A Letter to Mrs. Park

107
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grossmanBy Miriam Pearlmutter

Mrs. Margaret Park, the mother of slain Officer Peggy Park, lives in my neighborhood and I was upset to hear that she has received some harassment from some frum people. This is a letter I am planning to give to her either Thursday or Friday. I’ve spoken on the phone to her and she seems amenable to a letter.

If anyone from the Matzav.com readership would like their signature to be included, they can post their first and last name either in the comments below or by emailing [email protected].

Dear Mrs. Park,

I am writing this letter on behalf of myself and others in the Jewish community to express our apologies for the way you and your family have been treated over the past few weeks.

From what we understand, you have received harassing messages and phonecalls and for that we are truly sorry. That was the reprehensible behavior of a few misguided and confused individuals and we assure you that their conduct does not reflect the general mindset of the Jewish community as a whole. Judaism, as a religion, places great emphasis on personal responsibility and consequences and we do not believe that any individual should escape the consequences of his actions simply because of his religious affiliations.

I have read quite a bit about your daughter over the last month and it seems that she was a beautiful person with a kind heart. We are all so sorry for your loss and for the ordeals which your family has gone through over the last 25 years. We hope that now your family can finally find some measure of peace and comfort. Once again, please accept our sincere apologies for any comments or actions that added to your sorrow.

Sincerely,

Miriam Pearlmutter

{Matzav.com Newscenter}


107 COMMENTS

  1. we don’t need this letter by the author of the onionsoupmix blog, who posts here as Mandy, to apologize in our name, in the name of Judaism. Who appointed her as our spokeswoman? Herself.

    Frankly, it is not the Jewish community who owes anyone an apology in this matter.

  2. apparently you have the wrong understanding and knowledge of the facts!!you said it yourself”as far as my understanding”.i guess you dont understand to far…………

  3. I agree with the above comment that if an apology should be made it certainly should not be done representing a whole religion because no one can abrogate that level of status to themselves.

    Since the writer is a sensitive person and would like Mrs. Parks to know that she herself regrets that kind of approach, that is perfectly fine. If people want to then sign on to such a letter that would be appropriate, in my opinion.

    It is clear the we as a community was not told the whole story about the crime and the aftermath. Anyone who goes to such lengths to cover up their steps knew what they were doing.

    We can only do good on an individual level and try to live our lives al pi Torah and daas Chachmeinu to the best of our abilities.

    I am happy someone wants to reach out to them, but it should be done on a personal level. Hopefully, she understands we can’t speak for all Yidden and the way they think certainly does not represent someone else’s way of doing things or their standard of behavior.

  4. This letter is blasphomy. Please ask a competent Rov if you do not believe me. The Torah DOES take all factors into consideration.

  5. I hope thats a joke – SHE caused retzicha? Did she murder her daughter? Did she write the death penalty laws in Florida? Did she sign the death warrant? You don’t have daas OR torah and its for people like you that this woman should be apologizing for!

  6. She caused Retzicha?! You won’t need to drink this year to get to ad delo yada, you already have no clue about reality. Some of these comments truly scare me. Judaism does not espouse extremism. Everything must be done with DAAS. Before commenting think if your comment is a kiddush Hashem or a chillul chas veshalom.
    When ever commenting on this story never forget Mrs. Parks is also one of Hashems children and Hashems precious creation. (By krias Yam Suf the malachim couldn’t sing shira because Maaseh Yuday Toveim B’Yam V’Atem Omrim Shirah? This was regarding REAL RESHAIM – the Mitzrim!)
    She was an innocent young girl doing her job and by all accounts she was a sweet person and a mentsh. The rabbanim never said he was innocent and there never was a heter to call the family names or harass them or Gov. Christ for that matter.
    I really think Rabbanim need to speak out and clarify a number of issues to the Hamon Am because sadly something that started out with good intentions got poisoned.

  7. I am not representing anyone other than those whose signatures appear on the letter. I would never speak for the Jewish community as a whole.

  8. Rabbi Nochum Kurinsky wrote a beautiful article about the (last) day he spent with Martin Grossman, and several times in that article, he showed tremendous empathy and sympathy to Mrs. Park and her family.
    We as a community do not have to apologize for a few nasty comments or harassment calls. As a community, we pleaded for the governor to change the sentence to one of life in prison, but as a whole, we all understood the pain he caused an innocent family and nobody justified his actions.

  9. “L’ma’ashe she caused retzichah”

    “That’s right, your honor, it’s the victim’s mother’s fault. After all, if she didn’t give birth to the victim, the murder would never have happened…”

    Lunacy.

    The Wolf

  10. I think that some of the commentators here are deranged. This is one of the most intellegent well written articles about this case that I have read so far. Please tell me where do I sign my name to this letter.

  11. i am ashamed and embarassed to be associated with anyone who bothered annoyed or harassed the mother of the young woman murdered in cold blood by martin grossman. if martin had not been jewish – but had been black or mexican and had the same exact story – with the tale of woe as has been described, no one in the jewish community would care, fakhert they would dismiss all the claims of woe (poor orphan, poor problems, high on drugs etc) and would be calling fry the perp. admit it fellow yidden, if martin grossman were black pr hispanic thats how you would feel and dismiss the defense, so why should anyone afford you the courtesy?

  12. If you want you can send the letter to apologize but everyhting else there seems that your justifying the death sentance.
    That would be a chillul hashem

  13. Yasher Koach Mrs. Perlmutter for your courage. As for myself, I support Gov Crist’s decision in letting justice take its course in the Grossman case.

  14. I am ashamed & embarrassed with some of the idiotic responses to this kind & much-needed gesture. I wouldn’t be surprised if these individuals are the same ones who made the harassing calls and necessitated this clean-up.

  15. I agree that many of the posters here are DERANGED, that being an understaement. The letter she wrote is a perfect quasi-solution to the Chillul Hashem that was caused by a few individuals who put a stain on the rest of Acheinu Bnei yisroel. If I had to guess, these bloggers and those people who harrassed the Parks family are just about one and the same.
    I dont think she needs to get permission to send this letter, and whoever disagrees with me, I believe has the same IQ as Martin Grossman. These people are constantly causing so much harm and Chillul Hashem to Klal Yisroel, and they somehow have to be put in their place.

  16. You definitely should send a letter apologizing for those who have harassed her. However, you must remove the sentence which states, “Judaism, as a religion, places great emphasis on personal responsibility and consequences and we do not believe that any individual should escape the consequences of his actions simply because of his religious affiliations.” You can not include that sentence because the gedolim have asked us to to do everything to stop the execution. Besides for that sentence the rest of the letter is excellent! Hatzlacha!

  17. I think this is a great idea for how dare we undermine the pain of mrs parks regarding the pain her daughter suffered that terrible black day all she did was do her job how sad that she was murdered and yes we are deeply ashamed that some yiden have unfortunately already reached the level of ad dilo yudu to condemn this letter and harass the poor parks family but on the other hand we dont know for certain who killed peggy that terrible day and it might still come out that martin was innocent and HIS sick selfish traitor accomplice mr taylor actually commited that terrible act of murder in the end because there were so many facts in this case that were ignored witnesses were only selected if they were inline with the slain victim and witnesses were even paid to lie and witnesses even admited this and if martin did it was it premeditated even if he covered his tracks that doesnt tell you a thing about the intention? did he behave amazing throughout the years and was he an example prisoner did he return to g-d and express remorse for killing one of g-ds beautifull children all this needs to be looked at and no he did not eat treif on that terrible day of his death penalty as rabbi katz already made clear and so it was a pretty sincere tshuva and so these are facts that might be looked at and maybe the Governor will one day apologise for all this but the parks family they are poor and innocent and suffered terribly and so how dare we not support them and accuse them? every human being would do what they did and in fact they were very respectfull to the rabbi that was with Grossman when he was murdered al kidush Hashem and so they deserve our sympathy one hundred percent

  18. Miriam, take out the paragraph about Judaism. Everything else is fine. Apologize as a Jew if you wish, but don’t drag “Judaism” into it, especially since it can seem from what you wrote that Judaism says he deserved to die. This is not something you have a right to say on behalf of ANYBODY.

