Daily Bruin Columnist: Give Kicking Rabbi The Boot

David Lazar writes:

…But Hillel has allowed Seidler-Feller to serve as director of UCLA‚Äôs branch, which is an embarrassment to the campus community. If not for the shocking and inexcusable nature of the attack itself, Seidler-Feller should be let go due to the shameful way he conducted himself following the incident. The incident took place after a speech by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz at Royce Hall. UCLA alumnus David Hakimfar chronicled what he witnessed at the event: ‚ÄúI saw my rabbi take swings to Neuwirth‚Äôs face and kicks to her legs. The only thing that saved Neuwirth from being pounded in the face was a notebook in Rabbi Seidler-Feller‚Äôs hand that didn‚Äôt allow his arm to make the full extension to punch her head,‚Äù Hakimfar wrote in the online magazine Jewsweek, and confirmed to me. Seidler-Feller, who is on sabbatical until August, could not be reached for comment. Rather than accept responsibility for the attack, Seidler-Feller and his lawyer initially tried to shift the blame to the victim: ‚ÄúIt was Ms. Neuwirth who accosted the rabbi, it was Ms. Neuwirth who confronted the rabbi in an angry and belligerent manner, and it was Ms. Neuwirth who spewed hateful and venomous words at the rabbi,‚Äù Donald Etra, Seidler-Feller‚Äôs attorney at the time, told a Daily Bruin reporter.