Justice for Jews from Arab Countries has suffered a setback with the sacking this month of its president, Rabbi Elie Abadie, as head of the Safra synagogue after a row with its main benefactor, Lily Safra. Rabbi Abadie, who escaped from Lebanon as a refugee, has been rabbi at Manhattan’s Edmond J. Safra synagogue for the past 14 years. The New York Post reports:
Rabbi Elie Abadie: refugee from Lebanon
A holy war between the billionaire benefactor of an Upper East Side synagogue and the temple’s longtime rabbi has cost the clergyman his job.
The battle between the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation — chaired by its namesake’s 82-year-old widow, Lily Safra — and Rabbi Elie Abadie began brewing at the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue on East 63rd Street when Abadie’s contract expired eight years ago.
He continued to be paid $700,000 a year and allowed to live in a $3.5 million condominium rent-free, said the foundation.
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