  19. Ask a Rav!!!
    Why are you so sure that she had so many people call her and HARASS her. Maybe she just wanted Grossman killed so she exaggerated a little. Personally I don’t believe that so many people called her and really harassed an old lady.
    Every community has some deranged people out there. But considering that there was over 50,000 yidden requesting that Grossman’s life be spared and if a few people called her and really did not scream or threaten her it becomes quite obvious that only deranged people called her and no apologies are necessary if you can verify and make certain that there were actually so many harassing phone calls I would agree with this letter . I need to commend you for putting out the letter in public prior to sending it. But at this point this is a Khal Yisrael issue and should be sent only after approval of a local Ohio Rav

  20. Reread her letter. She did not write that she represents the general rabim. She wrote that she and others in the Jewish community (whose signatures she will affix if they email her)express their apology. She doesn’t have to ask permission for that. Mrs. Park did not commit retzichah; the State of Florida did. I petitioned whoever I could, said Tehillim and so on to try and save a Jewish life who did not deserve to be killed al pi Torah, but harrassing Mrs. Parks is outright disgusting and a huge chillul Hashem. How could anyone believe that the Rabbonim who encouraged us to do our utmost to save Martin Grossman’s life (or any Rav, for that matter) would sanction such behavior?! The Parks family suffered enough pain. I would compose a different letter if I were M. Perlmutter, putting the focus on explaining that the Jewish community coming to the defense of Mr. Grossman wasn’t because they didn’t feel for the Park family or value Peggy’s life, but rather because according to Jewish law and what they believed to be mitigating circumstances, he was not deserving of the death penalty.
    We identify with the pain of the Park family and likewise are pained at the death of Mr. Grossman. Harrassing the Park family is inexcusable and will bring neither Ms. Park nor Mr. Grossman back to life.

  21. I appreciate the thought behind this, though did not ask to be signed on, and hope that if the Parks did follow the Jewish newsblogs that they also took some of the thoughtfulcomments to heart already.

  22. Miriam Pearlmutter,

    Please add me, my wife, my five children and their spouses, and my 10 grandchildren to your letter to Mrs Parks.

    No one – let alone the grieving mother of a brutally murdered daughter – should have to suffer as you have done over the last 25 years.

    My family joins me in apologizing to you on behalf of my co-religionists for any harassment and insults you may have suffered from an extremist fringe group.

  23. I feel we need to have rachmonis on R’ Martin Grossman. After all he didn’t want to let himself into a machlokes as to which hechsher is best. Should he eat from the Hisachdus or is OU sufficient. So he did the best thing. His last meal that he ate, as per the official government report and from those witnessing the event, he bought a “chicken sandwich” out of the canteen. You can be sure it did not have Rav Grubers hecher or a star K. This is the baal tshuva that the rabbi was trying to sell us.

    If he was under the influence of drugs and didn’t know what he was doing and was not responsible for his actions, who gave him the saichel to:
    1. ask the police lady not report him because he was on parole.
    2. bury the gun immediately after killing her in cold blood
    3. change all his clothes and put everything thru a wash machine to wash off the blood
    4. change all 4 of his tires on his car, so that the police should not be able to trace him by the tread marks on the grass.

    Unfortunately he was painted as a repented saint. He was a murderer. Maybe L’halocha he is not chayiv meesa. But to defend such an act is incomprehensible.

    They announced in Monsey on Loud Speakers to come to the levaya of HAKODOSH V’HATOHER (The most sainted and pure neshoma). The same title announced for the Lubavitcher, Klozenburger and Satmer Rebbes and Hagoan R’ Shmuel Birnbaum etc. Are you kidding.

    We owe this mother a tremendous apology. Simple Question: Just think for one moment if he had killed your wife or daughter, would you be him dan l’kaf zchus, forget about the issue if he is a yehudi or aino yehudi) like all those writing comments here! Its a pure shanda what took place.

  24. I think writing a letter is a nice idea. Question is what it should contain?

    Clarifing our attitude on harrasment is understandable. Justifing Grossmans death as a way for Mrs. Parks to be able to move on from her sad sad loss, does not belong in a letter.

  25. the man did tishuva! all he wanted was to live in jale for the rest of his life….and even so this rishanta insisted on his death and went to watch it! many gidolim agreed he should live even though he killed somone….anyways i think it would be a big chillul hashem if this letter is sent-did the writer ask gidolim???NO!!!!!

  26. I am so happy to hear about this letter. This poor woman, Mrs. Park, needs to know that there are Jews who aren’t totally insane and insensitive, who actually understand who the true victim was in this case. I think we should applaud Mrs. Pearlmutter.

    “Shaila” (comment #1), since you saw fit to attempt to out someone trying to do a good deed (I don’t know or care if you are correct), why don’t you make things fair and tell us who you are? Because I don’t know whether you’re a nice person who is making an error in good behavior or, say, an obnoxious teenager or a crazy bubby trying to stir the pot.

    Tell us who you are and then the playing field will be even.

  27. You have no idea if she posts here or not. You are just trying to insult posters here with whom you disagree. Stop foaming at the mouth and allow a woman to do a mitzvah and apologize for all of the bad behavior of our fellow Yidden.

    You should be banned for trying to tell who you think your fellow posters are.

  28. At first I was going sign on this letter but one comment from a blog made me read the letter again. the sentence that made me reconsider is “Judaism, as a religion places great emphasis on personal responsibilities and consequenses and we do not beleive that any individual should escape the consequences of his actions simply because of his religious affiliations.”
    I wholeheartedly agree with this sentence and anyone who read my numurous blogs on Grossman knows that I was baffled and upset at the massive public effort to have the death sentence of a person with blood on his hands, repealed. I felt the tremendous pressure that was placed on Gov Crist, who obviously beleives in the death sentence, to change his opinion was out of place because the lobbying was done for a muderer.
    We Yidden who are in golus sometimes forget when we need to lie low and be quiet and ashamed that there is a Jew in prison for murder.If an individual or organization wanted to ask the Gov. for a death sentence commutation quietly without fanfare that would be understandable.
    Besides for the message that we sent our kids that murder is not completely unnacceptable, just depends on the situation.
    Having said all that, I am against the death penalty because human judges can make mistakes.
    The sentence in the letter, although not openly saying it,implies that I would totally agree to having him killed as well as that is the Torah’s view when that might not be the case at all and would there chas vesholom be such a case when we have the Sanhedrin they would paskin on that.
    I do think an apology to Mrs.Parker is in order though.

  29. It seems that you were a witness on the scene according to your comments. You obviously hadnt done too much research on the case and you only became like schmaltz on a fire when that mamzer the gov. Y”Sh sent you that email. Im not gonna go into it but THE CRITICAL WITNESS IN THIS CASE ADMITTED THAT HE LIED!!!!!! Yes he LIED! If not for that witness he would still be alive today and not in death row. So before you open your “Pi ha’ason” check out the facts.

  30. First of all, nobody has any idea whether your attempt to out fellow commenters has any basis in truth, but I can say that it is mean-spirited. Whoever Mrs. Pearlmutter is, it’s obvious that you’re threatened by several people, probably because they can write circles around you.

    But since you’re into outing, how about outing yourself? I mean, it wouldn’t be ethical to discuss who’s who without saying who you are, right?

  31. I have no problem with the message, but it is the messenger I have the problem with. A woman who is the child of Soviet immigrants who proudly writes on her blog “And yet, I am at the point where I don’t know if I believe in the Torah. Meaning that I question whether the Torah as interpreted by orthodoxy is the way that G-d truly wants us to live.” Someone who has committed the sin of loshon hara and ona’as devarim against me on this blog because I disagree with her left-wing pro-abortion views. Someone who ridicules Orthodoxy on her blog and who by her own admission has a complete lack of faith and just goes through the motions for the sake of keeping up appearances. Thanks but no thanks, Mandy/Miriam Perlmutter. A Jew with no faith has no Judaism. Let Rabbi Yair Hoffman or Rabbi Harry Maryles or any other reasoned Torah source write such a letter, not a woman of this nature.

  32. Do yourself a favor and just mind your own business. If anybody feels there should be an appoligy the Aguda/ OU will send a letter for us.

  33. yes, someone does have to apologize for this horrific behavior or harassment. Nobody wins here.
    Martin Grossman was a tragic case. He should have gotten services and may be he would not have done this. But at that point, it was out of our hands. This mother who lost her daughter did not cause this to happen, and it is very distorted to harass her. Doesnt make sense at all. But yes, to ask gedolim also should be done. *sigh* its not an easy one….

  34. For those who doubt it, why not ask Mrs. Perlmutter if she is Mandy. She will not deny it. Nor can she deny her stated questioning of our Torah HaKedosha. An open apikorus.

  35. its time to feel the pain of another person and not just shrugg your shoulders you do not need any rabonim you just need to know someone who feels another persons pain has a special chelek in olam hoboh stop playing with fire use your time to learn mussar and improve your middos chazal tell us ko hamavir al midosoiv….

