The Greenwald family, Yisrael Asher Greenwald, hy”d; with his wife and two daughters.
One of the most fascinating Meaningful People podcasts was “The Shocking Story the FBI Tried to Bury” a recent episode in which Nachi Gordon interviewed Michal Weinstein who recalled the terrible tragedy that struck her family on that Monday, February 10, 1985.
On that day Michal was outside her house in Far Rockaway, NY waiting for the bus to take her to school. Her father Yisrael Asher Greenwald, a 34-year-old diamond dealer with an Israeli diplomatic passport was going to his car to go to work. Suddenly he went from his car and walked over to Michal and put his arm around her and gave her a strong hug. Then he went to his car and went to work. Only he never returned home that night or ever again.
Life was drastically changed overnight and multiple difficulties overwhelmed Michal and her mother and younger sister Lisa. Up until the disappearance of her father, the family enjoyed a very comfortable life due to her father’s success as a diamond dealer who traveled around the world, but always made a point to always be home with his family for Shabbos.
Michal’s parents were born in Israel, the children of Holocaust survivors. Prior to her father’s disappearance was her greatest shame at her parent’s heavy Israeli accents. But she also recalled the wonderful vacations the family were able to enjoy including Pesach at nice hotels when her father was around.
When her father disappeared, rumors in the Far Rockaway community broke out. Some thought perhaps her father was involved in Mafia activities. Michal’s mother did extensive sleuthing of her own, but was greatly frustrated over what she felt was the FBI’s failure to pursue the case, indeed as the title of the podcast declares – “The Shocking Story the FBI Tried to Bury.”
While the FBI and her mother believed that Michal’s father had been killed by Mafia criminals belonging to the Lucchese and Gambino crime families, since there was no found body, the family was unable to claim either a life insurance settlement or social security benefits. As a result, Michal had to endure the humiliation of looking through the windows of her house as the family’s car was repossessed and later being forced to move out of the family house in Far Rockaway because of a foreclosure due to her mother’s inability to keep up on the mortgage payments.
It was only recently that Michal learned that members of the community came together to raise money to help the Weinsteins keep the house. Unfortunately, the man who was collecting the money from others in the community stole the money and the house was foreclosed and the family evicted.
For 19 years, Michal endured the humiliation until the day that the FBI came and told her mother that they had arrested two rogue NYPD cops for the murder of her husband and that as a result of their investigation they had uncovered the remains of Michal’s father.
That revelation was the turning point and many inspiring events erupted in her life. Perhaps one example was her speech before the court at the sentencing of the corrupt cops who worked with the Mafia and killed her father. She said to the cops that they forgot one thing. They thought they could get away with their crime, but Michal declared that her father’s killers forgot one important point – the power of the prayers of their victim’s daughter’s asking G-d for justice. And justice was achieved – both rogue cops were convicted and sentenced to life in jail without parole. And they did die in jail – one in 2017 and the second in 2019.
Michal Weinstein wrote of her thoughts in the aftermath of her father’s disappearance and eventual discovery and we can only hope that she puts it together into an inspiring book with the help of a good editor. To enjoy this well-done podcast, you can google either “The Shocking Story the FBI Tried to Bury” or https://youtu.be/lmCV1_rN9-I?si=rqrwlnr7H5gsN6HE
Reprinted from the November 14-21 edition of The Jewish Connection.
