed at Auschwitz in 1944 with much of his family. Rebbes from the family later set up courts in Israel, chiefly in [[Bnei Brak]] and Jerusalem, and in Brooklyn.<ref name="Rabinowicz207" /><ref name="Rabinowicz211" /><ref name="Rabinowicz214" />

In 2007 a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted [[Naftali Tzvi Weisz]], the Grand Rabbi of Spinka in Brooklyn, together with his assistant, several associates and five Spinka charities. The case concerned a scheme in which donors to the charities were secretly refunded up to 95 per cent of their gifts. Weisz pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count in 2009 and was sentenced to two years in prison.<ref name="DOJ2007" /><ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" />

== History ==
=== Founding ===
Yosef Meir Weiss was the son of Shmuel Weiss, a dayan of Munkács, and Rabinowicz gives his birth date as 18 Adar 1838. He studied in Ungvár and Huszt.<ref name="Rabinowicz208" /> He was widowed twice. In 1870 he married Perl, the widowed daughter of Ezra Yaakov Bash of Spinka, who was a follower of [[Chaim Halberstam]] of Sanz.<ref name="Rabinowicz208" /> Rabinowicz names his influences as Shalom Rokeach of Belz, Halberstam of Sanz and, above all, Yitzhak Eizig Eichenstein of Zydaczov. After Eichenstein died on 9 Sivan 1873, Weiss became rebbe in Spinka.<ref name="Rabinowicz209" />

Weiss died on 6 Sivan 1909. In 1972 his remains were reburied in [[Petah Tikva]]. His son published his writings after his death under the title ''Imre Yosef''.<ref name="Rabinowicz209" /> Writing in the YIVO Encyclopedia, Michael Silber lists Spinka among the new Hasidic dynasties whose followers were active in Sighet before the First World War.<ref name="YIVOSighet" /> Paul Robert Magocsi writes there that most Jews of Munkács followed either the Shapira dynasty or Spinka, and he names Weiss as one of the most influential rebbes of the two.<ref name="YIVOMukacheve" />

=== Yitzhak Eizig Weiss ===
Weiss's only son, Yitzhak Eizig (1875–1944), founded the Bet Yisrael yeshiva.<ref name="Rabinowicz209" /><ref name="HeilmanMunkacs33" /> The sources differ on where he lived after the First World War:
* Rabinowicz's Spinka chapter says that during the war he lived in Budapest and then in Munkács, and moved to Selische to avoid friction with [[Chaim Elazar Spira|Chaim Elazar Shapira]] of [[Munkacs (Hasidic dynasty)|Munkács]].<ref name="Rabinowicz209" />
* His Munkács chapter says Yitzhak Eizig lived in Munkács for twelve years and moved to Nagyzsulla in 1930.<ref name="Rabinowicz269" />

Heilman records one account of the Munkács succession in 1936. In it, Yitzhak Eizig handed the 23-year-old successor a ''kvittel'' (petition note) at the cemetery as a public sign of acceptance.<ref name="HeilmanMunkacs33" />

After the Second World War began, Rabinowicz writes, Yitzhak Eizig sheltered Polish Jewish refugees in a bunker at his home. The Hungarian authorities arrested him for this and later released him. He also turned down a certificate for Palestine and visas for the United States and England.<ref name="Rabinowicz210" /> Rabinowicz writes that 12,000 Jews were crowded into a ghetto the day after Passover. He gives the year as 1943, although he dates the family's arrival at Auschwitz to 13 Sivan 1944.<ref name="Rabinowicz210" /><ref name="Rabinowicz211" /> Yitzhak Eizig was killed at Auschwitz with his wife, Rachel Leah, and his sons Yisrael Hayyim and Avraham Yakir. Rabinowicz puts the number of family members killed by the Nazis at 31. Yitzhak Eizig's writings were later published as ''Hakal Yitzhak''.<ref name="Rabinowicz211" />

