Holy Man with ties to the Capital Region Gets Boot by his own!

"A person who is charitable and just,
fills the world with kindness."
—The Talmud

This is a sinister story. Let me first say that I am not Jewish. A Rabbi is a spiritual leader, much like a Muslim Imam or a Roman Catholic Priest. A Baton Rouge, Louisiana Rabbi got das boot, because he helped refugees TOO MUCH. That's right. He helped too much. What is a spiritual leader to do? Did Muhammad ever think you could help anyone too much? Did Jesus?

Rabbi Barry Weinstein grew up in Waverly, NY. He once attended Union College in Schenectady,where he graduated with a bachelor of arts in Spanish, before heading off to 5 years of Rabbinical study at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

An interesting sideboard to this story is that many of the Jewish publications that were carrying the article online have either dropped it or the page comes up blank or "not available." I give you this link from 2the advocate.com, By William Taylor, but I cannot guarantee how long it will remain available. Chicago Jewish Community Online has the article I originally read in Albany's "The Jewish World." If the link stays up, it's HERE.

I have selected some key passages from Lisa Hostein's story:

A Baton Rouge, La., synagogue has closed its shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina and placed its rabbi on administrative leave. The board of Congregation B'nai Israel asked Rabbi Barry Weinstein last week to take a paid leave of absence for an unspecified period. Weinstein had led B'nai Israel's effort to house dozens of evacuees who had fled their devastated Gulf Coast homes in the wake of Katrina. The synagogue shelter, in turn, had received an outpouring of donations and supplies from Jewish communities and individuals around the country that had heard of the congregation's efforts...

...with the shelter garnering national headlines and Weinstein and volunteers reaching out to the community, more evacuees continued to arrive -- as did donations of money, food and clothing from mostly Jewish institutions around the country. As the effort intensified, cracks within the synagogue community appeared, according to several people involved...

...Some of those active in the shelter effort said bigotry may have played a role in the opposition. They cited instances in which a few synagogue members said it was inappropriate for the evacuees to participate in Friday night services...

...The question remains: Would Weinstein have been placed on leave if he hadn't set up a shelter at the synagogue?

Sources close to Weinstein say that after serving the congregation for 23 years, he's distraught over what has happened.

Folks, I ask you, Is this any way to treat a Spiritual Leader?

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