Dad 'lost it' in beating of boy, 13, say cops

New York Daily News/December 15, 2008

A top Brooklyn rabbi has been forbidden from being near his 13-year-old son after the teen called the cops on his father for beating him.

The son of Rebbe Sholom Twersky, 49, told police that his father scratched and slapped him on Oct. 28, hurting his arms, according to court records. The boy was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

"He lost it and started slapping the kid around, and the kid wasn't going to take it," a police source said.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office charged the father of 12 with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.

The city's Administration for Children's Services is investigating the case, police sources said, and a temporary order of protection is keeping the dad away from his ninth child.

Twersky, leader of the Foltishen Hasidic sect, is allowed to run his congregation - Beth Hatfilah on 49th St. in Borough Park - but is not permitted to have "incidental contact" with his son inside their home located above the synagogue, according to court records.

Twersky's political influence was well-known in Borough Park, but became apparent within City Hall inner circles after the arrest.

Fred Kreizman, assistant commissioner of the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit, went to Borough Park to help the influential rabbi.

Cops kept Twersky out of the 66th Precinct's holding cell while Kreizman sat with him waiting for word on the arraignment, police sources said.

"Kreizman is a Jewish community liaison and it is not unusual for him to be present when a Jewish leader is involved in an incident," a City Hall spokesman said.

According to family, police and City Hall sources, Twersky went to upstate Monsey after his son phoned police.

Kreizman, who serves as the top Jewish liaison for Mayor Bloomberg, is a longtime associate of Twersky, and convinced the patriarch to turn himself in to police.

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