=== Yaakov Yosef Weiss and Israel ===
Yaakov Yosef Weiss, son of Yisrael Hayyim, was born in Spinka on 12 Nisan 1916. Rabinowicz calls him the third rebbe of Spinka. His first wife and three children were killed in the war.<ref name="Rabinowicz211" /><ref name="Rabinowicz212" /> After the war he lived in Arad and then in New York, where he founded a beth midrash and a yeshiva. He settled in Bnei Brak in 1955 and had yeshivas there and in Jerusalem, and a school in Acre. In 1969 he bought 25 dunams in Petah Tikva for a planned neighbourhood, which had not been built when Rabinowicz was writing.<ref name="Rabinowicz212" /> He died during Passover 1988 and was survived by three sons, all of whom became rebbes.<ref name="Rabinowicz213" />

== Rebbes ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Rebbes of Spinka named in the sources
! Rebbe !! Dates !! Seat !! Notes
|-
| [[Yosef Meir Weiss]] (''Imre Yosef'') || 1838–1909 || Spinka || Founder; rebbe from 1873.<ref name="Rabinowicz208" /><ref name="Rabinowicz209" /><ref name="YIVOMukacheve" />
|-
| Yitzhak Eizig Weiss (''Hakal Yitzhak'') || 1875–1944 || Spinka, Munkács, Selische || Only son of the founder; killed at Auschwitz.<ref name="Rabinowicz209" /><ref name="Rabinowicz211" /><ref name="HeilmanMunkacs33" />
|-
| Yaakov Yosef Weiss || 1916–1988 || New York, then Bnei Brak (from 1955) || Grandson of Yitzhak Eizig.<ref name="Rabinowicz211" /><ref name="Rabinowicz212" /><ref name="Rabinowicz213" />
|-
| Yisrael Hayyim Weiss || born 1955, New York || Rehov Dunolo, Bnei Brak || Rebbe from 1988; Rabinowicz reported a monthly budget of more than $70,000, about a third of it from government subsidies.<ref name="Rabinowicz207" /><ref name="Rabinowicz208" />
|-
| Yosef Meir Cahane || 1910–1978 || Jerusalem (from 1941) || Son of Tzvi Hirsch Cahane, Yitzhak Eizig's son-in-law; Rabinowicz calls him the first of the dynasty to reach the Holy Land. Succeeded by his son Mordecai David Cahane.<ref name="Rabinowicz213" /><ref name="Rabinowicz214" />
|-
| Nahman Cahane || 1905–1976 || Bnei Brak (from 1957) || Son of Tzvi Hirsch Cahane; rabbi of Spinka from 1928, later rabbi of Cluj; in Israel from 1951. Succeeded by his son Moshe Elikum Bria Cahane (born 1936).<ref name="Rabinowicz213" />
|-
| Shmuel Tzvi Horowitz || — || Williamsburg, Brooklyn || Grandson of Yitzhak Eizig; survived Auschwitz and founded Bet Yitzhak in Williamsburg in 1948.<ref name="Rabinowicz214" />
|-
| [[Naftali Tzvi Weisz]] || born about 1948 || Brooklyn || Grand Rabbi of Spinka, so described by the US Attorney's Office (aged 59 in December 2007).<ref name="DOJ2007" />
|}

== Legal cases ==
=== Convictions ===
On 19 December 2007 the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced the arrest of Naftali Tzi Weisz, the Grand Rabbi of Spinka, and his gabbai (assistant) Moshe E. Zigelman, both of Brooklyn, on a 37-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. Several associates were charged with them.<ref name="DOJ2007" /> The court docket lists the case as ''USA v. Weisz'', case 2:06-cr-00775, in the US District Court for the Central District of California.<ref name="Pacer" />

On 3 August 2009 Weisz pleaded guilty before Judge John F. Walter to a single conspiracy count, whose two objects were obstructing the [[Internal Revenue Service]] and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He admitted that he had solicited donations to Spinka organisations on a secret promise to refund most of the money, so that donors could claim deductions for the full amount. In his plea agreement he admitted learning from Zigelman that the Spinka charities had received $8,493,659 in 2006 and made "profits" of $744,596 after the refunds.<ref name="DOJ2009a" /> Zigelman had pleaded guilty in June 2008 and was sentenced to two years.<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" />

On 21 December 2009 Judge Walter sentenced Weisz to two years in federal prison. The plea agreement had capped the sentence at three years.<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" /> The Department of Justice reported that the judge echoed findings in the pre-sentence report that refunding and laundering charitable gifts was a routine, generational practice among certain Hasidic groups.<ref name="DOJ2009b" />

