Robert Kasirer’s Son’s Wedding Is Tonight

Pat’s is catering and Rabbi Steven Weil is officiating and I assume informant Robert Kasirer is footing the bill.

Much of the community is outraged at Pat’s and Rabbi Weil.

Does anyone have a photo of Robert Kasirer? What is the name of the son who is getting married and what is the name of the bride?

The wedding will take place tonight, Jan. 4, in downtown Los Angeles at the Biltmore Hotel:

When you think of a Los Angeles wedding, you think of glamour, style and luxury––and no other venue in Los Angeles is as quintessentially L.A. as the landmark Biltmore Hotel. Built in the opulent style of the Spanish-Italian Renaissance, the Biltmore’s architectural details reflect the Castilian heritage of California, and countless stars, from Cary Grant to Brad Pitt, have passed through it’s doors.  From the moment your guests arrive, they will be awe-struck by the magnificent decor throughout the hotel, such as cathedral ceilings with hand-painted frescos, gorgeous sculpted columns, intricate bronze work and imported European crystal chandeliers.  What better location to celebrate one of the most important milestones of your life than one as timeless and as regal as Old Hollywood itself?

I admit that I don’t get the outrage at Rabbi Weil. Rabbi Weil holds the basic Jewish position that you don’t punish a son for his father’s mistakes. Rabbi Weil was angry in public at Robert Kasirer, but Rabbi Weil has a good relationship with Kasirer’s son.

The Kasirer family is in pretty deep in scandal. Robert and his wife cooperated with the feds and informed on fellow members of the money laundering ring.

Amy Klein wrote in the Jan. 10, 2008 issue of the Jewish Journal:

But Kasirer was not the creator of this conspiracy, according to the government. His father — the recently deceased Jacob (Yankel) Kasirer who founded the Bais Yaakov School for Girls on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles and is known as a "stalwart" of the Jewish community — was involved with the scheme. According to the transcripts, when Kasirer was discussing his distress over his earlier money-laundering penalty with Lazar, the diamond dealer said, "It’s not something you started."

Kasirer replied, "I was really not aware of what he did with my father."

In addition, in a taped conversation, the Spinka Rebbe told Kasirer he wanted to meet with his father.

"RK’s father was engaged in this prior to RK being involved in it," O’Brien said in an interview. "We believe that this has origins much earlier than that — beyond living memory."

Despite this, Jacob Kasirer’s name is still on the Bais Yaakov school. After all, Jacob Kasirer only stole from the goyim (the IRS), which is not such a big deal. What Robert did was like setting off an atomic bomb — he informed on his fellow Jews, and not just fellow Jews but fellow Orthodox Jews.

I’m trying to understand why people want to wish ill on this wedding and Rabbi Weil for officiating at it. If we judge people as individuals, then Robert Kasirer’s son deserves to be judged on his own merits. I haven’t heard any criticism of the way the son conducts himself.

Robert Kasirer has family, including siblings, in Hancock Park. They were quick to condemn Robert Kasirer. They proclaimed they had nothing to do with him. They said they were ignorant of what Robert was doing.

Now there’s a wedding and I expect Robert and his siblings and relations will act like one big happy family. That’s what makes people see red.

One thing that bothers people is that Robert is throwing this wedding in Los Angeles. That’s just throwing it in people’s faces. Robert Kasirer raped the community, wearing a wire into shul and into homes to inform on his fellow Jews, and now he wants to throw his simcha in our community?

How dare the rapist come back to LA and flaunt his family simcha in front of everybody.

Robert left town months ago because there was so much anger at him for what he did. I believe he lives in New York.

One thing that gets me in this discussion is calling the people Robert Kasirer informed on "victims." If the criminal charges are true, they chose to participate in a money laundering scheme to defraud the IRS using phony religious dodges. These so-called victims committed a massive chillul HaShem (desecration of God’s name) by using God to cheat on their taxes.

