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Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto

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Rabbi
Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto
Personal
Born1973
ReligionJudaism
NationalityIsraeli
ParentHaim Pinto (father)
PositionFounder and head
OrganisationMosdot Shuva Israel
ResidenceNew York City

Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto (born 1973) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi who lives in New York City and Ashdod, and is currently under Israeli house arrest. [1] [2][3][4][5][6] He heads a global ministry, Mosdot Shuva Israel. In addition to his religious work, Pinto is known for his work and influence with business and political leaders.

Following

Pinto has a following as a spiritual leader and is regarded by his followers as a Kabbalist.[7]

Family life

Pinto descends from a centuries-old Sepharadi rabbinic family from Morocco.[7] On his father's side he is the great-grandson of Chaim Pinto, a Moroccan sage;[4][8][unreliable source?] on his mother's side, he is the grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, also known as the Baba Sali.[8]

Rabbinic work

In his early 20s, Pinto founded Shuva Israel, a yeshiva in Ashdod, Israel.[5] The center has four synagogues that serve more than 1,200 worshippers, a yeshiva with over 300 full-time students, and a soup kitchen that provides 3,000 meals a day.[5] Pinto has also established a network of yeshivas in Israel, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.[4][8] In October 2010, Pinto led thousands of individuals to Silistra, Bulgaria, for an annual pilgrimage in homage of Eliezer Papo, who is honored among Jews for his book Pele Yoetz,[5] and revered in Silistra for giving his life to save the town from a plague in 1826.[5] During his stay in Silistra, Pinto held a closed meeting with 80 Jewish American businessmen, asking them to invest $5 billion in the Israeli economy.[9]

In December 2010 Pinto condemned an open letter endorsed by 50 Israeli rabbis which encouraged Jewish community members to avoid renting or selling property to non-Jews.[10][11] Pinto believed that the letter would provoke racism against Jews in Israel and abroad, making it difficult for them "to live in New York or anywhere else in the world."[10]

In September 2011 Pinto's father-in law, the chief Rabbi of Argentina Shlomo Ben Hamo, retracted claims of money laundering against Rabbi Pinto in the Jerusalem District Court. Ben Hamo said the retraction was "part of an arrangement made for legal reasons and to preserve domestic tranquillity". Under terms of the agreement, Pinto will pay NIS 3.4 million for apartments in the Gold housing complex in Jerusalem.[12]

October 2012 Arrest Of Pinto & Wife

Rabbi Pinto and his wife Rivka were arrested and placed under house arrest as of October 12, 2012. They were charged with attempting to bribe a senior Israeli police official, and money laundering. [13] [14] [15]

Work within the business community

Although Pinto has no formal business background,[2] a number of prominent Israeli and Jewish-American businessmen have visited him for consultation on business and personal matters, including talk-show host Donny Deutsch; jeweler Jacob Arabo ("Jacob the Jeweler"); former Congressman Anthony Weiner; and professional basketball player LeBron James.[16] Pinto has said that he does not consider his help to be advice, saying instead that "It’s more of a blessing".[6] Politicians and businessmen who have visited Pinto in Israel include Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, former Bank of Israel governor Jacob Frenkel,[8] and Israeli soccer star Guy Levy.[17] Because of Pinto's influence, he has been called the "rabbi to the business stars",[18] and was described by Yoel Hasson, a Kadima member of the Knesset, as having a "a huge influence....He's connected to a lot of people in Israel, to people in Israeli politics."[6] In June 2012, Forbes Israel named Pinto as one of the 10 wealthiest Israeli rabbis, with personal wealth of over NIS 75 million.[19][20]

Real estate

A number of real estate issues with which Pinto is directly or indirectly connected have attracted media attention. For example, Pinto had an ongoing feud with deceased real estate mogul Solomon Obstfeld regarding Pinto's lease of Obstfeld's apartments at the post NYC Essex House.[21][22]

In 2008 real estate broker Ilan Bracha and his partner developer Haim Binstock paid $1.65 million for the ground floor at the Heritage at Trump Place condominium.[23] Bracha and Binstock had planned to open a synagogue in the 2,700-square-foot (250 m2) space for Pinto’s use,[24] and the rabbi has been involved in fundraising efforts.[25] In early in 2009 the partners defaulted by failing to pay their share of the building's common charges, according to the foreclosure action brought by the condo board in New York State. In February 2011 the site was saved from foreclosure proceedings by a $56,000 personal check from Binstock's wife.[23][26]

