Rabbi Accused of Stealing 96-Year-Old’s Wheelchair
A rabbi who was accused of stealing a 96-year-old’s wheelchair said he was taking leave from the rabbinate.
Alan Abrams announced the decision Thursday on his blog. That came just hours after the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles had written an in-depth article about him, the paper reported.
Abrams, 50, was accused of taking a motorized wheelchair from a resident of Windsor Terrace, a skilled nursing facility in Van Nuys, Calif.
Abrams, according to the Journal, began calling himself a rabbi in 2009. He told the paper he was ordained in Jerusalem, but provided no evidence. He said he has a certificate of ordination from The Rabbinical Seminary International, a New York-based distance learning program for nondenominational rabbis. The head of that school told the paper that Abrams had stolen the certificate, after paying his tuition with a $5,000 check that bounced.
In 1993, Abrams’ pled no contest to charges of practicing veterinary medicine without a license in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to six months in jail for that offense, the Journal reported.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!