Peachtree City Chabad Rabbi tells of dangerous antisemite visit

Rabbi Yossi Lew faced down danger in the form of an unhinged antisemite. It’s now part of a larger case against Fairburn man Christopher Robertson who was arrested by the FBI and is charged by the Justice Department with federal charges of communicating interstate threats. 

Since 2011 Rabbi Lew and Peachtree City Chabad have served the southside of Atlanta. “I’m the only rabbi that lives between Atlanta and Macon,” he said. He refered to himself as “everybody’s rabbi.”

Last Wednesday evening, while shopping in the local Kroger, Rabbi Lew got a call from Chris Robertson saying he needed to talk to a rabbi. Rabbi Lew says he gets a lot of calls like that. Robertson indicated that he wasn’t Jewish. “Which is fine. I speak to Jews and non-Jews alike. Everybody is welcome,” said Rabbi Lew. 

He continued, “He says that he runs a video business or something and he’s well known. And I said, ‘What do you want to talk about?’ He says, ‘I want to talk theology.’ It’s up my alley. So he says, ‘I tried to go into different places in Atlanta. He mentioned the temple and the Jewish Federation, but they wouldn’t let him in, but he wants us to sit down and talk to a rabbi.”

Rabbi Lew sets a time with Robertson of 1 p.m., after the lunch and learn he teaches from 12 to 12:45 on Thursdays. When his class finishes, he notices a message from his daughter, which is unusual. “It’s a bulletin, a warning from the Atlanta Jewish Federation security that there’s a guy called Chris Robertson who tried to enter two different institutions yesterday, and if he tries to come into yours, do not let him in. He’s considered dangerous. The FBI is after him, and he’s known as somebody who flaunts weapons. I’m saying to myself, ‘Hey, this guy’s coming to see me in five minutes.’”

Rabbi Lew calls his daughter. He traces where the bulletin comes from. He calls the woman who sent it, and she warns him not to let him in, telling him to call the police. “So I called the Tyrone police, who have been great for the Jewish community throughout the years. They sent somebody over. In the meantime, we went to a private room inside of the synagogue, away from the windows. The cop came and met him outside.”

According to Tyrone Police Public Information Officer Lt. Philip Nelson, the officer ran Robertson’s ID and patted him down, checking for weapons. At that point, all the officer knew was that dispatch had said a person who was known to be armed was there, and that the person was not allowed at other Atlanta synagogues.  

The Tyrone Police officer called Rabbi Lew to ask if he’d still like to have this meeting. Rabbi Lew said, “As long as he doesn’t have any weapons.”

Rabbi Lew felt that Robertson had gone through the proper channels to request a meeting with him, and in fairness, he needed to respect that meeting. But the Tyrone Police officer stayed with them. Robertson asked him, “Do you always have police when you meet with people?”

Rabbi Lew answered him, “I don’t know who you are. The situation is very difficult, so I need to take all precautions.”

The conversation started oddly, and got worse. Rabbi Lew said, “He introduced himself as the emperor or governor of the white race. And he immediately launched into rhetoric and antisemitism.”

According to Rabbi Lew, Robertson said, “Jewish people consider all other nations as animals, and the only humans are Jews.”

Rabbi Lew immediately thought, “There’s a screw missing in this guy’s head, at least one.”

“And I looked him straight in the eye. He’s not going to intimidate me. And I said, “What you’re saying now is incorrect.’ He started screaming, ‘You are lying. You’re gaslighting me.’ So I said, “Listen, sir, calm down. We can’t have a conversation.’

“And he started jumping from one subject to the other. And I couldn’t answer anything. He was angry. He was threatening. He talked about how the Jewish people are trying to exterminate the white race, and we are going to go to war. He talked about how there’s going to be a second Holocaust, all kinds of things like that. But he was crazy. He wasn’t a hateful person making sense. He was completely off his rocker.” explained Rabbi Lew. 

“After about seven, eight minutes of this, he started using profanity. I realized not only is he crazy, but he’s now lost any kind of respect. I said, ‘This is over.’ And I asked him to leave.”

