NEW SQUARE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — An orthodox Jewish father of four said he was apparently punished for worshipping his own way after an attack left him with burns covering 50 percent of his body.
CBS 2’s Dave Carlin has more on the rift that exploded into a fiery confrontation in Rockland County Sunday morning.
“His upper body is third-degree burns all over,” the victim’s son-in-law, Moshe Elbaum, said.
Elbaum said the top half of Aron Rottenberg’s body is covered in excruciatingly painful burn wounds. He said his father-in-law suffered the burns defending his family, confronting a man who police said was trying to fire bomb their home.
“He tried to murder give people who were sleeping in the house,” Elbaum said.
Early Sunday morning, Rottenberg, 43, was sleeping in his Truman Avenue home in New Square when a family member saw an intruder in the backyard.
Rottenberg, a plumber, went outside to face the suspect, who police said had a device with flammable liquid and a long, improvised fuse. In the struggle, the device caught fire, injuring both men.
Police arrested 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer, also of New Square, and charged him with first-degree attempted arson and first-degree assault, both felonies.
Spitzer was transported to a burn unit in New York City, while Rottenberg was taken to Westchester Medical Center.
Rottenberg’s wife and children surrounded him at the hospital, saying they were too terrified to return home to their all-Hasidic Jewish community. They said a religious rift in the community led to them being targets before.
Family members said that because Rottenberg left the village’s main synagogue, and now worships elsewhere, some in the community want the family gone. Six months ago, car windows were smashed; earlier this month, the windows of the house were busted in.
“Doing your own thing, that is not something they can take,” Elbaum said. “They don’t like that, because it’s showing people can do what they want to do.
“Hopefully this is the end of it, and everyone’s going to be okay,” he said.
The Rottenberg family installed surveillance cameras after the previous incidents, and police said that’s how the suspect was caught in the act of pouring liquid around the property in the back.
Family members said that boosted security, and Rottenberg’s bravery, saved all of their lives.
Aron Rottenberg was expected to remain hospitalized for at least the next month.
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DALIY NEWS 05/23/2011
Religious rift in Rockland County Hasidic town turns violent
A religious rift in a Rockland County Hasidic town turned violent Sunday when a man was severely burned.
Cops arrested a man from a rival synagogue, according to The Journal News.
Aron Rottenberg, 43, suffered third-degree burns to more than 50% of his body when Shaul Spitzer attacked him with a rag soaked in flammable fluid, police told the newspaper.
Police arrested Spitzer after the attack at 4 a.m. in New Square and charged him with first-degree attempted arson and first-degree assault.
Spitzer also suffered severe burns to his hands and arms, police told the newspaper.
Members of the Friedwald Center, where Rottenberg and his family worship, have split from the congregation of David Twersky, the Hasidic community's grand rabbi and leader.
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NEW YORK POST 05/23/2011
Hasidic holy war horror
A man suffered severe burns during a fight amid a religious dispute in the all-Hasidic Rockland County village of New Square, cops said.
Police said the 43-year-old victim, Aron Rottenberg, fought off a village resident armed with an incendiary device.
The suspect, Shaul Spitzer, 18, was charged with attempted arson and first-degree assault. He suffered serious burns to his hands and arms.
Rottenberg was hospitalized with burns to 50 percent of his body, according to the Journal News, which quoted cops as saying he and his family had been targeted for not attending the synagogue presided over by the grand rabbi. They went to a rival synagogue instead.
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אימה והלם. אלו התחושות השוררים בשעות האחרונות בעיירה החסידית ניו-סקווער שבארה"ב.
העיירה השקטה והשלוה בדרך כלל, קמה לבוקר חדש ואפל. במהלך הלילה שעבר, הוצת ביתו של אחד מהאברכים בעירה הרב אהרון רוטנברג. הוא נפצע קשות ברוב חלקי גופו ואושפז במצב בינוני עד קשה בבית-החולים.
מתברר כי הבית הוצת ככל הנראה על-ידי אחד מבחורי ישיבת סקווירא - שאולי שפיצר, שזוהה במצלמות האבטחה שהגנו על הבית כשהוא משליך בקבוק תבערה לתוכו.
הבחור נעצר ע"י המשטרה ויבוא להארכת מעצרו לפני שופט, כבר היום. האשמות נגד הבחור חמורות - ניסיון לרצח בכוונה תחילה ותקיפה זדונית.
הרקע להצתה על-פי הדיווחים בכלי-התקשורת האמריקאיים, החלטתו של רוטנברג ושל עוד כמה מהחסידים להתפלל במניין נפרד בבית האבות בעיירה ולא בבית-המדרש המרכזי של החסידות בראשות הרבי - כפי התקנות הנהוגות בשיכון החסידי.
יצויין כי אין זו המקרה הראשון של אלימות על רקע המניין הנפרד. לפני כחצי שנה התפרצו מהומות בשיכון כנגד אותה קבוצת חסידים "מורדים" כשאף התרחשו מקרי אלימות ושריפה.
על-פי גורמים המעורים בפרטי הפרשה מדובר בשוליים משני הצדדים כשמחד ישנה קבוצת חסידים שאינה מקבלת את הנהלים המצויים בקרייה החסידית ואינה נשמעת לתקנות המקום ומפירה אותם ברגל גסה, ומצד שני יש קבוצת חסידים ששומרת בקנאות על התקנון. לדברי הגורמים, שמירת על התקנון - לא מצדיקה את האלימות הנוראה שהלילה חצתה את הגבול ועברה קו אדום של פגיעה בנפש וברכוש
FBI seized Rebbe and Rebetzen's passports
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