Above: Sheldon "Shelly" Silver

Sheldon Silver, Out On Bail, Treated Like Hero By His Orthodox Synagogue

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com



New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver may have been arrested by the FBI Thursday and charged with taking at least $4 million in kickbacks and bribes, but he’s still a hero to his Lower East Side Orthodox community.



Silver, a Democrat, turned down an offer made by his synagogue’s rabbi, Mordechai Greenberg, and again by its gabbai (sexton) to recite the special communal mi sheberach hardship prayer for him, the New York Post reported.



“No need. Not now,” Silver reportedly said.



But Silver was given the sixth aliyah to the Torah. While any aliyah is an honor, the sixth aliyah is considered to be especially choice and is often reserved for top rabbis.



Later, Silver reportedly sat near Greenberg during kiddish.



“Where people do have merit, God will certainly take them out of their troubles,” Greenberg said in a Torah speech given during the kiddush, apparently linking the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt to Silver’s current legal troubles.



Silver is free on $200,000 bail.

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