Friend Who Abducted Rabbi’s Son, 2, Ruled Innocent of Kidnaping

Alexander Gelman told police he was acting on a “divine inspiration” when he abducted his rabbi’s 2-year-old son last April. Gelman and the boy turned up in Tijuana a few hours later, and Schneur Zalman Berkowitz was returned unharmed to his parents.

On Thursday, a Los Angeles federal judge ruled that Gelman, a former UC Irvine mathematics lecturer, was not guilty of kidnap charges because he was insane.

“The defendant did have a severe mental disease or defect and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts,” said U. S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez after a brief court trial. Gelman, who faced life in prison if found guilty, will probably be released to the custody of his mother and ordered to receive psychiatric care. Fernandez scheduled a Sept. 26 hearing on that matter.

“My case is very straight-forward and doesn’t involve the need for such a jury,” Gelman told the judge before the brief trial began.

Understood Proceedings

The 40-year-old emigre from the Soviet Union wore a khaki jail uniform, gray running shoes and a black yarmulke, or skull cap. He told the judge that two medications he has been taking “helped a great deal,” and he understood all of the court proceedings.

After the verdict, Gelman smiled but had no comment.

Michael D. Abzug, Gelman’s attorney, said Gelman was responding well to drugs and did not require hospitalization.

Both Abzug and Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael W. Emmick recommended to Fernandez that Gelman receive outpatient psychiatric treatment and be released to the custody of his mother, Luba Gelman, who lives in Jamaica, New York City, but who was in the courtroom. She said Gelman was “a good boy,” but declined to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, Sheina Berkowitz, Zalman’s mother, said she was happy about the judge’s ruling.

“I personally don’t feel he (Gelman) belongs in prison. He’s not a bad person,” Berkowitz said in a telephone interview.

Cared for Children

She said Gelman was a member of her husband’s congregation and frequently spent weekends at their Westminster home. Gelman and his wife, Marge, also cared for the five Berkowitz children when the parents went away on vacation.

“Zalmie was his favorite,” said Berkowitz. She said she wasn’t worried when she found out Gelman had taken the boy because she was sure he would not harm him.

“We thought he had a crazy idea, and he’d bring him back,” Berkowitz said.

She said Gelman’s wife left him soon after his arrest and returned to New York. The Gelmans had only been married four months when the incident took place, she said.

Berkowitz said her blond, blue-eyed son has no lasting effects from his experience with Gelman, other than being nervous when he rides in a car. She said that when Gelman’s name is mentioned, Zalman says he is a “bad boy.”

Court records paint a picture of Gelman as a troubled man. On April 21, the day of the abduction, Gelman told colleagues that he was feeling ill. “He felt like he was poisoned and was about to die,” the records say.

A doctor at the university’s health center diagnosed Gelman as suffering from high blood pressure and the flu. A colleague drove Gelman to his Santa Ana apartment. He later told investigators that he had several “strange conversations” with Gelman that week about the connection between mathematics and Orthodox Judaism, the court records say.

Bickered With Wife

Gelman called his wife at work and asked her to come home. Later they began “bickering” and Gelman left, the records say.

He drove to the Berkowitz’s home and was told by the housekeeper that the parents were not at home. Gelman allegedly struggled with the baby sitter, took the sleeping boy to his car and drove away.

At 10:30 p.m., Gelman was stopped by Tijuana police after he ran several stop signs and collided with three vehicles. He was arrested. Tijuana police checked with U.S. authorities who told them Zalman Berkowitz was reported missing.

Gelman’s “mind was fixed on the Jews’ exodus from Egypt and he felt possessed,” according to documents filed in court. Gelman told his lawyer “his mission was to take the baby and travel somewhere, although he was not sure where.”