Death Threats E-mailed to College Professors

Alleged Perpetrator an undergrad

Nearly three weeks of quiet confusion mixed with fear came to an end last week as YU security announced that they had uncovered the identity of a student who had been sending death threats to professors via e-mail.

The first set of threatening letters was sent on Thursday, September 11, from the ymail account of Edward Zoltan. The Commentator obtained a copy of the correspondence sent to Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Associate Professor of Bible in Yeshiva College:

“so many students here don’t believe in it [Torah U’madda] so how come all the intellectuals do. what am I missing? If G-d wanted us to believe in it, he would have put it in our heads. The next guy who writes anything about it here at yu is going to get it. and i [sic] mean the real thing, I will kill you or any of your henchmen.”

The immediate response of R’ Carmy was to forward the letter to various members of the administration including Deans Adler, Hecht, and Horowitz, as well as R’ Blau and Yeshiva Security. He also formulated a five part response to the letter which indicated the serious manner in which he dealt with the threat:

“Dear Mr Zoltan:

1. The tone of your note indicates an appalling lack of yirat Shamayim and simple kevod ha-briyot.

2. It is possible to be a good human being and a good Jew without believing in the value of a liberal arts education conjoined to a commitment to the primacy of Torah. Many admirable talmidei hakhamim regard liberal arts as unnecessary and some even as an impediment in the quest for ahavat Torah and yirat Shamayim. It is impossible,however, to be a decent human being or an acceptable Jew if one is lacking elementary yirat Shamayim and kevod ha-briyot.

3. It is Elul. Do teshuva!

4. I cannot comment on the intellectual substance of your note. It stands to reason that you were aroused by something published recently and readily available. The only thing published recently in which Torah UMadda—the place of liberal arts education in the context of a Torah education was championed is Rav Lichtenstein’s piece in *Judaism’s Encounter with Culture.* But he can hardly be described as my henchman. I am, in fact, his student.

5. I have tried to take your communication seriously. In that light, and given the Mitzva of Pikkuah Nefesh, you will understand why I am forwarding our correspondence to others, including, if deemed advisable, the local police.

If you are contacted by the police, I would suggest that you act with greater civility than you have displayed to your brother in Torah u-mitzvot,

Shalom Carmy”

It was subsequently learned that on that same day Dean Norman Adler received a letter from Zoltan’s account that hinted to thoughts of suicide. The writer spoke of “stepping in front of oncoming trucks.”

Adler also forwarded his letter to Security, and on the following Monday, Zoltan was interrogated by the Office of Student Services out of concern for his own safety as well as the safety of others.

Zoltan was immediately cleared of all wrongdoing during that meeting when it was determined that someone had broken into his account from a library computer.

After eliminating Zoltan as the primary suspect, the investigators led by Don Sommers, head of YU security, were left with few clues or leads until exactly one week from the day the first letters were sent.

A second round of threatening letters were sent to YC professors on Thursday, September 18.

The letter sent to Rabbi Moshe J. Bernstein was short and to the point:

“To: mjbrnstn@ymail.yu.edu

Subject: you

be carefull when you walk around this neighborhood, I’m always watching, and death comes swiftly”

“My wife ... checked my ymail account as she does every Friday,” R’ Bernstein said, “She saw it and was very upset.”

Sources in the administration reported that both Student Services and Security took the threats in these letters very seriously. With no way to determine if the threats were genuine or just a prank, University officials took the threats very seriously.

This time, the letters originated from a Hotmail account and not a ymail account. Hotmail is a provider of free, web-based e-mail accounts, and they do not check the identity of their customers. A person can open an e-mail account using a fake name and any address they want. The name on the account where the second series of letters originated was Fred Robenzadeh; the address was fredzl@hotmail.com.

Mr. Robenzadeh, also a student at YU, was soon cleared of any involvement. Security officials were able to determine that the messages were sent from a computer on the 11th floor of Belfer Hall.

Four days later, on Monday the 22nd, a final series of letters was mailed to every recipient of a previous threatening letter:

“Subject: confession, and apologies

Dear Sir,

During these last two weeks I may have done, I must have done, that is, sent out a number of messages that I now regret. I’m a YU student and I suffer from manic-depression for which I take rather large doses of lithium. I feel terrible for what I did and would “turn myself in” but I’m really not at fault. I simply did not take my medicine for the last few weeks and for that I’m terribly soory.

Sincerely, xxx xxx”

Once again a Hotmail account was used. The address on the account, yustudent@hotmail.com, was different but the computer on which the letter originated was again located on the 11th floor of Belfer Hall.

Throughout the YU community, this letter seemed to have eased tensions a little bit since it implied that the threats were not serious. Nevertheless, Sommers continued to gather evidence until he and Student Services felt they had the right suspect.

Last Tuesday, Mr. Sommers stated that the investigation was over on his end and referred all questions to the Office of Student Services saying that it was now a student disciplinary matter. Mr. Sommers refused to comment on the result of his investigation and on the techniques he employed to track down the suspect.

Dr. Efrem Nulman, Dean of Students, also refused to comment on the specifics of this case except to note that this was the first time YU had to deal with such a serious disciplinary case focusing on technology.

He did speak about the general procedures for all disciplinary cases saying, “In the first part of the process my staff makes a decision after seeing all the evidence and giving the student a chance to reveal all pertinent information.”

Nullman distances himself from this first decision because the student has one final chance to appeal directly to him. Nullman says the distance helps him keep an open mind during the appeals process but, his decision is final.

“W.H. Auden once observed that ‘there is a children’s game called cops and robbers; there is no children’s game called saints and sinners,” remarked R’ Carmy upon learning the investigation was over. “Why and how people go wrong and how to mend it is a very grown-up occupation and this time of year is the best time to think about it.”

The student who allegedly sent the threats has accepted an offer to voluntarily withdraw from the university pending his appeal, and was escorted off campus on Tuesday by Rabbi Adam Miller of Student Services and three Security Guards.