  36. To #43: You write, “So before you open your “Pi ha’ason” check out the facts.”
    You seem to have forgotten that Bilaam’s donkey told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And that is precisely what #35 was saying, the truth, the whole truth …
    But why let that interfere with your tirade.

  37. Read the letter and sign it or don’t sign it. I don’t know who Mandy is, but your attempt to poison the well to encourage people not to sign is as wicked as anything I”ve seen. And that’s saying a lot.

  38. Mrs. Perlmutter Good for you! Such a nice letter. Really touching. And ignore all of those negative comments such as “you need to ask permission….to apologize on our behalf”.

    Let me ask those people who feel that way “Did the frum people who harrassed Mrs. Parks on the behalf of Klal Israel and Grossman ask anyone in order to do so?”.

    This is a nice way to perhaps revoke the bit of chilul hashem it created. Good for you.

  39. to #43 it’s so interesting that you are doubting that Martin Grossman killed Miss Parks after Grossman apologized, minutes before his death for the pain he caused the Parks family. Obviously Grossman was more honest before his death than you who keep burying your head in the sand.

    If Mrs.Perlmutter is indeed Mandy it’s amazing how subtle she is by implying that the thousands who called did not feel Grossman should should pay for the crime he comitted-which is not true, most of those who called felt that life imprisonment was a punishment that fit the crime. (I’m guessing though that those people who deny that Grossman killed Parks or those who inducted him into the hall of saints would probably form a commitee to have him released, were his death sentence commuted)

  40. When I first heard that the Parks family was harassed, or even contacted, I couldn’t believe that anyone would do anything like that, but in reading these comments, I now have to come to believe that some people could be so off beam.

    BTW, did any of those contacting the the Parks family receive imprimatur of Rabbonim or Gedolim.
    I think I know the answer to that one.

  41. Yasher Koach Reb Harry Berkowitz. Well-said.

    Pearlmutter is not someone any of us should be affiliating or interacting with. The last person in fact.

  42. And we don’t know – and may never know because they may so very much want to stay below the radar (one doesn’t have to issue press releases every time the VP of affairs or whatever sneezes) – if some of the major organizations did reach out to the Parks afterwards, or convey some such message.

  43. Let’s find out who you are now, since you’re so interested in discussing Mrs. Pearlmutter.

    You think people are going to abandon the thought of apologizing to this woman, Mrs. Park, who deserves an apology, because you don’t like Miriam Pearlmutter? You’re just another angry bubby, foaming at the mouth when people don’t agree with you.

  44. I wanted to thank everyone for contacting me, especially those rabbonim who have asked to sign the letter in their official capacity.

    Although it may not seem like it from the comments, I have been contacted by many sincere people who have asked to be joined to the letter and I am very pleased with the response. I especially appreciate the Matzav.com editors who published this letter in the first place!

    I will give it a few more days and then bring the letter over to Mrs. Park.

  45. I now fully understand Holocaust deniers.I never understood till now, how is it possible that Germany admits they killed 6 million jews in the most horrific manner. As a matter of fact, it is a crime in Germany to deny it. So how can there be such a thing as a denier.

    Martin Grossman admits he killed this policelady in cold blood. His excuse was only that he was under the inflence of drugs. He asks the family to forgive him for what he did. Then are are people who add their comments here totally denying that he was the killer, that there were lying wittnesses etc. Can’t you simply see that this man admitted it.

    Go Mrs Perlmutter GO!

  46. i am embarrassed… not to be a jew…. i am proud of that, but i am embarrassed for all of you people who fail to see the point and continue to cause a massive chilul hashem.. you think you’re acting out of righteousness and to be blunt it seems more to be out of stupidity… most of these comments are downright stupid and ignorant. the point of our existence in olam hazeh is to do mitzvos and sanctify the name of G-d for all to see.. to separate ourselves from the masses by being BETTER than the rest… but being REGAL by showing that G-d chose us as His chosen nation and that we ARE deserving of that. what has gone on here has only besmirched the name of G-d and of the Jewish people and dragged His name and ours thru the mud. regardless of what you believe should or should not have been done for Martin Grossman, the important thing is how it is approached, how we deal with the situation and make our case .. the way in which it was approached has only made us look like we think we are above the law and better than everyone else… We ARE better than everyone else and that’s because G-d CHOSE us.. but along with that comes a responsibility to BE better than everyone else.. to ACT regal and to do only what is best for the name of G-d. Moshe Rabeinu asked Hashem to not kill ALL of the bnei yisroel after the chet hameraglim because it wouldnt look good for Hashem to all the other nations, they would say look He even wiped out all His own people… we are taught that had he asked G-d to spare ALL of the bnei yisroel He would have gotten his request but he didnt ask for that because what was truly important, more important than the lives on any one single individual or even the ENTIRE bnei yisroel was the sanctity of G-ds name… All Moshe cared about was G-ds image… this is somethign we need to strive for and remember.. its NOT about us.. EVER.. its about keeping the name of G-d in its rightful lofty and royal position.. not to drag His name thru the mud no matter how much you think you are doing it for a “righteous” cause.it is unfortunate that people have put these blinders on and all they see is what they think is the important issue no matter what the facts… in doing so they forget what is truly important and what our purpose ESPECIALLY in todays trying times is. May we all learn from this terrible chilul Hashem and continue to learn from our mistakes and better ourselves for the TRUE purpose of this world: to serve Hashem yisborach shemo, adn to sanctify his name by acting as proper true ovdei hashem.

  47. “I am disgusted and nauseous from the comments here.”

    Agreed. Anyone who cannot empathize with a mother wanting a full measure of legal justice for a murdered daughter (even if they, personally, don’t agree with the sentence) is, IMHO, simply uncaring, unfeeling and certainly not characterized by our trait of being rachmanim.

    By all means, try to have the sentence overturned if you think it’s wrong… but don’t fault the mother of the victim for wanting justice.

    The Wolf

  48. The “State of Israel” today is governed by self-hating Jews similar to yourself, who also feel this tremendous need to prove that Jews show empathy to gentiles…like the Palastinians. The tragic result is a huge toll on Jewish life…like Gush Katif and the 8-year non-stop rocket attack on S’derot, and so on. Another example is the story of Shaul saving the animals of Amaleik, and the horrific ramifications that followed. This is the effect of misplaced pity. Let us take this love and distibute it amongst our own…Ahavas Yisroel

  49. I DISAGREE ENTIRELY with Mrs Pearlmutter.
    1) Why would I apologize for something I haven’t done?
    2)How do you KNOW that people harassed her?

  50. Even one harassing phone call was one to many! Just like there were those who felt they should lobby for a cold blood killer (if you want to argue against the death penalty that you should advocate for everyone not just a single Jew) who used a police officer’s own weapon to kill her while she was doing her job to prevent being sent back to jail on behalf of the jewish community based on the idea that we have an obligation to every Jew, so to do we have a responability to apologize a community for the acts of other indivudals in our community. You can not pick and choose when you want to present Jewish communal responsability and when you dont. We are always responsible and obligated to act both to help our fellow jews and to show people outside the community what is truely at the heart of the community.

  51. How do you all KNOW without a shadow of doubt that Mrs Parks was indeed harrassed?
    Why would anyone apologize for something they had not done, had not witnessed, had no proof of?

  52. I’m sorry, but your screen name is confusing. Are you considering this cold-blooded killer a sweet little sheep going to the slaughterhouse?
    As far as doubting that people attempted to bother Mrs. Park, come on, of course they did. Just reading these comments is proof of how illogical and rude so many people in the frum world were during this fiasco.

  53. How does one death atone for another? How do humans decide who is to live and who is to die? How does Mrs Parks feel at peace taking the life of another?
    The two TRUE expressions of Kiddush Hashem were:
    a) Martin Grossman’s public teshuvah, and
    b)The tremendous outpouring of Ahavas Yisroel as shown by the 50,000 petitioners who were against his death.

    May Hashem have mercy on this very misguided author, and may He show her the TRUE way to righteousness!

  54. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/584394380

    There weren’t even 35,000 signatures on the petition, so would people please stop exaggerating? 50,000 refers to the number of people who attempted to contact the governor, including those who supported the execution.

    Mrs. Park didn’t take his life. The state of Florida, which voted for the Death Penalty did. He was tried and convicted in a court of law, not Mrs. Park’s living room.

    May Hashem have mercy on those who act irrationally and say ridiculous things!

  55. I wrote my own letter of condolence and apology to Mrs. Park because of the death of her daughter and the terrible behavior of members of the Jewish community. I did this even before Mrs. Pearlmutter wrote her wonderful letter.

    Read the comments on this site, including #72. This woman deserves an apology.

