Hasidic arson victim describes living with threats in 'isolated' New Square

Arson victim Aron Rottenberg said Wednesday that the people of New Square — while good and well-meaning — have been brainwashed into believing they must have no contact with the outside world.

All that many know, he said, is that Grand Rebbe David Twersky has absolute authority over their lives.

"They are so isolated that they have no idea what is going on in the world outside," he said. "These people feel they are the world."

Rottenberg said that the "brainwashing" by New Square's leaders is ultimately responsible for the May 22 attack on his home that resulted in his suffering third-degree burns over half his body.

"They only know the grand rebbe, New Square, the grand rebbe, New Square," he said. "They don't know the outside, what freedom is all about."

Rottenberg talked to local media at a local hotel where he has been staying since being released Monday from Westchester Medical Center. His family asked that the hotel not be identified.

The case of the 43-year-old plumber and father of four has provided a rare look inside the insular village of New Square that is run by the Skver Hasidic sect.

Rottenberg's family endured months of intimidation when he began praying during the fall at a nearby nursing home instead of New Square's main synagogue. After a series of broken windows and threats, Rottenberg encountered a man outside his home with a flammable device; the two briefly wrestled, but the device went off and both caught fire.

Eighteen-year-old Shaul Spitzer, who formerly lived in Twersky's house and served as an aide to him, faces attempted-murder and arson charges. He was released from a New York City hospital and returned to New Square last week.

Rottenberg said he had little animosity toward Spitzer. Twersky and New Square's other leaders had legitimized any efforts to remove him from the village, he said.

"Why would this 18-year-old boy come to my house at 4:15 in the morning and want to burn down a home with five people in it?" he said.

He said that community leaders had made clear to his wife, Ruth, that Twersky's desires

"I don't know if he said, 'Burn down the house,' but he wanted us to move out of there," Rottenberg said.

He wore an unbuttoned white shirt over a white T-shirt, revealing red, scarred skin around his neck and on his upper chest. His right hand remains heavily bandaged.

He spoke with energy and hopefulness about beginning to feel better after several weeks of terrible pain. He underwent two skin graft procedures, with skin from his thighs used to replace charred skin on his upper body.

"Things are healing," he said. "It still looks bad. It's raw, but I can sleep."

His wife, sitting beside him in an empty hotel room, looked nervous as her husband spoke. She said the family reached out to New Square leaders to try to reach an understanding before the attack.

"They wouldn't listen to anything," she said. "We were hostages.

The couple has three daughters — 23, 19 and 16 — and one son, 21. They also have a granddaughter who turns 1 today.

Ruth Rottenberg and her children left New Square after the attack and have not returned, staying with relatives and renting an apartment.

Aron Rottenberg hopes to return to New Square in a few weeks. For now, he is being visited daily in the hotel by a nurse who changes his bandages.

He is beginning occupational therapy and physical therapy there as well and hopes to regain use of his weakened right arm.

He worked as a plumber in the Monsey-Spring Valley area, mostly for Lee Zoldan Inc. in Middletown .

"They say I should be back to normal in about a year," he said.

Rottenberg said he would feel safe returning to New Square because police and the FBI are investigating his case.

This month, his lawyer filed an $18 million lawsuit that claims Twersky inspired the arson attack. The lawsuit also named Spitzer.

One of Spitzer's lawyers, Kenneth Gribetz of New City, declined to comment, but he offered his best wishes to Rottenberg.

"Our thoughts, prayers and best wishes are with him for a speedy recover," Gribetz said. "The matter is before a grand jury. It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time."

Rottenberg said several of his relatives have been contacted informally by New Square leaders about possibly settling the case.

"They don't want it to go to court," he said.

He said he would be open to the advice of his lawyer, Michael Sussman.

"I'm not stubborn in any way," he said.

Rottenberg said his father, an "open-minded" man, lived in New York City and worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 43 years. He moved the family to New Square for what was supposed to be a "summer upstate" 38 years ago, but the family stayed.

