Last Thursday and Friday, the Twittersphere was lit up with pleas for information about the abduction of chasidic real estate developer, Menachem (Max) Stark. Motzei Shabbos, those of us outside of Williamsburg read the horrifying news that Mr. Stark’s smoldering body had been found in a Great Neck trash container at the Getty gas station just before 4 PM Friday. Saturday night, hundreds of chasidic Jews attended Mr. Stark’s funeral. Menachem Stark, 39, was a married father of eight, and was known to generously give charity to anyone who needed help in his community.
This morning, however, mourning mixed with outrage, as the New York Post ran this front page cover and expose –
The article details Mr. Stark’s notoriety as a slum lord, as well as his legal and financial problems. It claims that Mr. Stark had so many enemies, that it will be difficult for law enforcement to narrow down a list of suspects in his murder.
Interestingly, both those within Mr. Stark’s community and those outside of it have reacted to the NYP story with intense anger. A Facebook page, “Condemn the NY Post for Sundays Cover Page” has garnered over 8,300 likes from those outraged by the headline. This heartbreaking photo of Mr. Stark’s young son tearing kriah at his father’s funeral is also circulating in response – 
Twitter is rife with tweets using the hashtag #StopNYPostHate. One blogger wrote a scathing letter to the New York Post, ripping into them for “confirming” Stark’s shady background and resulting murder even before the police have. The Zev Brenner Talkline Radio Show spent over 2 1/2 hours talking with Stark’s defenders, who decry the media coverage of their late friend. Benny Polatseck, a chasidic blogger, created the protest video linked at the end of this post.
While the cover of the NYP article is tasteless and speculative, it brings to light a disturbing reality. Some of the frum community’s most generous supporters acquire their wealth through nefarious means.
Does a business deal gone bad justify murder? Never! We have a court system for a reason. Anyone with a legal gripe against Mr. Stark should have called their lawyer and not a hit man. What happened to Mr. Stark was vicious and reprehensible. However, to distract the focus of Mr. Stark’s questionable business practices to the shameful coverage of the NYP story is to miss a learning opportunity.
Mr. Stark, by his community’s own admission, a philanthropic pillar of the community, put his life, his family’s life, and even the lives (or at the very least the reputations) of his entire community at risk through his dangerous business associations. Mr. Stark paid the ultimate price for his gamble – his own life. His poor family, forever without their husband and father, will now pay the price as well. His community is also paying a price, and through their online reactions, the cost is high. They are feeling the sting of having one of their own, photographed in shtreimel and bekisha, plastered all over the news in a way that reflects poorly on the entire kehilla.
Instead of blaming a rag, such as The New York Post, for its predictably sensational and biased coverage, perhaps the reaction should be reevaluating who we (every orthodox faction) rely upon for philanthropy in our communities. Is the dearly needed money we count on to support our shuls, schools, gemachs, etc. coming from illegal means? Is it halachically acceptable to receive these funds? It would seem that any illegal source of funding will eventually be exposed and halted. Is the resulting chillul Hashem worth a few good prosperous years? What kind of financial foundations have we built our communities upon?