  56. Why would you apologize for something you hadn’t done? Unless of course, Mrs Pearlmutter, YOU are the one who harassed Mrs Parks…and feel alittle guilt?

  57. One woman citing one other woman – both sonei yisroel …and you have already passed judgement? …No aidim…certainly no aidim deemed Halachically fit, (i.e religious, yorei shamayim…)

  58. Gov. Crist blatantly ignored 50,000 callers, letters and emails + another 35,000 who signed an online petition pleading for clemency.

    He WILL be defeated in November.

  59. To Comment #74 from “To #72”:

    I received an email from the Aleph Institute thanking me for signing the petition. The letter stated that, Boruch HaShem, the ONLINE petition had gotten 34,009 signatures, there were also PAPER petitions circulated that got another (about) 30,000 signatures, and there were the endless telephone calls and emails to the Florida Governor’s office, which were estimated to be at about 50,000. So there was a grand total of over 110,000 communication messages requesting clemency for Mr. Grossman.

  60. To properly and fully explain what I think our reaction should be to this particular development in this very tragic story, B’Ezras HaShem, I will first repost here the series of long comments (#s 45, 46, 48, & 50) that I posted at Matzav’s earlier article at http://matzav.com/mishnayos-learning-for-martin-grossman.

    In this horrific tragedy that has just happened, on which we certainly must empathetically exclaim “BORUCH DAIYAN HAEMES!!” B’Ezras HaShem, let us examine it this way. In all aspects of life, it is well realized that something that is on the extremes of good or bad is a relatively simple item and is relatively easy to understand and relatively easy to deal with. If the something though is somewhere “in the middle,” then, it is a far more complicated situation and is thus far more difficult to understand and far more difficult to deal with.

    For an example, let us look at the issue itself of this case: mental dysfunction. A person who, Boruch HaShem, has good full functioning mental health, is great and is a good productive contributing member of society. A person who, Chas V’Shalom – G-D Forbid, and Lo Alaynu – It should not happen to us, is completely insane or is severely retarded, is, very unfortunately, extremely terrible, and is not going to be able to contribute much to society. However, we very well know what he is: a total invalid, and we clearly know what needs to be done with him: very tragically, he has to be “put away” in a specialized institution that can properly care for him.

    However, a person who is “partially retarded,” or a person who has numerous serious mental disturbances, but who also is “largely” in the real world, forms a much more complicated case. Of course, of course, we are totally thrilled and thankful that, Boruch HaShem, he is not totally retarded or totally insane. At the same time though, his complicated case is going to be quite difficult to figure out and deal with.

    How can we evaluate him? He is obviously somewhere “in the middle,” but what does “somewhere in the middle” supposed to mean? All that we can say is: “He is too ‘well’ to be ’sick’”; yet, at the same time, “He is too ’sick’ to be ‘well’”!! Furthermore, what should we do with him? To giggle and say “Haul him off to the ‘funny farm’!!” is outright wrong, for “He is too well to be sick”!! However, that he should now be productive — many times they tried to give him jobs, but he was always all wrapped up in his imagined fantasies — “He is too sick to be well”!!

    Mechoel Yechiel Grossman, Alav HaShalom, was obviously a man who was “somewhere in the middle.” There is no question at all that he was badly messed up. IQ testing showed him to be significantly low; he suffered with the horrific disease of Epilepsy, and the anti-seizure medications he had to be on caused him further mental impairment and illicit drug and alcohol addictions; the death of his father, Alav HaShalom, brought on even more emotional disturbances.

    At the same time though, his bad IQ level was that of only “borderline” retardation. He obviously was not fully retarded or insane, for if he had been so really, really bad, then LONG BEFORE HE WAS 19, even against his will, he WOULD have already been placed and locked up in an institution. Since he was not so really, really bad, he was instead allowed to freely “roam the streets”!

    (This was clearly totally wrong, for while he may not have required institutionalization, he still had a lot of very serious problems and thus desperately needed to be under some kind of very tight supervision. When he did freely “roam the streets,” we tragically saw the terrible calamities that soon came: he stole, did jail time for that, found a gun, took a friend in a park to play with it, and assaulted and killed an officer, which thus brought the end to his own life.)

    Furthermore, when he and his friend were caught by the park officer, he fully realized who she was and what her position was and what she in her position was going to do to him. He fully understood what being arrested meant, and he fully understood what being put (back) in jail meant.

    Once Miss. Parks was dead, he well realized what he had done and that were he to be caught, he would be in very big trouble. He well knew and well implemented the steps he had to take to keep the police from discovering that he was the murderer of Miss. Parks: he thoroughly cleaned out his van, and he changed his tires.

    This last point is extremely significant. It is well known that at the location of every major crime, one of the first items that the police look for and take photographs of and sometimes even plaster impressions of is any tire-tread marks that are on the ground. With such pieces of forensic evidence, they are often able to catch the criminals by matching the (copies) of the tire-tread marks that were at the crime scene with the tread on the tires of suspects’ vehicles. This crime solving method works because most criminals and most people don’t even begin to think about the marks on the ground that their tires make.

    Yet Mr. Grossman WAS keenly aware of the tire business and DID think about it and thus went and actually changed his tires!! On this one, he was really “one up” on most other criminals! On this one, he was really “smarter” than the “normal” people!

    Clearly, Mechoel Grossman was “somewhere in the middle.”

    He definately was a messed up person with some pretty significant neurological problems.

    At the same time though, his significant neurological problems were “borderline,” and despite these problems, he did show a number of signs of some pretty sophisticated intelligence.

    So again, he was a messed up person with significant neurological problems. And that is why we all empathetically appealed to the government that he should NOT be responsible for his crimes.

    At the same time though, his neurological problems were borderline, and despite these problems, he did show some pretty sophisticated intelligence. And this is why the government empathetically responded that he SHOULD be responsible for his crimes!

    Again, this is an amazing twist of life. If Mr. Grossman would have been a full healthy well functioning person, he probably would have lived a good productive long life. If, Chas V’Shalom, he would have been completely retarded or completely wacked off his mind, he would have been held in a institution somewhere, and would have never have been able to get into the terrible trouble that he did. Even if he would have still somehow managed to do some violent action on someone, when he would have been brought into the courtroom and would have blabered off a slew of incoherent speech, everyone, even the victim’s family, would have realized that, very unfortunately, he is off his box, and the most you can do with such a person is to put him in a nut house.

    Mr. Grossman though, was not this; he was “in the middle.” Therefore, he WAS allowed to go out by himself. Therefore, he DID get himself into really big trouble. Therefore, when his defense lawyers and much of the Jewish community and much of the general community tried to beg the government that he had neurological problems and thus did not deserve the most severe punishment, the government retorted that despite these problems, he still did have some good mental funtioning and thus DID deserve the ultimate punishment.

    Yes, the fact that he was “in the middle” made things turn out much, much, much worse for him.

  61. (Continuation of previous comment #79)

    So I just explained over and over and over again that this was a case that is “in the middle.” In a case that is in the middle, there are logical arguments with valid points that can be made BOTH WAYS. Now if a person decides that he agrees with the set of arguments of way #2, even if those particular arguments are not 100% correct, he is still someone who tries to reason logically; he is not a “stupid” person, and he is certainly not a “bad” person.

    In this case, the various government officials decided that they agreed with the set of arguments that Mr. Grossman DID have enough intelligence to be responsible for his crimes and thus did deserve the ultimate punishment. As I elaborated on above, this set of arguments did have some very valid points, and even if it was not 100% correct, the officials who agreed with it cannot be called “bad” or “wicked” or “anti-Semitic.”

    Our Torah does teach us that all peoples are Mechuyav – are obligated to set up proper systems of police and courts to enforce the laws of humanity. Ever since the beginnings of human civilization, all countries have more or less done this; either because they had this Mesorah – these transmitted instructions from what HaShem taught Adam HaRishon and Noach, or because it is basic human logic that there must be law and order.

    Now, in the “Western” Christian nations of Europe, North America, and South America, they obviously have very great respect for our Tanach, which they call “The Bible” — specifically, they call it the “Old Testament” of “The Bible.” They also have some respect for some of the little pieces that they may know about of our Talmud too. With this respect, there is no doubt that many of the general principles of our Torah HaK’dosha of proper justice were in the minds of the legislators of these nations when they established their own systems of jurisprudence.

    Now though, does this mean that when they were writing up their laws, they had on the tables in front of them volumes of the Chumash with the commentary of Rashi, opened to Parshas Mishpatim, or volumes of the Talmud, opened to Mesecta Sanhedrin, or volumes of the Shulchan Aruch, opened to Chelek Choshen Mishpat?? Does this mean that the Supreme Court of the United States and the little Supreme Courts of each of the fiftey states of the United States all have for their instructions and guidelines the exact same, L’Havdil, Halachos of the Beis Din HaElyon of the Sanhedrin???

