From: hem@col400.att.com (Hillel E. Markowitz)
Subject: Pidyon Shevuyim appeal
Originator: news@cbnewsf.cb.att.com
Organization: AT&T Federal Systems
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:13:17 GMT

THe following appeal has been posted to several Jewish interest
mailing lists and  should, I feel, get the full usenet
distribution.  I have also added at the end several postings from
people who have known the Feld brothers as well.

Pidyon Shevuyim is an important mitzvah and the treatment the
Feld brothers are getting (no matter what the circumstances of
the case) make the Chanukah analogy stand out.

Hillel Markowitz    H_Markowitz@att.com

Date:         Mon, 21 Dec 1992 13:54:04 CST
Reply-To:     
 "BALTUVA: Issues & questions of concern to observant Jews."              <BALTUVA@VM1.MCGILL.CA>
 "BALTUVA: Issues & questions of concern to observant Jews."              <BALTUVA@VM1.MCGILL.CA>
From:         pielet@INLAND.COM
Subject:      Pidyon Shevuyim -- Redemption of Captives
X-To:         BALTUVA@VM1.MCGILL.CA
To:           Multiple recipients of list BALTUVA <BALTUVA@VM1.MCGILL.CA>
Content-Length: 9666

bs'd

I received the following today from Yosh Mantiband, a good and trusted friend
in Israel.

Please help in any way you can.

Thank you and Happy Chanukah.

Howie Pielet   Internet: pielet@inland.com  (East Chicago, Indiana, USA)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Howie -

I'm going to do something I don't usually do.  I'm going to make
a pitch for you to help somebody in trouble in the US.

You have probably heard about the two orthodox Jews from Israel
(formerly from USA) who are accused of conspiracy to murder and are
in jail in San Jose.  I don't know how much you know about the case,
but it happens that one of the brothers is a friend of mine.  I have
written up an appeal which I am distributing by e-mail and I have
attached a copy below.

I hope you can contribute some money towards their legal fees and also
try to get others to help out.  Please tell the people that know me
that this is a personal appeal from _me_, too.

Their sister and brother-in-law are currently staying in California
while trying to straighten out the mess that the Feld Brothers have
gotten into.  They live in New York, but are staying at a Holiday Inn
and are using a mobile phone to stay in touch.  Their name is Nina
and Zvi Dagan.  They have a baby who is just a few weeks old.  If you
want to call them to ask any questions or find out what other help
they need, here is their number out in California: 415-640-0197.

Here is the appeal I wrote up.  If you think it will help, print it
out and show it around and talk to people about it.

Thanks a lot for doing whatever you can.

Best,
Yosh

Reply-To: cm406@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (J. Y. Yosh Mantinband)

Here's the appeal:

-----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Yehoshua Mantinband
Subject: URGENT - Pidyon Shevuyim - the Feld Brothers
Date: December 20, 1992

This past Shabbat in shul I was shocked to learn that Rabbi Avraham
and Yisrael Feld had been arrested a few weeks ago and are facing a
charge of conspiracy to murder.  They have been held for over three
weeks in San Jose, California.  So far, no one has pressed charges,
including the people they allegedly were to murder.  Nonetheless, the
police and prosecutor seem determined to press on, despite the
unraveling of one theory after another and the numerous letters on
their behalf that have arrived from noted rabbis, politicians and
community leaders.

Although I have never met Yisrael, I do know Avraham Feld.  I first
met Avraham and Sara Feld when we made Aliyah and were living with
them at a Merkaz Klita (immigrant absorption center).  Since then I
have been in touch on and off and followed Avraham's work through
mutual friends and occasional newspaper articles.  In all the time I
have known him, he has devoted his life to helping people, ranging
from outcasts of society to battered women, abused children, unwed
mothers, the homeless, drug addicts and others.  He is also active in
family counseling.  He founded a non-profit organization, Mossad
Maccabee, which provides a framework for his projects and the
volunteers who assist him.  A few years ago his rehabilitation work
was the subject of a BBC documentary.

