100% Perfect

Among certain pious and ingrained orthodox Jews exists a belief that rabbis, closer to God than ordinary people, may obtain spiritual benefits on behalf of the sick or the troubled. Such Jews also believe that benefit may be derived from performing a good deed or mitzvah, such as giving money to charity. In Brooklyn, N. Y. last week one Anna Seigel went to the police with a story of how she had paid $200 as a mitzvah for her paralyzed daughter and was now wondering if she had been swindled. Upon investigation of Mrs. Seigel's complaint the Brooklyn district attorney declared that the police had turned up "one of the most novel and extensive rackets for mulcting the poor and afflicted people which has ever come to my attention."

Arrested was a buck-toothed spinster of 36 named Mary Berd. Miss Berd has for some years been private secretary to one Zeida Schmellner onetime "Grand Rabbi" of Rumania before he arrived in the U. S. in 1925 amid the greetings of the acting Mayor of New York and a delegation of Jews. Inspecting the files of Miss Berd and Rabbi Schmellner last week, police and 25 accountants said they uncovered records of nearly $2,000,000 taken in as "loans." According to police who questioned both the rabbi and his secretary, the "racket" worked as follows:

A Jew who believed in the rabbi's reputation for sanctity would pay for benefits, understanding that the payment was merely an earnest of his good faith, that it was to be used for charity. Rabbi Schmellner and Miss Berd insisted that these payments were loans, secured by promissory notes. The fact that many of the loans were never repaid they explained as resulting from pious generosity. But police said they found that Miss Berd employed nine men at $100 per week in her transactions, which extended as far as Canada. Riding around in a big limousine, she maintained personal contact with some people who claimed last week she gave them promissory notes in envelopes which were to be kept sealed lest the mitzvah turn into a "curse." Protested Miss Berd, charged with grand larceny: "Everything is a frame-up. You see I am smiling, so I have nothing to worry about. Whatever I did I did for the best. Everything is 100% perfect."

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