The halacha (Jewish law) is that if you are going to sin, do it quietly. If you are going to show the world you’ve made it through the lavish way you throw a simcha, do it low-key. You don’t have to flaunt things. Why not do the wedding outside of LA? Why do you have to throw it in the face of everybody? It’s a giant screw-you to the community. If you want to be a shmuck, go do the wedding in the home you were in the night before the arrests when you were wearing a wire.

There’s something insulting about Robert Kasirer coming back to the scene of the crime.

Here’s a typical reaction: "What kind of idiot would allow their children to marry into the Kasirer family? I would cancel the wedding in a nanosecond. I wouldn’t want that person’s blood tainting my family."

Luke: "The American attitude is that every individual stands on his own merit. The Jewish attitude you are expressing is more collective."

Friend: "It’s an affront to the community. Would you allow this to happen in your shul? Would you allow your child to marry into this family for any amount of money? Would you allow your child to marry the child of an informant?"

Luke: "Well, I believe every individual stands on his own merits. That it does not matter much what the father did when compared to what the son is. I don’t believe I can tell my kids who they can marry."

Friend: "I believe in forgiveness when a guy asks for forgiveness. Have you seen any acts of contrition from Robert Kasirer? Do you see him contributing to the legal defense of people who got arrested and can’t afford counsel?"

"It’s hard to distinguish between a father and a son. Robert Kasirer is paying for the wedding. He’s going to be there. For a shul that’s supposedly so concerned about financial predators that they kick out a guy like Aaron Biston, who, even if he was guilty of everything he was accused of, it would pale in comparison with what it can be demonstrated that Robert Kasirer had done.

"Rabbi Weil is not a guy who says, ‘Every Jew is welcome. I don’t care what they’ve done.’ If that was his precedent, then fine. But this is a guy who’s particularly fussy about who he allows in the shul. He was so meticulous about removing the Kasirer name from the mahchzorim (High Holiday prayer books), from the walls, and now he’s willing to be the officiant at his son’s wedding.

"Steven Weil is not just an individual. He represents Beth Jacob and he represents the Orthodox Union. That he’s claimed personal relationships with these kids is irrelevant. Robert Kasirer should’ve considered all of this before he did what he did."

In January, there will be a series of trials for the Spinka defendents. The Spinka Rebbe will stand on trial. All those people who settled will have their settlements heard before a judge.

"There are plenty of people who’ve done wrong but they didn’t bring everyone down with them. Those people have been accepted back into the community. In the period before he ratted on everybody, he was welcome into the shul. Everybody knew he had done wrong stuff, but the understanding was that justice had been served. But to throw everyone else under the bus to lessen your own sentence is beyond atrocious. People aren’t upset that Robert Kasirer behaved inappropriately with regard to himself. Plenty of people in Beth Jacob have behaved inappropriately. Some leading people at Beth Jacob have been in prison."

I call a friend. "What’s R. Weil going to do?" he says. "Somebody’s got to officiate that wedding. If he didn’t do it, some major rabbi from the Valley would do it.

"Her family is beyond reproach. They have yichus. Her grandfather was one of the big rabbis at YU. She’s a YULA girl. I’m sure they met at YULA. They’ve been dating for a while.

"Weil did the right thing in kicking Bobby Kasirer out of Beth Jacob. But his kids? Why punish the kids? You’re going to say to the Tendler children that they can’t get married? Mordecai Tendler and Aron Tendler have had children marry since their shandas."

Luke: "Is it chutzpah to have the wedding in Los Angeles?"

Friend: "Where are you going to have it? The girl is from here.

"The people who are in jail because of Kasirer? There’s one guy, Yossi, the family can’t believe he’s in jail. They say, ‘He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s Kasirer who did stuff wrong.’ Well, he committed a felony. It doesn’t make you less guilty because you got ratted out by Bobby Kasirer.

"These Hungarian Jews (Kasirer’s family) had such a gravy train. They’re upset for being exposed as gypsy thieves. It’s honor among thieves among Hungarian Jews. Don’t rat us out. For years, they had a good thing going. They were laundering money through the Spinka Rebbe. And now they can’t. And now some of them are going to prison and they can’t believe it."