A supposed chareidi bochur who married a girl from the frum community in New York last month has been discovered to be a young Lebanese man who impersonated a Jew and learned at a yeshiva without converting.
The revelation came a few weeks after the wedding.
The impersonator – named Eliyah Hawila – learned at a yeshiva in the United States, with no one knowing about his background. He reportedly was affiliated with Chabad in Texas for several years.
The chosson’s story did not arouse any suspicion, even though he did not keep in touch with his family, who did not even attend his wedding. He was accompanied to the chupah by a rov and rebbetzin from the community.
“The only one who had a few doubts about the chosson was a rov who guided the kallah before her marriage,” one of the well-known figures in the community related. He said, “She tried several times to talk to the rabbis about it, to no avail.”
The Muslim husband speaks fluent Hebrew and also knows how to learn Torah properly, because he studied in yeshiva for 5-7 years. He produced a fabricated “family tree,” attempting to prove his lineage.
Video even emerged of the couple’s engagement, where the chosson is seen speaking in Yeshiva.
“It was only after the wedding that suddenly someone told the kallah’s father to find out about his new son in law,” said one source. “At one point, the kallah’s brothers went to the young couple’s house and saw three passports with different names – all bearing the chosson’s face. At that moment, the rabbonim made sure that the kallah left the house immediately.”
There is still a lot that needs to be clarified, including the criminal dimension involved in impersonation, but those in the know are certain that young man is actually a Muslim from Lebanon, living under a false identity, and it is not clear how – or why – he assimilated in this way within the chareidi community.