The Tyrone police report corroborates Rabbi Lew’s story. Nelson shared, “Our officer went inside with all the parties to just stand by for safety. Robertson started having a conversation and videoing their conversation. He started to get a heated and speaking erratic. I’m assuming it made the Rabbi a little uncomfortable. So he asked him to leave. [Robertson] had no problem leaving. And then [Rabbi Lew] didn’t want him to come back. So we issued a criminal trespass warning for him not to come back. We gave case cards to everybody.”

“The cop escorted him out and gave him a no trespassing paper, so he can’t come within a thousand feet of the synagogue,” said Rabbi Lew.

But it wasn’t over. “Then the FBI was on the phone with me, because they have a file on him. Security from Atlanta was back on the phone,” said Rabbi Lew.

The FBI called the Tyrone Police Department, too. “An agent wanted to speak with us after the fact, not that he needed him detained, not that he was under arrest, but they just wanted any information we had. I think at that time they were probably building a case. After we were finished with that, the officer called the FBI agent and just gave him the rundown,” said Lt. Nelson.

Rabbi Lew heard that on Friday Night that the FBI came over and Robertson barricaded himself in his house for a few hours. He was arrested and arraigned on Monday, and will be in court on Thursday. “They’re asking him not to be let out on bail, and he’s facing up to a five-year sentence.”

Rabbi Lew found out that Robertson is not actually from Fairburn or Georgia at all. His license and license plate are still registered in Kansas. Rabbi Lew received a message from the Freemasons in Kansas, where Robertson had been a member. “They called me to apologize and sent me a letter of apology.”

After the fact, Lt. Nelson found where Christopher Robertson had posted his video of the encounter on his Facebook page. “The brief clip that I saw, Rabbi Lew was absolutely phenomenal in his handling of trying to keep the guy calm. I didn’t watch the entire thing, but I remember being very impressed with his demeanor in the whole situation. His willingness to meet with that guy after all that says something about his character.”

“I can say two things about this episode,” said Rabbi Lew. “First of all, I feel incredibly grateful and very blessed to live in the Peachtree City, Tyrone, Fayetteville, Newnan area. With all this stuff that’s going on around the world, I can’t even imagine it happening over here. I’ve had people come over with hugs and with smiles and with attaboys and high fives at gas stations and all over the place. I understand that antisemitism is something that’s always around, but it’s never shown in this part of the world, and I’m extremely grateful. I feel very blessed to be part of this kind of community.”

Rabbi Lew continued with a teachable moment, “The second thing is the fact that this happened, a bit of darkness that some guy’s trying to spread. Remember that when you walk into a dark room, even a little light doesn’t just get rid of the darkness, but the darkness disappears. It’s automatic. Light doesn’t engage with evil, and with darkness it just goes away automatically because darkness is an absence of light. And so when something dark happens, everyone who knows about the story or hears about the story or watches the story needs to remember that even a little bit of light pushes away this darkness. A lot of light pushes away a lot more of darkness. 

“Therefore, it is important for everyone to increase in acts of goodness and kindness. Going out, helping people, calling your mother, making up with people, and smiling at somebody, making somebody’s day, this is what pushes away darkness. It would be a good idea for everybody who knows and reads this to make some kind of resolution, to do something special, something sweet, something good, so that we can just increase more goodness and this kind of evil in these people will go away.”

Speaking of going away, when The Citizen asked Rabbi Lew if he thought Robertson belonged in jail or a mental hospital he said, “The guy has a lot of energy. I wish that they can channel that energy into something positive to rehabilitate him. I just don’t know if that’s possible, but if it would be, I would love to meet with him again after, in different circumstances and see how we can do something positive. He doesn’t seem to be mentally stable, but it could be that something snapped in him.”

Those are interested in engaging with Rabbi Lew and the congregation at Chabad Peachtree City or donating to their ministry can find more information at their website at www.chabadsouthside.com.