The building where Pinto lives is owned by the Mosdot Shuva Israel organization, which is a Manhattan-based not-for-profit organization that Pinto works with. In November 2009 the mortgage holders, JPMorgan Chase Bank, began foreclosure proceedings on the property as the mortgage had not been paid since May 2009. At least ten meetings have been held between the two parties, but to date, the matter is still not resolved.[6]

Pinto Top Aide Arrested by FBI

In December 2011, The New York Times reported that the FBI was looking into the roles played by a former aide and one other person in an alleged embezzlement and extortion plot against Pinto.[27]. In August 2012, Pinto's chief aide was arrested by FBI for immigration fraud. [28] [29]

References

  1. ^ http://forward.com/articles/164137/pinto-under-house-arrest-in-israel/
  2. ^ a b Elkies, Lauren (April 30, 2008). "Rabbi Pinto Blesses the Deal". The Real Deal. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  3. ^ Bercovici, Jeff (August 10, 2010). "The Mysterious Rabbi Who Gave Lebron James Business Advice". DailyFinance. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Ettinger, Yair (March 29, 2010). "A rabbi not afraid to deviate". Haaretz. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e Mandel, Jonah (October 1, 2010). "Celestial Celebrity". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d Nathan-Kazis, Josh (March 16, 2011). "Revered as Business Guru, Rabbi Faces Questions About His Organization's Finances". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Nathan-Kazis, Josh (June 23, 2010). "Charismatic Moroccan Kabbalist Draws Crowds And Questions". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d Handwerker, Haim (December 4, 2006). "The Sage of Manhattan". balintlaw.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  9. ^ Weiss, Reuven (September 5, 2010). "Rabbi asks businessmen to invest in Israel". ynetnews. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  10. ^ a b Ettinger, Yair (December 19, 2010). "U.S.-based rabbi: Edict against renting to Arabs endangers Jews abroad". Haaretz. Retrieved December 20, 2010. {{cite web}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  11. ^ Hussein, Sara (December 7, 2010). "'Don't rent to non-Jews,' Israeli rabbis warn". Yahoo!. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  12. ^ Money-laundering accusation against Rabbi Pinto dropped – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
  13. ^ http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/grimm_news_lyNcag3yCwbfEmcLkJDaxL?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Local
  14. ^ http://forward.com/articles/164137/pinto-under-house-arrest-in-israel/
  15. ^ http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/10/11/rabbi-pinto-spiritual-leader-to-industry-vips-charged-with-money-laundering-attempted-bribery/
  16. ^ Berkovici, Jeff (August 1, 2010). "The Mysterious Rabbi Who Gave LeBron James Business Advice". AOL: DailyFinance. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  17. ^ Boker, Moshe (August 29, 2007). "Soccer/Luzon won't let coach bolt U21s". Haaretz. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  18. ^ Yanez, Luisa; Kaleem, Jaweed (August 11, 2010). "Report: LeBron James hires rabbi". Miami Herald. Retrieved November 10, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Averbach, Li-or (June 10, 2012). ""Forbes Israel" ranks Israel's richest rabbis". Globes. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  20. ^ "Magazine Lists Top 13 Richest Rabbis in Israel". JewishPress. June 10, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  21. ^ "Questions raised about Brooklyn investor's suicide at Essex House". The Real Deal.com. June 18, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  22. ^ Nathan-Kazis, Jsoh. "Charismatic Moroccan Kabbalist Draws Crowds And Questions". The Real Deal.com. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  23. ^ a b Karmin, Craig; Frangos, Alex (February 9, 2011). "A Rabbi Gets a Helping Hand". Wall Street Journal Online. Retrieved February 9, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Elkies, Lauren (March 15, 2010). "Hoyda, Levy and rabbi-to-the-real estate community gather at 15 CPW to raise funds for new UWS synagogue". The Real Deal. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  25. ^ "UWS synagogue in danger of foreclosure". therealdeal.com. February 9, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
  26. ^ Arak, Joey (February 9, 2011). "UWS Building in Holy Foreclosure War With LeBron's Rabbi". Curbed. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  27. ^ Cowan, Alison Leigh (December 20, 2011). "Rabbi's Followers Blame Aide for Missing Millions". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2011.
  28. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/18/ofer-biton-arrested_n_1803182.html
  29. ^ http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ny-pols-reliance-rabbi-comes-back-haunt-him

Further reading

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