    Obviously: “NO”!!

    And the truth is, there is a huge question mark on if they even have any requirement to!! In a consultation with one of the Mashgichim of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Rav Moshe Eiseman, Sh’lita, I well remember how he related to me this issue. There is a Machlokes Rishonim if the Chiyuv – the obligation that non-Jews have to set up a police-court system is that the jurisprudence rules of their sytem are the exact same Halachos that the Torah says, or, that the jurisprudence rules of their sytem DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE the exact same Halachos that the Torah says; rather, as long as they make up a set of rules that are fair and logical, that is good enough, and they have fulfilled their obligation!

  62. (Continuation of previous comment #46)

    So I just explained that the government officials who decided with the set of arguments that Mr. Grossman did have enough intelligence to be responsible for his crimes and thus did deserve the death penalty cannot at all be called “bad” or “wicked” or “anti-Semitic.”

    On the contrary, even though they did not do our request, there actually still is a good bit of APPRECIATION that we have to have to them!

    Of course, all of these officials themselves will tell us that our very first thanks and appreciation and the complete basis of all of our thanks and appreciation is to be to THE ONE WHO MAKES EVERYTHING!

    Now though, of all of this “everything that HaShem makes” — including these government officials whom a lot of us are mad at — what specific things are there of what they did that we have to be so thankful for?

    1.) We must be exceedingly thankful that Governor Crist’s office accepted all of our telephone calls — many, many thousands of telephone calls — and patiently listened as we explained our reasons for our request.

    It is very well known in our society how, when someone whom we do not like and whom we feel is a “pest” tries to call us on the telephone, we simply do not take his calls! With the device of the “Caller ID,” we know it is this guy who is calling, and we have many elaborate ways to avoid him:

    A.) We let the phone ring without picking it up at all.

    B.) We let the answering machine or the voice mail “answer” the call.

    C.) We have a secretary answer, who will tell him an outright sheker like: “You just missed him! He had to go to a meeting; he did not say when or even if he will be back today!” “He is out of town until after next week!” “He will have to call you back; what is your number?”

    D.) We pick up the receiver but immediately hang it up. The caller will think he was just disconnected and will try again. But again, we do the same thing. The caller may try a few more times (if he is at a pay phone, he will loose a lot of quarters!!) until he gets the full sting of the hint that we ARE avoiding him!!

    (Of course, this is very wrong; at the very least, it is Ona’as Devarim – mean, hurtful words. I am just relating what IS done in the “it’s a rough world out there!”)

    Yet here — and it goes without saying that they saw on their caller ID screens the Jewish sounding names and the addresses in the Jewish neighborhoods of Boro Park, Monsey, Lakewood, etc. — the governor’s office did not do any of this!! Instead, they answered every call and patiently listened as, over and over and over again, we explained the same arguments — which they did not agree with — about Mr. Grossman’s mental impairment and our request to thus spare him.

    2.) We must be further thankful that Governor Crist, even though he obviously did not agree with our position and did not grant our request, he still stated that he FULLY RESPECTED our position and FULLY RESPECTED our making our request! His words are quoted right here on Matzav in the earlier article at http://matzav.com/crist-says-he-was-swamped-with-support-for-martin-grossman-but-facts-prevailed where it relates: “Crist said a group of rabbis and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz were among those urging the execution be stopped. ‘THE SINCERITY OF THEIR MESSAGE IS WITHOUT QUESTION,’ Crist said” (emphasis mine).

    3.) We must be further thankful that, as is explained in this earlier Matzav article at http://matzav.com/crist-says-he-was-swamped-with-support-for-martin-grossman-but-facts-prevailed, even in his rejection of our request, the issue was not that Governor Crist really DISAGREED with our arguments about Mr. Grossman’s neurological diseases. In a certain way, he did “agree” with us that Mr. Grossman was a messed up person. What he said though was that he felt that we were NOT AWARE of all the facts, for, as related above there were a number of points that showed that despite his problems, he still had some high intelligence.

  63. (I must apologize that when I pasted in this last piece #81, I forgot to change the number at its beginning! The correct numbers are that this piece #81 is a direct continuation of the piece before it, #80)

  64. Wait a second. Is it possible that Mrs. Pearlmutter was in the park that day with Martin and his friend and SHE, in fact, beat and shot Officer Park? Come on, Mrs. Pearlmutter, confess so that the right person can go to prison, find G-d, get executed and deified.

    FREE MRS. PEARLMUTTER!

    Just practicing.

  65. (Continuation of previous comment #81)

    At the basis of this, we must be extremely thankful that for this stage of our Galus, HaShem, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, grants us to live in the blessed land of the United States of America and similar countries. Of course though, we must stress that we are not, I repeat, we ARE NOT saying in any way or form at all that the peoples of these countries are any kind of “Tzadikkim” – are any kind of “perfect saints”!! They themselves openly state that they are very, very, very far from perfect. They themselves openly state that they are overwhelmed by countless difficult problems that they do not know how to solve. They themselves openly admit that the various levels of their governments are beset with numerous scandals of all kinds of corruption. Before their elections, numerous activists — my favorite one is the radio talk show host “Michael Savage” — openly warn the populace to NOT BE FOOLED by all the inspiring, idealistic, campaign rhetoric, FOR 99% OF IT IS ALL FAKE!! Before their elections, numerous activists — my favorite one is the radio talk show host “Michael Savage” — openly warn the populace to NOT expect anything (positive) and that the “choice” in the election is like the “choice” of “Diet Coke” and “Diet Pepsi”!!

    What we must very greatly appreciate though, is that, Boruch HaShem, these are nations that are, at least officially:

    1.) Founded on principles of right and justice and respect for each individual.

    2.) Where, as was stated by the founder of the nation, its first leader, President George Washington when he visited a Jewish congregation, prejudice and bigotry have no place.

    3.) Where the leaders are not thought of as “rulers” but rather as “public servants.”

    As the leaders are thought of as “public servants,” in other words, that they are working for the general population, the general population is welcomed and even encouraged TO CONTACT them. The general population is welcomed and even encouraged to contact their leaders and tell them what THEY think! The general population is welcomed and even encouraged to contact their leaders and tell them what they think: Do they agree with what they are doing? Do they think that they are doing something wrong? Would they like to see something done differently?

    [Of course, we well know that with all of this “humility” of asking for our opinions, at the end of the day, these elected officials are still going to do what they think is the best course of action. (Very often, that “best course of action” is going to be what will most benefit the officials’ corporate backers who gave the most $$$$.)]

    This is what took place just now in the Mechoel Grossman case. At the end of the day, the relevant officials still decided that Mr. Grossman did deserve capital punishment. At the same time though, they allowed and welcomed and respected our WELL OVER 100,000 telephone calls, emails, and signatures on paper and online petitions requesting clemency.

    To fully appreciate this, we need to contrast it with what is done in countries and societies that operate with a “set of rules” that are totally VERY DIFFERENT.

    It was not that long ago, just in 1989, that in the severely wicked country of Communist China, countless Chinese citizens made numerous protests of all the severe sick corruption throughout the country. Finally, the Communist government decided that it had had “enough”; it deployed its army around the area of the demonstrations in the capital city. The signal was given and the army moved; with endless lines of tanks with their cannon, it simply mashed down many thousands of civilian people and turned the streets and plazas and boulevards of downtown Beijing into lakes of blood!!

    Right now, as we are in Aveilus for Mechoel Grossman, and as I am typing these words, over in the wicked country of Iran, countless thousands of people are out on the streets attempting to protest the false election “results,” which merely extended continued rule of the current tyrant, and every day, the police are firing into the crowds and killing scores of people.

    There is an extremely excellent book that was published in the Torah world about 30 years ago. It is called “Subota” and was written by an “Avroham Netzach” (this is a pen name). The book is an autobiography in which the author relates his story of how — obviously, because he was a Torah observing Jew — he was arrested by the Communist police and incarcerated in the Soviet prison system for a full twenty years. In blood chilling detail, he graphically describes the harrowing sadistic torment and torture and abuse he was put through in the jails and Siberian labor camps of the “beautiful” “Utopia” of holy, holy, holy, holy, Communist Russia.

    Through his long internment, he was exposed to and witnessed what was done to scores of other prisoners. One of these episodes that he relates is as follows.