I do not fully understand the circumstances which led to Avraham and
Yisrael being accused of this horrendous crime.  There are aspects of
it which I have seen in the papers which raise questions to which I
do not know all the answers.  But it is inconceivable to me that
people who have spent their lives helping and rescuing people as
Avraham and Yisrael have, could be even remotely associated with such
a plot.

I am not alone in this feeling.  People who know them better than I
have risen to their defense.  The list of people I know have written
letters on their behalf include:

        - Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, the Rishon Le'Tzion, Chief
          Rabbi of Israel
        - Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat (formerly of
          Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York)
        - Rabbi Noach Weinberg, Rosh HaYeshiva of Aish HaTorah
        - Rabbi Ravitz, Member of Knesset
        - Uri Lopiansky, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem
        - Nissim Zeevi, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem

        ...and many others.

Rabbi Eliyahu and others have invoked the Mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuyim
(redeeming captives) on their behalf.  This mitzvah is more important
than all other forms of tzedakah (charity).

The Felds have been held for over three weeks in prison with
hardened, convicted criminals.  They have been denied basic rights
which are supposedly guaranteed to pre-trial detainees.  A local
Chabad rabbi has tried to supply them with kosher food, but was
refused.  They are subsisting on liquids and raw fruits and
vegetables.  They are held in handcuffs, making it impossible for
them to put on tefillin.  The conditions, as I understand, are
everything you have heard about American prisons and worse.

There are two immediate ways you can help:

1) Provide moral support.  Write letters and let them know that you
   are working on their behalf.  The more letters that arrive at the
   prison, the more the authorities will know that these are not
   people whose basic rights can be trampled on with impunity.

   Their addresses in prison are:

   for Avraham:                      for Yisrael:

     Rabbi Austin Feld                 Scott Feld
     9296109                           9296110
     885 N. San Pedro                  885 N. San Pedro
     San Jose, CA   95110-1772         San Jose, CA   95110-1772

2) Most important and VERY urgent - help pay for the huge legal fees
   they need to defend themselves.  Make a contribution and ask
   everyone you know to contribute also.  Time is very critical as
   they need to raise all the money in the next few days.

   Below I have appended an appeal (originally appeared on the
   letterhead of The American Friends of Maccabee Institute
   Foundation) which tells how.  Remember, this mitzvah of Pidyon
   Shevuyim is the most important tzedakah you can perform.  Please
   don't delay.

Tizku l'mitzvoth,
Yosh Mantinband

P.S.  Please redistribute this appeal, or your own, to as many people
as you can.

--------------------------------------------------------------

     THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MACCABEE INSTITUTE FOUNDATION
 205 Center St., Williston Park, NY 11596    Tel: (516) 741-8085

                                                December, 1992
                                                Kislev, 5753

Dear Friend,

Recently, an unfortunate matter has befallen The Maccabee Institute
and we find ourselves having to turn to people with whom we have
rarely, if ever, had any contact.

The Maccabee Institute was founded by Rabbi Avraham Feld in 1976.
Last month Avraham went to the Unites States to participate in the
brit of his sister's first son.  Several days later, his brother,
Yisrael, joined him.

After the celebration, the Felds decided to do some desperately needed
fund-raising for Maccabee in the U.S.  They chose to begin on the
West Coast, combining their tour with a mission to help settle the
social and psychological problems of a Jewish family in California,
the daughter of which is presently studying in Israel.  Through a
very bizarre series of events, the Feld brothers were arrested in
California for allegedly conspiring to murder the parents of that
family.

Obviously, this event has put tremendous pressure on the few other
senior staff members of Mossad Maccabee, not only to keep the daily
activities and programs running smoothly, but in the endless efforts
being made to expedite Avraham and Yisrael's return.