According to NBC Los Angeles, the judge said he was convinced that Weisz "never took a penny for himself". The New York Jewish Week (published by JTA) also reported that the judge found Weisz had not acted to enrich himself.<ref name="NBCLA2009" /><ref name="JTA2009" /> The Los Angeles Times reported that about 270 letters supporting Weisz were sent to the court. Prosecutors had asked for the three-year maximum and described him in court papers as a "very hands-on director of the scheme". <ref name="LAT2009" /> In court, Weisz told the judge he was "embarrassed beyond words".<ref name="JTA2009" /><ref name="NBCLA2009" />

Others convicted in the case:
* Joseph Roth, an international accounts manager at the Israeli bank, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 months.<ref name="DOJ2009b" />
* Four Los Angeles men in the cash network pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to four months in prison:<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" />
** Yaacov Zeivald.
** Yosef Nachum Naiman, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and a $25,000 fine, on top of $10,000 already forfeited.
** Alan Jay Friedman, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and a $15,000 fine.
** Moshe Arie Lazar, who was also given 1,500 hours of community service and ordered to forfeit $146,164.
* According to the Department of Justice, a total of seven individuals had been convicted and sentenced by December 2009.<ref name="DOJ2009b" />
* Three donors pleaded guilty to tax evasion before indictment and received sentences of three to six months. In giving one of them six months, the judge called the crime a reflection of "arrogance".<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" />
* One of the charities, Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, pleaded guilty, with sentencing set for 15 January 2010. The Los Angeles Times quoted the prosecutor as expecting a fine of $1 million to $2 million.<ref name="DOJ2009b" /><ref name="LAT2009" /> The sentence actually imposed was not reported in the sources consulted.

=== Allegations ===
The 2007 indictment alleged two ways of refunding donors:<ref name="DOJ2007" />
* cash payments through an underground money-transfer network linked to businesses in the Los Angeles jewellery district;
* wire transfers from Spinka-controlled entities to secret accounts at a bank in Israel. Contributors could then take out loans against these accounts from the bank's Los Angeles branch, or pay Spinka an extra fee to bring the money back to the United States.

The indictment also charged Weisz and Zigelman with 19 counts of mail fraud, money-laundering conspiracy and 11 counts of international money laundering, and Zigelman with helping to prepare false tax returns. A Tel Aviv lawyer was also charged; the release said he was believed to be in Israel.<ref name="DOJ2007" /> Weisz's guilty plea covered the single conspiracy count described above.<ref name="DOJ2009a" />

Five Brooklyn charities were named as defendants in the money-laundering conspiracy count. These were Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Yeshivath Spinka, Central Rabbinical Seminary, Machne Sva Rotzohn and Mesivta Imrei Yosef Spinka. The indictment alleged that they issued false receipts and received fees from the transfers.<ref name="DOJ2007" /> The docket lists Central Rabbinical Seminary and Mesivta Imrei Yosef Spinka among the defendants.<ref name="Pacer" /> Apart from Yeshiva Imrei Yosef's guilty plea, the outcome for the charities is not reported in the sources consulted.<ref name="DOJ2009b" /> In 2009 prosecutors said they were investigating more than 100 contributors.<ref name="DOJ2009a" />

== Registered organisations ==
The organisations below carry the Spinka name or one of the names listed in the 2007 indictment, and are recorded in IRS data published by ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. All are recorded with the IRS foundation code for churches, and ProPublica shows no Form 990 filings for any of them, so no financial figures are published.

Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Central Rabbinical Seminary and Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc have the same names as three of the charities named in the indictment. The IRS register gives Yeshiva Imrei Yosef, Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc and Mesifta Imrei Yosef the same address, 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, as Agudath Chasidei Spinka.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ US tax-exempt organisations with Spinka or related names
! Organisation !! EIN !! Address (register) !! IRS ruling
|-
| [[Agudath Chasidei Spinka]] || 11-6038056 || 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || February 2015<ref name="PP116038056" />
|-
| [[Mosdos Spinka]] || 11-3143043 || 5109 18th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204 || March 1993<ref name="PP113143043" />
|-
| [[Mosdos Spinka International]] || 11-3037537 || 3054 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 || February 1991<ref name="PP113037537" />
|-
| [[Bnois Spinka]] || 11-3039741 || 127 Wallabout Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206 || July 1991<ref name="PP113039741" />
|-
| [[United Spinka International]] || 11-2862084 || 5107 18th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204 || July 1987<ref name="PP112862084" />
|-
| [[Igud Chasidai Spinka]] || 11-3168701 || 3054 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 || September 1993<ref name="PP113168701" />
|-
| [[Mesivta Tifereth Zvi Spinka]] || 11-3550819 || 199 Lee Avenue, PMB 363, Brooklyn, NY 11211 || August 2000<ref name="PP113550819" />
|-
| [[Congregation Yeshiva Toldos Yitzchok Spinka Inc]] || 11-2585675 || 1279 East 24th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11210 || January 1982<ref name="PP112585675" />
|-
| [[TA of Spinka]] || 39-3338848 || 192 Keap Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 || July 2025<ref name="PP393338848" />
|-
| [[Zichron Yakov Spinka]] || 93-4217958 || 1152 46th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || June 2024<ref name="PP934217958" />
|-
| [[Yeshiva Gedolah Imrei Yosef Dspinka Inc]] || 11-2960037 || 1466 56th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || July 1989<ref name="PP112960037" />
|-
| [[Yeshiva Imrei Yosef]] || 23-7390834 || 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || August 1974<ref name="PP237390834" />
|-
| [[Mesifta Imrei Yosef]] || 11-3037647 || 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || April 1991<ref name="PP113037647" />
|-
| [[Central Rabbinical Seminary]] || 11-2981741 || 1462 56th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || September 1989<ref name="PP112981741" />
|-
| [[Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc]] || 13-3077504 || 5801 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 || March 1981<ref name="PP133077504" />
|}

== See also ==
* [[Munkacs (Hasidic dynasty)]]
* [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)]]
* [[Nadvorna (Hasidic dynasty)]]
* [[Hasidic dynasties]]