    On August 23, 1939, Adolf Hitler, Yemach Shemo V’Zichro, and Joseph Stalin, Yemach Shemo V’Zichro, made up and signed a formal treaty called “the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.” (This treaty really formed a German-Russian alliance in which Stalin had originally planned that the two countries with their powerful armies would together conquer the world!! The first implementation of this plan came just a few days latter, on September 1, 1939, when the Nazi forces attacked and overran the western side of Poland, and on September 17, 1939, when the Soviet forces attacked and overran the eastern side of Poland.)

    Around the time that the news of this treaty was announced in Russia, a Jewish man sitting at home with his family, remarked to them that he felt that Stalin was making a very grave mistake.

    (Of course, as we all very well know, the actual truth IS that making this alliance really was an exceedingly terrible plan for Russia. For with this pact and its Soviet approval of a Nazi invasion of Poland, the Germans were thus able to establish and build up there a large military machine. Then, a short time latter, on June 22, 1941, these German forces there became part of an extensive German army that smashed into the Soviet Union — in a battle front that stretched for over 1,000 miles from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea — in what was one of the very largest massive land invasions in the history of the world. The German offensive was initially brilliantly successful and came extremely close to totally knocking out the Soviet Union.)

    So again, this little man in his private home remarks to his family that this joining up with Germany was going to be very bad for Russia, which was the obvious truth.

    Soon after this, word of what this man had said — this “crime” that he had done of daring to criticize Holy, Holy, Holy, “Big Brother” “Comrade Stalin” — somehow leaked to outside of his house and soon reached the ears of the police. The man was quickly arrested and PUT TO DEATH! The man’s wife and children were also arrested and deported TO A SOVIET PRISON FORCED LABOR CAMP IN SIBERIA!

  66. (Continuation of previous comment #85)

    Therefore, with all of this analysis of the tragic story that has happened and analysis of the HaKores HaTov – the appreciation that we still must have even to the government officials who did not grant our request and certainly to our great country of the United States of America,

    I AM SEVERELY SHOCKED AND APPALLED AND ABHORD AT A NUMBER OF THE COMMENTS THAT HAVE APPEARED HERE THAT EQUATE THE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA WITH SOME OF THE VERY WORST VILLIANS EVER AND EVEN PUTTING ON HIM THE STRONGEST CURSES!!!

    THIS IS CERTAINLY TOTALLY OUTRIGHT ASSUR!!!

    (See the Gemara in Mesecta Baba Basra, Daf 3a)

    AND I AM DOUBLY AND TRIPILY SEVERELY SHOCKED AND APPALLED AND ABHORD TO HEAR THAT A FEW “FRUM” JEWISH PEOPLE HAD THE SEVERELY SICK AUDACITY TO MAKE HARRASSING TELEPHONE CALLS AND MESSAGES TO MRS. PARK!!!!

    THIS IS A HORRIFIC CHILLUL HASHEM OF THE WORST DEGREE!!!!

    RACHMANA LITZLAN – MAY G-D SAVE US – FROM WHAT IT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE!!!!

    Therefore, A Groisser Yasher Koach to Mrs. Pearlmutter for making this beautiful concilatory letter of apology to Mrs. Park.

    Every Jew who knows about it certainly has a Chov Kodesh – a sacred obligation to sign it.

    Im Yirtza HaShem, it should be a proper Kiddush HaShem that will negate the bad Chillul HaShem that was done.

  67. 1)NOT ONE OF THE INDIVIDUALS COMMENTING HERE HAS PROOF THAT MRS PARKS RECEIVED HARASSING CALLS. SO YOUR DECLARATION OF CHILLUL HASHEM IS NOT ONLY LASHON HORA, IT IS RECHILLUS. AND YOU ARE ALSO PASSING JUDGMENT ON YOUR FELLOW JEWS. EVEN IF THERE WERE TRUTH TO THIS, AND ONE DID HAVE PROOF, THERE IS NO HALACHIC RULING – OR SECULAR FOR THAT MATTER – THAT REQUIRES ONE INDIVIDUAL TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE ACTIONS OF ANOTHER.
    2)WE ARE TAUGHT IN TORAH TO DO ALL WE CAN TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A JEW.THE PETITION WAS RUN AND ENDORSED BY MANY, MANY HIGHLY RESPECTED RABBANIM. DO YOU HAVE THE CHUTZPAH TO DISAGREE WITH THEM? IT IS SAID THAT HOW WE JUDGE OUR FELLOW MAN, SO WILL WE BE JUDGED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE JUDGED AS HARSHLY AS YOU JUDGE OTHERS?
    3)DESPITE THE SUPPOSED KINDNESSES OF THE FLORIDIAN COURTS, MARTIN GROSSMAN WAS KILLED. SO THEIR “CHESSED” DIDN’T REALLY HELP MUCH. THE KILLING OF ANOTHER HUMAN IS WRONG. IT IS FOR G-D, AND G-D ALONE, TO CHOOSE WHO SHOULD DIE AND WHO SHOULD LIVE. AND WHILE MANY JEWS LIVE IN DENIAL, ANTISEMITISM DOES EXIST. IT IS A GREAT SHAME THAT O J SIMSON’S LAWYER AND MONEY WERE NOT AROUND TO SAVE MARTIN. ALSO,PERHAPS THE STATE OF FLORIDA SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE FACT THAT A MENTALLY ILL MAN WAS LEFT TO WANDER THE STREETS – PARTICULARLY AS HE HAD BEEN IN JAIL…SURELY THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A RECORD OF HIS MENTAL/EMOTIONAL CONDITION THERE?
    4)I ALSO WONDER IF ALL YOU KIND SOULS EVER USE YOUR TIME, ENERGY AND G-D-GIVEN TALENTS TO HELP JEWS IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. OR DO YOU GET INVOLVED ONLY TO PROVE TO GENTILES THAT RELIGIOUS JEWS ARE REALLY OKAY? MANY OF US BELIEVE WE ARE OKAY TO BEGIN WITH, AND THEREFOR HAVE NO NEED FOR SUCH PROVINGS.
    5)TO REITERATE WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN A NUMBER OF TIMES BEFORE, HOW IS IT THAT THERE IS NO MENTION OF RABBINICAL AUTHORITY ENDORSING THIS “LETTER OF APOLOGY”?

  68. To “In response to Megilas Yisroel Feldman” and others who agree with those statements:

    Please remember that anyone may view Matzav and similar websites. You may take it for granted that members of the staff of Governor Crist and other elected officials regularly perform searches of the Internet to see what is being written about their bosses.

    There have been more than a few comments to coverage of the Grossman matter which have used intemperate language and are in very bad taste.

    People should consider these things before writing.

  69. Isn’t this a free country, where we have freedom of speech? Not that I’ve noticed anything horrendous so far. People are allowed to express their thoughts and feeligs. Many people are against capital punishment. They reserve the right to express that.

  70. This fear of what such a Chillul HaShem could, Chas V’Shalom, cause are not my words. Rather, I will relate an article that the “Yated Ne’eman” published a number of years ago. I think that the issue of the newspaper was sometime during the election campaign of the year 2000; the subject of the article was about one of the presidential candidates, a Mr. Patrick Joseph Buchanan.

    By profession, Mr. Buchanan is a news and political commentator, served as a senior advisor to three former presidents, and ran himself for president in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 elections.

    His political philosophy is far right conservative on domestic issues (including very strong opposition to abortion rights, toeiva rights, and illegal immigration) and an “America First” strong isolationist view on foreign issues.

    As a result of specific remarks he made regarding certain situations, he has heavily been called “anti-Semitic.” He himself though VEHEMENTLY DENIES this characterization. He explains that these remarks have been taken and presented totally out of their proper context; on the contrary, he has made many statements that are very PRO-Jewish and PRO-Israel. See: http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/b/buchanan-pat/buchanan-on-buchanan.html

    The Yated article related about and had an actual picture of the following incident that took place in 2000, at the rally for the opening of the “Buchanan for President” campaign. When Mr. Buchanan arose and stood at the podium to deliver his address — this was the address in which he was officially declaring that he was now a candidate for President of the United States — two Jewish teen-age boys wearing yarmulkas sneaked onto the auditorium stage and stood behind him holding an almost-as-long-as-the-stage sign on which was printed:

    “BUCHANAN IS AN ANTI-SEMITE!!”

    First of all, just on the issue of TRESSPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY, what these boys did was 100% — please excuse me, what these boys did was 1,000% — again, please excuse me, WHAT THESE BOYS DID WAS 100,000% ASSUR!!!!

    Second, what in the whole world did these guys think that they could have even remotely begun to accomplish??? This was a campaign rally for a certain candidate. It was a very special campaign rally for that certain candidate, for it was when the candidate was going to officially announce his candidacy. So obviously, the people who were attending this rally were people who were staunch supporters of him!! They were people who were staunch supporters of him, and who obviously thought that he was a very good man. So when these boys — totally illegally — get up on the stage in front of Mr. Buchanan’s supporters and hold up a sign that in effect says to them: “No, your friend, Mr. Buchanan, here is really a very BAD man!!” can they reasonably think for even a minute that these supporters will give a hoot about it???

    Third, there are, of course, all the rules and standards of basic elementary human decorum and respect — all the rules and standards of basic elementary human decorum and respect that every child in Pre-1A and Kindergarten knows — of not disturbing a speaker, of not interrupting a speaker, of (instead) sitting quietly and politely and listening to the speaker, etc.

    Fourth, above all, this was THE occasion for Mr. Buchanan; this was “His Night”! This was “His Special Moment”! This was the time when he would be making history! This was the moment when it would now be recorded in the annals of America that in the 2000 election, Patrick Joseph Buchanan was one of the candidates for President of the United States!

    The numerous photographs of that event will be taken and placed in special albums that will be cherished by the campaign staffs, by the Buchanan family, and, of course, by Mr. Patrick himself.

    That these two boys had to come in now to disrupt and spoil his special event, and to try to ruin the pictures that would be taken of him delivering his speech, is sick and mean!

    The Yated concluded the article with the blunt observation: Whatever the truth is about Mr. Buchanan being an anti-semite or not being an anti-semite, with what these guys and others like them are doing to him,

    THEY ARE SURE GOING TO MAKE HIM INTO ONE!!!!

  71. Miriam

    With all due respect, the Parks family was not harrased at all. Tis is a pure propaganda issue. The Parks did take issue that the Jewish organizations did not want to see Martin be put to death.
    1) Mrs Parks was called and spoken to with a lot of repect that a fund set up by the jewish community would be a better way to remmeber her daughter and would brin better closure than to see Grossman executed. Mrs PArks agreed and liked the idea. It was her son Who is a member of a mission that visits prisoners who said no “he wanted to see him die” Additionally do you think it was that easy to contact the Parks family a day before the execution? why dont you ask her to tell the truth and not make up stories. Additionally it was her priest and leader of the episcopalean church that spoke to her son. If you are a law student et the fact straight before opening your big mouth.

    Lastly: Mrs Parks made a statement after he was executed that “Grossman had an easy death”. I take issue with that. He did not die in 17 minutes he died in 13,140,017 minutes. For 25 years grossman knew he was going to die. That is a horrible way to die. To have to wait your entire adult life to die knowing that the court can turn you down and the gov will sign a death warrant any day and then its over is a long painefull death. Why dont you try imagining what that is like.

    no one ows the Park family an apology. As theJewish community we did what we were supposed to do. Fight to keep someone alive who people who should have had life in prison and not the death penalty. We fougt for a clemency hearing which under the law he had the right to have one, “equal protection of the law” if you dont know what that means ask your proffessor. Or maybe just have a sit down with Allan Dershowitz intead or running around and making noise about something you were not involved in nor understand the true facts. We asked for what was legal and we had a right to. If the park family does not like that thats their right. But in no way shape or form do we have to apologize for that. martin is the one who had to apologize and he did!!!!

  72. Okay, so you’re a person who doesn’t like her blog. Big deal. She’s doing a good thing, one that has garnered a LOT of positive feedback, even from some notable people even you would respect.

    You think if you smear her name here it’ll mean that it’s not worthwhile to sign Mrs. Pearlmutter’s letter?

    I’ll bet if I your name, I could find some pretty horrible things you’ve written. If your comment here is any example, you spew irrational venom all over Jewish sites.

    What your doing is foolish, unethical and useless. I have posted Mrs. Pearlmutter’s letter on my Facebook page and the response has been 100% positive and supportive. You know why? Because they think it’s wrong to harass an old lady whose daughter was brutally killed.

    Please find some better way to spend your time.

  73. #91 wow, you’ve really got a lot of sympathy in your heart for a murderder down to counting the min. from when his death sentence was handed out. Your middle paragraph absolutely discusts me.

    I too do not agree with a death penalty law because there were cases where innocent people were killed. However Grossman’s case was reviewed numurous times and he was beyond shadow of a doubt the guilty party. Therefore I, who am don’t agree with the death penalty law, would never for the life of me call up to ask for clemency of a person who brutaly killed another human being, regardles of whether he did teshuva or not which no human being can judge other than the Supreme Judge, Hakodesh Baruch Hu. Neither are we in a position to forgive him- the victim’s family is.
    Now for whoever doesnt get it -the megillah from Yisroel Feldman from what I understood by skimming it through wants to bring out the fact that by are actions we create anti-Semites, which is true. Gov Crist was was not an anti-Semite and all those that called him disgusting names are acting like babies that werent given what you wanted. Gov Crist was an ohav yisroel with a track record to prove and a mazuza affixed to the frame of his office door .
    #91 its not about doing whats in our rights. Thats not the point. The point is look at history and see what sonei Yisroel have done to our nation. We need to appreciate our freinds in this golus and not take them for granted. We cannot take it lightly when we create, with our own actions, anti-semites.

  74. #94 there is nothing wrong in exposing someone who keeps on bashing religious Jew and Yiddishkeit. I would not have my name associated with such an individual, and therefore have not signed on to the letter.

    and I agree with #93 too am confused why Pearlmutter with her anti-religious views keeps on posting blogs here, but I think it’s when she feels that she has the chance to denigrade Yiddishkiet she does so or in this case solicite help for her cause.

  75. She isn’t private about who she is. She has used her own name many times. What I question is the fact that you would try to thwart her efforts to do a mitzvah.

    I guess that’s your problem. Plenty of us are proud to be involved in this effort. And those that haven’t yet signed can make up their own minds, with or without you poisoning the well. When you post something, what is the point? In your case, it’s to get people not to sign. Is exposing her (a joke, since many people know of her) the best way you can say that you don’t approve of the letter?

    I was proud to sign the letter.

  76. to # 97
    I’m posting my opinion as you are yours. People can decide for themselves what they want to do.
    In addition who said Mrs.Parks was harassed? I have not any seen proof of it and Mandy is certainly not someone I’m going to rely on for information. I’m not the type and never will be to jump on any bandwagon at the spur of the moment just cause a lot of people are doing something (does that sound familiar? think in reverse) I look at issues from all angles.

    Read # 42 & #55 on additional reasons why I’m not signing.

    I think everyone has the right to make the decision they feel is right and I don’t understand why youre so scared of what I have to say… unless it scares you that this frum website has a lot of frum readers that don’t want to be associated with such a person.
    And no I had no idea who Pearlmutter was until I got educated

  77. I do not want to address the issue of the execution, but I would like to say the following. It may sound trite, but to non-Jews contact with even one Jew represents contact with the whole of Judaism. Whether or not we would like to believe it, each contact with a non-Jew must be respectful, because those that are not create bad feeling,tension, and prejudice against all Jews. Which can spread and turn in to violence and persecution. Among other things, we are here to set a good example for the nations of the world. We as Jews have our special mission and Hashem put non-Jews here for a purpose as well. I believe that we as Jews should respect and value that. Mrs. Pearlmutter has set a good example for non-Jews and her fellow Jews. The individuals who telephoned Mrs. Park and called her nasty names did not represent Judaism well. They intentionally caused pain to another human being and did not recognize her humanity. I do not believe that behavior fitting for frum Jews.

  78. Back to the very beginning…it’s a very good place to start…
    THERE IS NO PROOF THAT PARKS WAS HARASSED. In fact there are FRUM yidden who were actually involved in this case and who’s opinions I would trust a lot faster than MP’s. They emphatically claimed that Mrs Parks was treated with with the utmost respect.So this is simply a bunch of lies made up 2 soinei yisroel. I know Miriam Pearlmutter. Most of the posts here supporting her, were actually WRITTEN BY HER. Her blog onionsoupmix.com is choc-ablock full with antisemitism and distorted and twisted quotes from Torah. She is a self-hating Jew and a total apikores. It is bad enough to live a fry life, despite being very fully educated in Judaism. It is a whole lot worse to drag innocent individuals down with you. Miriam, you will have a lot to answer to on High when your time comes.

  79. I wrote one of the positive comments here, and I’m not Miriam Pearlmutter. Get over your obsession with hating people. And if you have the nerve to lie about Mrs. Park being harassed (you’re calling her a liar) you are beneath contempt.

    YOU have the nerve to say Mrs. Pearlmutter has a lot to answer to on High? Are you kidding? What do you think will happen when Hashem decides to respond to the fact that you called a 79 year old grieving mother a liar.

