LeBron James attends Jewish NYC wedding — holding hands with a notorious rabbi
The basketball superstar has long had ties to Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a well-known Moroccan-Israeli Kabbalist rabbi who once served a year in prison.
LeBron James holds hands with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto at the wedding of Jeffrey Schottenstein in New York City, May 22, 2022. (Screenshot from YouTube/Jewish Insider)
(JTA) — LeBron James likely draws attention at most weddings he attends. After all, the basketball superstar turned entertainment mogul is 6-foot-9 and one of the most recognizable sports figures of all time.
But he made an especially eye-catching entrance at a Jewish wedding on Sunday, holding hands with a well-known kabbalist rabbi who served a year in an Israeli prison.
The scene took place at the New York City wedding of Jeffrey Schottenstein — son of Jay Schottenstein, a billionaire who is chairman of the American Eagle Outfitters — and Ariella Boker. The Schottenstein family is based in Columbus, Ohio, and has long been close with James, who grew up in Akron and won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In 2009, James nominated Jay Schottenstein to the Time 100 list, noting the businessman’s philanthropic support of a translation of the Babylonian Talmud into English, Hebrew and French.
James has also been a fan of Jeffrey Schottenstein’s apparel brand TACKMA, which stands for “They All Can Kiss My Ass” and has been worn by stars across entertainment industries.
Both the Schottensteins and James also have connections to Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, a Moroccan-Israeli rabbi with a large international following who has in recent years overseen kosher certification in Morocco. In 2010, James reportedly sought ”spiritual guidance” from Pinto during “a ‘big merchandising meeting’ that took place on a private yacht,” according to TMZ. James then reportedly donated $100,000 to Pinto’s Shuva Israel organization, which included a yeshiva.
In 2014, Pinto was sentenced for bribing an Israeli police officer and served a year in prison. The police officer’s superior, who came under public scrutiny from Pinto’s followers, committed suicide.
Also in 2014, Pinto helped connect Michael Grimm, a former Republican congressman from New York, with some of his wealthy followers. Some of their donations — as much as $300,000 — were sent in illegal ways; Grimm would also wind up serving time for tax evasion.
On Sunday, James and Pinto looked as close as ever. Video uploaded to YouTube by Jewish Insider shows James holding Pinto’s hands and listening closely to the rabbi’s ear, before giving him a big hug.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
-
Fast Forward Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, in blow to Nazi-linked populist movement
-
Fast Forward Trump taps shock jock Sid Rosenberg and a Haredi newspaper publisher for Holocaust Memorial Council
-
Fast Forward Jill Sobule, pop star who also composed songs for a new ‘Yentl,’ dies at 66
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 4
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Halal restaurant opening in Congress is like ‘Muslim conquest of Jerusalem,’ says GOP congressman
-
Fast Forward Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, in blow to Nazi-linked populist movement
-
Fast Forward Trump taps shock jock Sid Rosenberg and a Haredi newspaper publisher for Holocaust Memorial Council
-
Music Jill Sobule was as much a Jewish icon as a queer one
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.