Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Polish reporter finds local rabbi not rabbi

19 April 2016, 3:25 pm 0 Edit

A local journalist in a western Poland city discovered that the local rabbi is not a rabbi, never lived in Israel, is not familiar with Jewish customs, and does not speak or understand Hebrew.

Jacoob Ben Nistell, aka Yaakav – he used different forms of this name — claimed he was from Haifa. Members of the Poznan Jewish community believed him and decided to embrace him as a community rabbi, where he reportedly has served for several years

He admitted two weeks ago during an interview that he is not a rabbi. Krzysztof M. Kazmierczak, a reporter for “Glos Wielkopolski” or “The Voice of Wielkopolska,” discovered that the alleged rabbi in fact is Jacek Niszczota and comes from Ciechanow, a town in north-central Poland.

— JTA