Pray up: Beggars told to fork over cash for right to panhandle inside synagogue
It’s pay to pray at one Brooklyn synagogue.
Down-on-their luck panhandlers at the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Crown Heights have to follow the 11th Commandment: Fork over $5 for the right to beg inside.
“If you want to collect, you have to pay. If you don’t pay, you go on the street. It’s very simple,” said one outraged panhandler. “Poor people collecting money have to pay? It’s like extortion.”
The beggars either position themselves by the stairwell, in the lobby, or inside the prayer area of the monolithic, four-story brick temple, which stands alongside the original Lubavitch synagogue.
All said they are unemployed, live nearby, and sometimes attend services at the bustling temple, where hundreds come to pray from morning until night every day.
They say their right to panhandle in the house of worship comes from a higher authority — Jewish law, which allows begging in synagogues and public events, including weddings, where food is set aside for beggars and uninvited guests.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/temple_cut_nqirChZxACL5FjqOaKcAXJ#ixzz1kssd2B60
I personally find these panhandlers very aggressive and intimidating, particularly when they attack in swarms. If you give even one of them a quarter, the others are on top of you like a pack of hounds!
Also, I don’t think it is fair of the Post to blame Chabad for trying to keep out packs of panhandlers. Do they allow panhandlers inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral or Riverside Church or Temple Emmanuel?
I just noticed that this article from the NY Post relies on information about Chabad from the hate blog Failedmessiah, which is the same as relying on information about Muslims from Pam Geller.