Avraham, who is a certified Rabbi and holds an MA degree in
Psychology, is a man who has lived his life for the good of humanity.
He is one of the very few cult exit counsellors in Israel, is very
active in family counseling, in aiding many disadvantaged, if not
downright outcasts of society and basically assisting anybody who
needs help in any way.  He has five children and lives a life of
piousness and modesty.  Yisrael, a graduate of Yeshiva University
with a degree in Sociology, has seven children, including a month
old baby girl.  About seven years he adopted a 17 year old boy who
had, at the age of ten months, contracted meningitis which left him
deaf and blind in addition to his being retarded and having a
non-progressive form of muscular dystrophy, forcing him to spend
every waking hour in a wheel-chair with no control whatsoever over
his bodily functions and movements.  Can you believe that people with
these attributes would even _consider_ murder?!

The U.S. lawyers hired to represent the case have asked for extremely
large sums of money, especially when compared to Israeli salaries.
All of our efforts are presently going to raise funds to cover their
fees.

The mitzvah of redeeming captives (from the Gentiles) takes
precedence over every other charitable donation.  In the Felds' case,
the prosecutor is Karen Sununu, whose husband is of Lebanese origin,
which may explain why the brothers are still being held despite the
fact that nobody has pressed charges.

Any support you can offer us during this hour of great need would be
extremely appreciated.  For convenience, and to obtain US tax
exemption, please make checks payable to The Lincoln Square Synagogue
and send them directly to the address above.

Should you desire any additional information, one of Maccabee's
senior staff members would be happy to meet with you personally.

                                Very sincerely yours,
                                Rabbi David Feld
                                President
                                Mossad Maccabee

Comment: Jewish Electronic Mail
Originator: jem@israel.nysernet.org
Errors-To: goodblat@nysernet.ORG
Reply-To: <jem@nysernet.ORG>
Version: 5.5a -- Copyright (c) 1991/92, Anastasios Kotsikonas
From: <FBBIRNBA%CUTCV2.BITNET@nysernet.ORG>
To: Multiple recipients of list <jem@nysernet.ORG>
Subject:  The Feld brothers

Distribution-File:
        feldblum@att.com
        jem@israel.nysernet.org

I first saw the post about the Feld brothers on BALTUVA, then on
JEM and mail-jewish.  Repeating what I posted on BALTUVA:

(Long letter forwarded re situation of the 2 Feld brothers.)

For what it's worth... I remember Avraham and Scotty from years ago when
they were students, and also involved at Lincoln Square Synagogue (they
were talmidim of Rabbi Riskin).  All the good stuff in the letter about
their characters, squares 100% with what I remember of them.  (I even
remember that Sara borrowed my wedding dress, so you can see that I knew
them a bit more than casually!)  It is totally unbelievable that either
Avraham or Scotty could be involved in anything like what they
are being accused of.

Thanks to all for forwarding the information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does anyone know any more about this?  What newspapers has it appeared in?

Freda Birnbaum
FBBIRNBAUM@CUTCV2.BITNET
"Call on God, but row away from the rocks"   --  yeah....
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on the mail-jewish mailing list

Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 9:19:06 EST
From: Avi Y. Feldblum <ayf@pruxp.pr.att.com>
Subject: Administrivia

Hello all!

Happy Chanuka! I've been under the weather for the last few days, but
on the road to proper health now. I haven't logged in since last
Thursday, so sorry about any delay in getting things out. I hope to
start working on the backlog shortly, so I guess you will start seeing
a bunch of messages from me shortly. I do want to get this message out
quickly, though. I know both Avrum and Scott Feld from years ago at YU,
and while they may be "hotheads" in the defence of our youth from
missionaries and the like, I personally cannot believe that they would
conspire to murder. If anyone knows more about the case below, please
let us know.

Avi Feldblum
mljewish@nysernet.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 
____________________________________________________
| Hillel Markowitz    |     Im ain ani li mi li    |
| H_Markowitz@att.com | Veahavta Leraiecha Kamocha |
|_____________________|____________________________|
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish