By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Chabad of San Diego’s regional director Rabbi Yonah Fradkin has announced that he has fired Rabbi Yehuda Hadjadj as the rabbi at Chabad of UC San Diego and has asked for the resignation of Rabbi Mendel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway. Neither Rabbi Hadjadj nor Rabbi Goldstein could be reached for immediate comment.
Given Goldstein’s refusal thus far to resign, Fradkin said he has appointed Rabbi Dr. Yehudah Trestman to temporarily lead and represent Chabad in the North County Inland area.
Hadjadj was convicted and given probation earlier this year in U.S. District Court for fraudulently raising money in a scheme that similarly saw Goldstein’s father, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, sentenced to a 14-month term in federal prison.
In the Hadjadj case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, an unidentified donor contributed $4,900 to the Chabad-run Friendship Circle of San Diego, an organization to benefit people with disabilities. Thereafter Hadjadj returned $4,400 to the unnamed donor, who nevertheless requested that Qualcomm match his $4,900 contribution to the Friendship Circle. Once Yisroel Goldstein received the $4,900 from Qualcomm, he sent two-thirds to Hadjadj and kept one-third for himself. Enlisting other “donors” in the scheme Hadjadj raised $40,000 for Chabad at UC San Diego, according to U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman and Suzanne Turner, the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge in San Diego.
Since that time the Friendship Circle has been taken out of the hands of the Goldstein family and Rabbi Yossi Rodal of Chabad of North Carlsbad made its executive director. A board of directors was organized for the Friendship Circle, with Barry Galbut as chair; Rabbi David Smoller of the Chabad Hebrew Academy as president; Cherri Cary, secretary; Elisheva Green, treasurer and the following board members: Lyn Zanders, Rabbi Chalom Boudjnah of Chabad of SDSU; Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa; and Rabbi Yossi Tiefenbrun of Chabad of Pacific Beach.
Chabad Regional Director Fradkin wrote in a letter to Rabbi Hadjadj on September 12 that he had asked Hadjadj in August “to cease and desist from representing yourself as a Chabad Emissary At the meeting of the Vaad HaShluchim (Board of Emissaries) of S. Diego, which you requested two months ago, you agreed to stop representing yourself as an emissary and to stop using the name Chabad. You said you would call your institution something like “Bet Yehuda.” (House of Yehuda). You explained that you wanted to stay in S. Diego to best suit the terms you reached with the Department of Justice and we agreed to try and help you in this regard….”
(Chabad does not recognize Christian saints so refers to San Diego as S. Diego.)
Fradkin said in the letter that the organization did not try to remove Hadjadj from continuing to live in the house used for Chabad activities at UC San Diego. However, he wrote, “since that time you have continually called yourself an emissary of Chabad. You have broken your word to the Vaad and you have refused to cooperate with the mutually agreed upon understanding.
“You have been relieved of your duties,” the letter went on to say. “Due to your felony conviction you are no longer considered a Shliach/Emissary of the Chabad Movement. It is therefore fraudulent for you to represent yourself as such.”
“In keeping with the spirit of your agreement with the Vaad HaShluchim of S. Diego and with Rabbi Fradkin you are being instructed to cease and desist any and all representations of yourself as an Emissary of the Chabad Movement, effective immediately. You must stop calling yourself Chabad of UCSD or any name that includes Chabad.”
In a September 20 statement, Rabbi Mendy Cunin of the West Coast Chabad Lubavitch, said that Hadjadj “has been tabling this week at UCSD and fraudulently presenting and advertising his activities as Chabad – violating his agreements with Chabad and ignoring the fact that he has been fired from Chabad. In the process, he is also confusing the students who are looking for the Chabad at UCSD. Please be advised that there are new Chabad representatives to UCSD – Rabbi and Mrs. Shmuel and Mushka Cunin.”
Rabbi Shmuel is the son of Los Angeles-based Rabbi Mendy Cunin and the grandson of Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, the longtime executive director of Chabad activities on the West Coast.
A message seeking comment was sent to Rabbi Hadjadj after a brief phone conversation on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
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In the case of Rabbi Mendel Goldstein at Chabad of Poway, Rabbi Fradkin said in a written statement: “For nearly two years we have endeavored to work with the previous administration of Chabad of Poway and to install appropriate oversight in the troubled organization. The crimes previously committed (by Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein) happened in an environment where one person had complete control. He then passed sole control to his son. While this may technically be legal, in our view this is inappropriate, especially when the son continues to run the organization as the sole legally empowered head. After repeatedly trying to get his cooperation and being rebuffed we asked for his resignation last month.”
Fradkin added that, “For the last two years the community has asked us to remedy the situation. We have heard the community.”
He expressed confidence that the Trestmans, as Chabad’s official emissaries to the North County Inland community, “will experience success in reuniting the community and growing it, all while doing so with transparency, oversight from headquarters, and robust communal involvement.”
Seeking comment, San Diego Jewish World on Wednesday, Sept. 21 left a message Rabbi Mendel Goldstein’s answering machine. His response is pending.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com