Polish 'Rabbi' Who Served Jewish Community Is Catholic Ex-Cook

The Times of Israel reports: WARSAW, Poland — A Polish “rabbi,” who served a local Jewish community for several years until he was recently exposed as not being a rabbi, not being born in Israel as claimed, not being too familiar with Jewish customs, and not understanding Hebrew, turns out to be Catholic. And he’s disappeared.

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

Until last week, he maintained a Facebook page under the name Yaakav Ben Nistell, which also said he was from Haifa and featured numerous photographs of his community activities. It has now been taken down.

He admitted three weeks ago during an interview that he is not in fact 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.