Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro, holding the sign reading “Ahmadinejad is not welcome,” was among some 20 rabbis arrested during a Sept. 23 demonstration against Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York.
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September 30, 2009
In a symbolic effort to stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from speaking at the United Nations, a Monmouth County rabbi was among about 20 rabbis arrested during a Manhattan protest Sept. 23.
Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro of Congregation Beth Shalom in Red Bank took part in the protest organized by the New York Board of Rabbis. About 100 rabbis, wearing tallitot and blowing shofars, took part in the protest.
Among the other rabbis arrested was Pinchas Klein of Congregation Shaare Shamayim in Philadelphia, who served until last year at the Mount Freedom Jewish Center.
“There’s never a good time to get arrested, but sometimes a spiritual leader has to step over that line when someone threatens your existence,” said Shapiro, adding that he believed that Ahmadinejad’s appearance at the UN should not go “unchallenged.”
The rabbis were handcuffed and taken away in a police wagon, where they were told to be prepared to spend 12 to 36 hours in custody. “They let us off very easy,” said Shapiro. “They just issued us tickets and let us go.”
Shapiro has a Nov. 18 court date to answer disorderly conduct charges for blocking the corner of First Avenue and 41st Street.
“The police officers were very respectful,” said the Orthodox rabbi. “I felt bad taking the time of the officers who are protecting New York.”
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New Board of Rabbis, said in a phone interview with NJJN that he felt that “too often the rabbinical voice has been lost” even as “this madman” has continued to threaten Israel and his own people.
“The rabbis there felt it very important to echo the voice of the prophets,” Potasnik said. “They needed to have a moral voice. Silence is deadly.”
Shapiro said with two sisters living in Israel, it was an easy decision for him to join the group who were arrested.
Ahmadinejad, said Shapiro, “is threatening Israel’s existence, and as much as I want to keep rationalizing and assure myself everything will be okay, I am reminded that Jews also reassured themselves during the Holocaust.
“As a Jew I feel responsible and I’m not going to take that chance.”
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