A supposed chareidi bochur who married a girl from the frum community in New York last month has been discovered to be a young Lebanese man who impersonated a Jew and learned at a yeshiva without converting.
The revelation came a few weeks after the wedding.
The impersonator – named Eliyah Hawila – learned at a yeshiva in the United States, with no one knowing about his background. He reportedly was affiliated with Chabad in Texas for several years.
The chosson’s story did not arouse any suspicion, even though he did not keep in touch with his family, who did not even attend his wedding. He was accompanied to the chupah by a rov and rebbetzin from the community.
“The only one who had a few doubts about the chosson was a rov who guided the kallah before her marriage,” one of the well-known figures in the community related. He said, “She tried several times to talk to the rabbis about it, to no avail.”
The Muslim husband speaks fluent Hebrew and also knows how to learn Torah properly, because he studied in yeshiva for 5-7 years. He produced a fabricated “family tree,” attempting to prove his lineage.
Video even emerged of the couple’s engagement, where the chosson is seen speaking in Yeshiva.
“It was only after the wedding that suddenly someone told the kallah’s father to find out about his new son in law,” said one source. “At one point, the kallah’s brothers went to the young couple’s house and saw three passports with different names – all bearing the chosson’s face. At that moment, the rabbonim made sure that the kallah left the house immediately.”
There is still a lot that needs to be clarified, including the criminal dimension involved in impersonation, but those in the know are certain that young man is actually a Muslim from Lebanon, living under a false identity, and it is not clear how – or why – he assimilated in this way within the chareidi community.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Although definitely sinister intentions are probable and should be investigated. There is a possibility that it was just innocuous, feeling that he already does Judaism so why go through what may be an uncomfortable process.
In which case, the option of him simply converting should probably be left on the table…
Too much of this lately. Perhaps summer so anxious to take in people, that they fail to see the light in the forest.
Lately there are so many stories of Christians and now a Muslim who passed themselves off as frum Jews and ingegrated in frum communities, some even taking leadership positions.
I would not have thought that it would be so easy for a non-Jew to fake frumkeit!
This should be a wake-up call for all of us to dig deep and try to figure out what Hashem is telling us.
Perhaps that our Yiddishkeit should be internal and not skin deep? That we should have a real relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu and, like the Tomer Devorah expounds, follow in His Footsteps in our interpersonal relationships as well as in our relationship with Hashem?
I do not possess prophecy there is obviously a message here that we need to understand and take appropriate action.
This seems sooo on point. You are very right.
It’s surprising, shocking and quite honestly disheartening to see that this faker and Christian missionaries are capable of learning Gemorah, Rashi, Tosfos, mefarshim, halocha, Tenach and history so well that they can fool members of the frum community and even rabonim. I never would’ve suspected that they’re willing to put in the years of effort needed to carry out this level of subterfuge.
What can be done to combat such convincing fakery? Is it becoming necessary for people to start proving their ancestry?
Nebach for the young woman and her family who were tricked by this faker.
Regrettably the dictum of the Talmud which states that anyone who is not well versed in the laws of Gitten & Kidushin should not be involved is ignored. It’s how this story came to be as well as why there are B’D pubicly disagreeing about the validity of certain divorces. We need leadership or yichus is going to be nearly impossible to verify G-D forbid!
something doesn’t add up here. There are couples who date after meeting someone. These couples don’t usually have a shadchen. Its possible to get married without finding out solid information. From this article I get the impression they were introduced. It seems like someone didn’t do basic research.
When people seeking a shidduch, ask the dumbest irrelevant questions, and leave out the ikar, you are going to get situations like this.
Does the father wear a long sleeve white shirt when he goes hiking in Vermont? Did the girl go to seminary in Israel? If yes, which one? Seminary A? Why not B? The boy did learn in Israel? Why only the Mir? Not in Brisk?! What does the boy learn during Licha Dodi on Friday nights? A teefa Rambam or maarveh sedra like a loser? Is his brim up or down when he davens Mincha? What kind of car does he pick up a girl on the first date? Is it his own? Did he rent it? Did he borrow it from his parents or a friend? Etc etc etc…
Are those the questions you ask? No one I know asks such questions. And you are using a sad story to rant about something completely unrelated. This couple met on a Jewish dating site so shidduchim questions are quite unrelated.