== Notes ==
<references>
<ref name="Rabinowicz207">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 207.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz208">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 208.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz209">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 209.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz210">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 210.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz211">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 211.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz212">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 212.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz213">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 213.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz214">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 214.</ref>
<ref name="Rabinowicz269">Tzvi Rabinowicz, [https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0765760681 Hasidism in Israel: A History of the Hasidic Movement], Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 2000, p. 269.</ref>
<ref name="HeilmanMunkacs33">Samuel C. Heilman, "Munkács: An Oedipal Challenge" in ''Who Will Lead Us? The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America'', Oakland: University of California Press, 2017, ISBN 9780520277236, p. 33.</ref>
<ref name="YIVOSighet">Michael K. Silber, [https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article.aspx/Sighet_Marmatiei Sighet Marmaţiei] ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'', accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="YIVOMukacheve">Paul Robert Magocsi, [https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article/358 Mukacheve] ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'', accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="DOJ2007">United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, [https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2007/164.html Release No. 07-164] ''US Department of Justice'', 19 December 2007, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="DOJ2009a">United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, [https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2009/093.html Release No. 09-093] ''US Department of Justice'', 3 August 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="DOJ2009b">United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California, [https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2009/148.html Release No. 09-148] ''US Department of Justice'', 21 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="LAT2009">Victoria Kim, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-dec-22-la-me-rabbi22-2009dec22-story.html Rabbi given two years in tax scheme] ''Los Angeles Times'', 22 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="JTA2009">[https://www.jta.org/2009/12/24/ny/chasidic-leader-sentenced-to-prison-2 Chasidic Leader Sentenced To Prison] ''New York Jewish Week (JTA)'', 24 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="NBCLA2009">[https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/rabbi-sentenced-two-years-for/1867242/ Rabbi Sentenced Two Years for Tax Fraud] ''NBC Los Angeles'', 21 December 2009, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="Pacer">[https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/21238381/USA_v_Weisz USA v. Weisz (2:06-cr-00775), California Central District Court] ''PacerMonitor (docket)'', accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP116038056">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/116038056 Agudath Chasidei Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-6038056, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113143043">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113143043 Mosdos Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3143043, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113037537">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113037537 Mosdos Spinka International] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3037537, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113039741">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113039741 Bnois Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3039741, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP112862084">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112862084 United Spinka International] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2862084, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113168701">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113168701 Igud Chasidai Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3168701, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113550819">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113550819 Mesivta Tifereth Zvi Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3550819, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP112585675">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112585675 Congregation Yeshiva Toldos Yitzchok Spinka Inc] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2585675, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP393338848">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/393338848 TA of Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 39-3338848, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP934217958">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/934217958 Zichron Yakov Spinka] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 93-4217958, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP112960037">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112960037 Yeshiva Gedolah Imrei Yosef Dspinka Inc] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2960037, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP237390834">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237390834 Yeshiva Imrei Yosef] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 23-7390834, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP113037647">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/113037647 Mesifta Imrei Yosef] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-3037647, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP112981741">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/112981741 Central Rabbinical Seminary] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 11-2981741, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
<ref name="PP133077504">ProPublica, [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133077504 Machne Sva Rotzohn Inc] ''Nonprofit Explorer'' (IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File data), EIN 13-3077504, accessed 28 October 2026.</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Hasidic dynasties]]
[[Category:Hasidism]]
[[Category:Hungary]]
[[Category:Romania]]
[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:United States]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:56, 29 October 2026
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	On 21 December 2009 Judge Walter sentenced Weisz to two years in federal prison. The plea agreement had capped the sentence at three years.<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" /> The Department of Justice reported that the judge echoed findings in the pre-sentence report that refunding and laundering charitable gifts was a routine, generational practice among certain Hasidic groups.<ref name="DOJ2009b" />		On 21 December 2009 Judge Walter sentenced Weisz to two years in federal prison. The plea agreement had capped the sentence at three years.<ref name="DOJ2009a" /><ref name="DOJ2009b" /> The Department of Justice reported that the judge echoed findings in the pre-sentence report that refunding and laundering charitable gifts was a routine, generational practice among certain Hasidic groups.<ref name="DOJ2009b" />
		+
		+	David Biale and his co-authors cite the case, with cases involving Bobov and [[New Square, New York\|New Square]], among "the repeated cases of financial malfeasance within the Hasidic community", which they suggest may be "a product of the economic stresses under which contemporary Hasidim labor". In their summary, the Spinka Rebbe "pled guilty and served jail time for soliciting tens of millions of dollars in tax-free contributions to Spinka charities while secretly promising to refund up to 95 percent of contributors' 'donations'", and the contributors "then illegally claimed tax deductions on their bogus donations". They add that such cases "may also demonstrate an ambivalent attitude toward secular law: for some, circumventing it in order to support their communities may seem justified".<ref name="BialeBook759">David Biale, David Assaf, Benjamin Brown, Uriel Gellman, Samuel C. Heilman, Moshe Rosman, Gadi Sagiv and Marcin Wodziński, ''Hasidism: A New History'', Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018, p. 759.</ref>

	According to NBC Los Angeles, the judge said he was convinced that Weisz "never took a penny for himself". The New York Jewish Week (published by JTA) also reported that the judge found Weisz had not acted to enrich himself.<ref name="NBCLA2009" /><ref name="JTA2009" /> The Los Angeles Times reported that about 270 letters supporting Weisz were sent to the court. Prosecutors had asked for the three-year maximum and described him in court papers as a "very hands-on director of the scheme". <ref name="LAT2009" /> In court, Weisz told the judge he was "embarrassed beyond words".<ref name="JTA2009" /><ref name="NBCLA2009" />		According to NBC Los Angeles, the judge said he was convinced that Weisz "never took a penny for himself". The New York Jewish Week (published by JTA) also reported that the judge found Weisz had not acted to enrich himself.<ref name="NBCLA2009" /><ref name="JTA2009" /> The Los Angeles Times reported that about 270 letters supporting Weisz were sent to the court. Prosecutors had asked for the three-year maximum and described him in court papers as a "very hands-on director of the scheme". <ref name="LAT2009" /> In court, Weisz told the judge he was "embarrassed beyond words".<ref name="JTA2009" /><ref name="NBCLA2009" />

Spinka (Hasidic dynasty) - Revision history

Chabad Bot: Add material on criminal cases and allegations from Biale et al., Hasidism: A New History (2018), with court and press sources

Chabad Bot: New page: Spinka Hasidic dynasty (Rabinowicz, Heilman, YIVO, US Attorney releases, press, docket, ProPublica)