    Good luck with your hatred. Mrs. Park will hopefully sleep well tonight, knowing she did her best for her daughter’s memory. Miriam Pearlmutter will sleep well knowing she did a mitzvah and help alleviate some of the misery Jews have inflicted on this poor old woman. And you’ll go to sleep knowing that you’ll be answering to someone someday for your vile accusations.

  80. Answer to Comment #87. from “In response to Megilas Yisroel Feldman”:

    Yes, this is the way that I write, to fully explain at length with descriptive detail. However, with the long discussion, it can be difficult for the reader to comprehend the point I am saying. So I must apologize for some points that were not clear.

    Specifically, I apologize for somehow giving the impression that I was opposed to the effort to get clemency for Mr. Grossman, Alav HaShalom.

    I NEVER SAID ANYTHING LIKE THAT AT ALL!!

    On the contrary, at http://matzav.com/chief-rabbi-metzger-writes-to-florida-governor-on-behalf-of-martin-grossman, in Comment #5, I posted web addresses with links to the online petition for Mr. Grossman and reminded readers to please go there and sign it!

    Right here, in Comment #79, I related that I had received an email thank you letter from the Aleph Institute thanking me for signing the petition!

    In my comments here, #s 82, 85, & 86, I repeatedly referred to “OUR request,” “OUR arguments,” “OUR telephone calls,” etc. — obviously including myself!

    Instead, what I did say here in my several long comments, was the following:

    1.) Mechoel Grossman’s mental dysfunction was somewhere “in the middle”; it was certainly not insignificant, but it was not severe either. Therefore,

    2.) On the key question, did Mr. Grossman have enough of a mind that he should be fully responsible for his terrible crimes and thus be given the most severe punishment, THERE WAS A LOGICAL ARGUMENT EACH WAY. Therefore,

    3.) The government officials who chose the logical argument that Mr. Grossman DID have enough of a mind to be fully responsible for his crimes and thus did deserve the ultimate (capital) punishment, cannot be called “bad” people.

    4.) Even though the government officials did not choose the (other) argument that we chose and thus did not follow our request for clemency, they still did do a number of things that we must appreciate.

    a.) They allowed us to make our request.

    b.) They answered our numerous telephone calls.

    c.) They stated that they fully respected our point of view and our intensive efforts for clemency.

    5.) We must greatly appreciate that their answering our phone calls is in sharp contrast to what WE OURSELVES often do when someone we do not like calls us.

    6.) We must greatly appreciate that their allowing us to express our protest and their statements of respect for our efforts are in total sharp contrast to numerous wicked tyrannical regimes where people who raise the slightest question on the holy “big brother” are readily “eliminated.”

  81. (Continuation of last comment #102: Continuation of Answer to Comment #87. from “In response to Megilas Yisroel Feldman”)

    You proposed: “Also, perhaps the State of Florida should be held accountable for the fact that a mentally ill man was left to wander the streets — particlarly as he had been in jail…surely, there must have been a record of his mental/emotional condition there?”

    This certainly IS a very excellent point!! You probably noticed that in Comment #80, in the eighth paragraph, I had mentioned that it had been totally wrong to permit Mr. Grossman to go out on the street by himself.

    To implement your proposal though, you will admit that there are quite a lot of questions that need to be answered — quite a lot of VERY DIFFICULT questions that need to be answered that DO NOT HAVE readily available answers!

    For this was the central theme of my little essay in Comment #80, that situations that are “in the middle” are very difficult to handle, for in such situations, we usually do not know what is the correct thing to do!

    Mr. Grossman was “in the middle”; he was NOT so terrible that he would have had to have been — against his will — locked up in a mental institution. The officials at the prison too felt that he was not so terrible that he would have had to be — against his will — held any longer in the jail. At the same time though, we all now — too lately — realize that he should NOT have been allowed to play around by himself on the streets either!!

    So WHAT should have been done with him????

    He was a man who was “in between” and thus needed a “correctional treatment” that was “in between.”

    But are there even such things as mental health treatment program facilities that are “in between”??

    The answer DOES happen to be: “YES”!

    However, there still has to be answered were there any in between mental health treatment facilities 25 years ago in the specific area of Florida where Mr. Grossman lived? If there were, were any of the programs that they offered appropriate for what Mr. Grossman needed? If so, how close were they to Mr. Grossman’s home? Who was to be responsible for transporting Mr. Grossman each day from his home to the facility and from the facility to his home? Who was to be responsible for payment of the professional services?

    That very tragically none of this was done, who and who and who are to be held accountable? And, how much accountable? How much accountable are they to be held for the indirect but still resulting deaths of Miss. Park and, ultimately, the one who thus had to be executed, Mr. Grossman himself??

    B’Ezras HaShem, we can begin to see some of the many very complex issues here, which need to be answered.

  82. No Miriam, the point was not to bash you at all. It was to clarify to inncent individuals that your letter is not coming from a genuine, altruistic place like you pretend. Being as you are not religious, and in fact anti-religious, you would not be out to protect the name of the Religious, Jewish world. This is evident from your repeated bashings of frum people on your blog. Perhaps you want to “look good”.
    You openly question the belief in G-d and His Torah, and the manner in which orthodox Jews understand and translate the Torah. If the frum world needed representation on any issue, we would request highly respected Rabbonim who were yorei shomayim to do that. As a person who has chosen to throw off a religious life, and then to go and repeatedly critisize Yiddishkeit, you have an utter chutzpah to attempt to fill that role.
    May Hashem forgive you

  83. Speak for yourself! I wanted representation on this issue. I was hugely relieved when I heard of Mrs. Pearlmutter’s efforts to contact the mother of the victim.

    Anyway, don’t speak for all of your fellow Jews. Some of us signed with pride.

  84. Our Gedolay Torah of the last several generations have countless times explained that during this “modern era” — which probably starts from somewhere in the mid-1800’s — almost all Jews who do not keep the Torah have the status of Tinokos Shenishb’u – children who were captured.

    For example, there is a group of Jewish children who were captured by an invading army and taken to a far off place and resettled in an area where there are no other Jewish people, and whom were thus raised by non-Jewish people and were thus taught to follow the religion and practices of those particular non-Jewish people. Those Jewish (now) adults who are not observing any of our Torah, and who are instead doing the practices of another religion, are obviously not “bad” people who “defected” from Judaism — starting with that wicked invading army, they were forced into the whole thing!!

    Now during the “modern era,” except for during the two world wars and the actions of the Communist countries, there was generally not a problem of invading PHYSICAL armies. However, there was a very big problem of invading SPIRITUAL “armies” — of the Yeitzer Hara!! This spiritual “army” is the whole philosophy and concept of the modern world that has been expressed in the propaganda: “These are new times now!! This is a modern age now!! This is the ‘wave’ of the future!! The old religious ways are no longer applicable in this new world!!”

    So a Jewish person — even a person who was raised in a fine Torah observant home and was given a fine Torah education — when he “breathes” what is in the very “air” of modern life, and when he sees that the IN place “where the action is” is NOT at the little old Torahdike Beis HaMedrosh but rather at the big new Reform Temple, when he thus (tragically) disgards the Torah life, he cannot be blamed and called a “bad” guy at all!!

    And certainly, his children and his children’s children and his children’s children’s children, who were raised up in this new “UN-religion,” and know almost nothing of the real Torah ways, cannot be blamed and called “bad” guys at all!!

    Instead, our Gedolay Torah have repeatedly exhorted us to try, to the best of our abilities, to teach and show our Jewish brethern the true beautiful ways of the real Torah. And, as to the lines of ” it is a new world now,” etc., we have to inform them that these worthless cliches are nothing “new”; since the beginning of ancient human history, every new wicked culture promoted this empty claim that it was going to be the “wave of the future”!

    Anyway, whatever is the exact level of Torah observance and understanding of the Pearlmutter family is not the issue here and is, anyway, probably none of our business!

    That there are numerous comments here depicting Mrs. Pearlmutter as if she was the biggest villain of the year 2010, is of course, outright sick, ridiculous lashon hara and motzoei sheim ra!!

    What IS the issue here is the abuse that was done to Mrs. Park. As Mrs. Pearlmutter lives right near her and knows her quite well, it is obvious that she is one of the very BEST people to go to her — with a letter of apology from the Jewish community that condemns this terrible behavior — and try to straighten out the situation.

    And, as reported latter at http://matzav.com/mrs-park-grateful-and-touched-by-letter-of-sensitivity, Boruch HaShem, it looks like the project worked out very nicely and a good Kiddush HaShem was made.

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