Eliyahu Federman, Juris Doctor

Vice President of 1 Sale A Day L.L.C.

Executive Articles Editor, NYC Law Review 2009 – 2010

Eli.Federman@Gmail.com

Dear Fellow Community Members of Crown Heights and Beth Din of Crown Heights:

This letter is a public response to a Psak Din (i.e., Proclamation) issued by the Beth Din
of Crown Heights on Chof Daled Kislev 2010 that forbids members of the community from filing
grievances against the police or even writing about or speaking to the media about allegations of
police wrongdoing, without the Crown Heights Community Councils’ approval.

It's deeply saddening that the Rabbis of our community want to require that victims seek
their permission before they are allowed to file a complaint or bring police wrongdoing to the
public’s attention. That is tantamount to requiring victims of domestic violence to seek their
permission before filing a complaint. No one should require permission to file a complaint.

Besides the fact that this proclamation violates democratic principles and values as well
as victims rights laws and is therefore against Jewish law because Jewish law requires we follow
the law of our country, it is demeaning to the victims of police mistreatment. I’m aware of stories
about people in our community who were given summons’s and in some cases wrongly arrested
for merely talking back to the police. Should these victims need approval to merely file a
complaint or defend themselves?

As an active member of the community I'm shocked and troubled that Rabbi Osdoba and
Schwei would issue a ruling that discourages members of our community from filing complaints
against the police. Filing grievances should be encouraged because they provides a vital check
and balance against police overreaching - which unfortunately we have seen in both the Jewish
and black community of Crown Heights.

We need an open and transparent process that will insure accountability, not one that will
sweep the issue under the rug. This ruling truly saddens me and is a major setback for our
community but does not represent all of our voices. No single Rabbi speaks for the entire
community. We do not have a monolithic voice.

This is reminiscent of soviet Russia where Jews discouraged each other to speak out
because of fear of retaliation. Unfortunately, I think the Rabbi's are acting out of an unfounded
fear of police retaliation not democratic notions of transparency, accountability and freedom of
speech.

Kol Tuv,

Eli Federman December 09, 2010