Dear Aish Friends,

I am writing to you now as another attempt to reconcile the situation of Yitz/Aish NY vs. Yaakov Fetman. You may or may not be aware of all the facts, but I feel that I must lay them out on the table so that you can make an informed decision.

1. Yitz has been trying to isolate me from the greater Aish community after he pressured me into signing a binding arbitration, abusing a sensitive time right before my oldest daughter's wedding. He calls me a 'pathological liar' every time I try to explain or defend my position. The entire 'arbitration process' was misleading and the 'psak' rendered was reached without merit whatsoever. Yitz has been misleading all his associates about this arbitration, betting on the fact that I would be intimidated by it. 

2. In the psak, Rabbi Cohen refers to a report that concluded that 2.4 million dollars was taken by me. There is no such report as I have repeatedly requested to see any such documents. In fact, during the attempts to resolve this, the forensic accountant aish hired admitted to the fact that no such report existed and he certainly had no final report. This was done in front of Aish's attorney, my attorney and myself. Curiously, that 2.4 million is the exact sum that I was pressured to place in escrow, which I proved I had from a refinancing of property just in April 2013. I have also consistently  begged both Rabbi Cohen and the attorneys to allow for a thorough investigation. They have never agreed to an honest review. All I ask for is a complete and fair audit of Aish NY books and a fair opportunity to defend myself.  Like Elihayu at Har Carmel, if Yitz is right, go after me, but if  I am right, go after him. I am sending next a number of emails I have sent to Aish NY board and others. Please read the prior email trail.

3. As for the Board. I don't understand Mr. Hochfelder's complete and utter support of Yitz. The Board has not held a Board meeting for 5 years and even after discovering Yitz's dishonesty, they chose to support him rather than discipline him.  Mr. Hochfelder is in a trust position as the chairman of a public charity and if you demand an audit, I am certain it will be done.

I am gravely concerned that if this process in court continues it may lead to investigation that will have terrible repercussions for AISH NY, ALL the Rabbis and their families, and potentially be damaging to Aish's international reputation as well, not to mention, the tremendous chillul Hashem this will cause!

I have done my utmost to prevent that from happening, but I cannot bear to take the blame for something that I did not do. The pain and damages that  my family and I have already suffered are too great to mention. I really am fearful of what will most certainly be happening to so many others if this continues.

I am asking once again for a complete investigation into what happened here. Please use your influence to undo this great travesty of justice.



I am available any time.


Thank you.

Jacob Fetman

646 261 0200


The following are a number of emails I sent to Aish NY board