"It was nice, it was enjoyable," he said. "As the years went by, New Square got bigger and bigger. They felt they were losing control, so they cracked down harder and harder."

He said his family has had a few minor run-ins with New Square's leaders. Several years ago, he said, New Square began cracking down on women who did not wear the proper head coverings over their wigs.

He said one official — the father of Shaul Spitzer— threatened to kick the Rottenberg's children out of school if Ruth Rottenberg did not wear the proper head covering.

His latest troubles started in the fall, he said, when the Friedwald Center, a nursing home in New City, invited him to help form a minyan — a quorum of 10 men — so that an older resident from New Square could pray.

He said that he liked the shorter Sabbath services at the Friedwald Center, which allowed him more free time to spend with his family. Saturday services at the main synagogue take several hours, he said.

"I didn't do it in order to disturb them," he said. "I didn't take people away from them. For some reason or other, they were determined to stop me."

Rottenberg took some time to describe the May 22 attack, saying it was difficult to talk about. He said his son, who set up security cameras on their home, noticed movement outside. Rottenberg ran outside, smelled gas and saw someone in the nearby woods.

He hid behind a tree for several minutes until the intruder, unaware that Rottenberg was there, walked right up to him.

Rottenberg reached for a mask of sorts on the man's face.

"As I tried to grab the covering off his face, we both burst into flames," he said.

He said that he had terrible nightmares in the hospital, reliving the attack.

"I was afraid to fall asleep," he said.

Rottenberg said that his mother, siblings and his wife's siblings still live in New Square. But he hopes his children will leave and break away from the grasp of the grand rebbe.

"The grand rebbe is looked at by the people in New Square as total spirituality," he said. "Even his body is spirituality. The people are getting brainwashed."

Rottenberg said several of his relatives have been contacted informally by New Square leaders about possibly settling the case.

"They don't want it to go to court," he said.

He said he would be open to the advice of his lawyer, Michael Sussman.

"I'm not stubborn in any way," he said.

Rottenberg said his father, an "open-minded" man, lived in New York City and worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 43 years. He moved the family to New Square for what was supposed to be a "summer upstate" 38 years ago, but the family stayed.

"It was nice, it was enjoyable," he said. "As the years went by, New Square got bigger and bigger. They felt they were losing control, so they cracked down harder and harder."

He said his family has had a few minor run-ins with New Square's leaders. Several years ago, he said, New Square began cracking down on women who did not wear the proper head coverings over their wigs.

He said one official — the father of Shaul Spitzer— threatened to kick the Rottenberg's children out of school if Ruth Rottenberg did not wear the proper head covering.

His latest troubles started in the fall, he said, when the Friedwald Center, a nursing home in New City, invited him to help form a minyan — a quorum of 10 men — so that an older resident from New Square could pray.

He said that he liked the shorter Sabbath services at the Friedwald Center, which allowed him more free time to spend with his family. Saturday services at the main synagogue take several hours, he said.

"I didn't do it in order to disturb them," he said. "I didn't take people away from them. For some reason or other, they were determined to stop me."

Rottenberg took some time to describe the May 22 attack, saying it was difficult to talk about. He said his son, who set up security cameras on their home, noticed movement outside. Rottenberg ran outside, smelled gas and saw someone in the nearby woods.

He hid behind a tree for several minutes until the intruder, unaware that Rottenberg was there, walked right up to him.

Rottenberg reached for a mask of sorts on the man's face.

"As I tried to grab the covering off his face, we both burst into flames," he said.

He said that he had terrible nightmares in the hospital, reliving the attack.

"I was afraid to fall asleep," he said.

Rottenberg said that his mother, siblings and his wife's siblings still live in New Square. But he hopes his children will leave and break away from the grasp of the grand rebbe.

"The grand rebbe is looked at by the people in New Square as total spirituality," he said. "Even his body is spirituality. The people are getting brainwashed."