To Whom it concerns:

I'm Fred Nussbaum, CPA for Mr Ruben Safir.  I've know Mr Safir and his
family for almost 2 decades and has been his tax accountant and friend
for all those years.  I'm intimately familiar with Mr Safir's history
and his financial and employment situation going back decades.

Prior to Mrs Safir leaving Brooklyn with the children, Mrs Safir
was historically, depending on the year, between 60% and 40% of the
household income and an equal breadwinner in the household.  Mr Safir
is a Pharmacist, and doing a brief period between 2000-2002, worked with
computers.  Mr Safir has worked nearly 100 jobs in that time period and
I can attest that he has always struggled as a Pharmacist, except for
a brief period between 2006-2008, during a Pharmacist shortage.

One of the main factors inhibiting Mr Safir's employment has been his
Jewish Work Schedule.  In his line of business, all pharmacies require
their pharmacists to work alternating Saturdays.  There are some very
minor exceptions to this, at most a dozen or so privately owned Pharmacies
in Boro Park and Flatbush, and Mr Safir over the years has worked at
many of those places, but they offer no stability and limited salary.

About 3 months ago, Mr Safir came to my office and asked me if I knew
of any Pharmacies that needed work, or and computer jobs.  Although I
have many clients, I don't know of anyone hiring in either field.  I can
tell you that in my vast experience, people in Mr Safir's age group,
he is 49,  and employment history, find it very difficult to find jobs.
In addition he has bouts with anxiety that he has always suffered from.
Whether that is from depression or other ailments, or just a result
of is living conditions with Mrs Safir, I can't attest to, nor do I
have expertise.

It's come to my attention, the the Supreme Court Judge, Mrs Deloris
Thomas, has rejected Mr Safir's employment search since January because
he submitted emails.  I'm very perplexed and distrubed by this ruling.
I want to be as clear as possible about this.  Currently, the primary
means of my clients finding employment is one of two methods.

1.  They apply for positions through the Internet.  Most employees do
not accept even fax resumes any longer.  They either have online job
applications, or they post jobs on websites like Craigslist, which work
through anonymous email accounts.  Mr Safir has shown me almost 35 PAGES
of such emails, and anyone in the accounting field or an employment
specialist will confirm that is an enormous effort.   The emails I'm
looking at have dates on them, showing he has been consistent in this
effort, and the messages have detailed cover letters, asking for part
time work when the classified is looking for part-time, and asking for
full-time work when the job is requesting full-time.  He also states
his experience, in fact he bends the truth with regard to that, never
telling anyone about the 100 or so jobs he has had, and outlining his
accomplishments as best as he can.  The evidence is in the emails.
If the court doesn't allow for such evidence, what can my clients in
the future possible submit for evidence of an employment search in a day
when everything is done by email and electronic transition? If this is
a legal precedent, it is very alarming.

2. They network everyone they know for employment.  This is done either
through face to face requests, and I can tell you with complete certainty
that Mr Safir has nagged everyone he knows for a job lead.  Or they
use networking through the Internet, such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
Mr Safir seems to have attempted those efforts in detail as well,
as I've seen his Linkin account. Additionally, he as resourced the
Jewish community.  He has contacted Rabbi Borenstein of the Agudah's
professional employment service, FEGS community care and Parnassus Plus,
and the Community Organization of Jewish Outreach, and have nothing that
can help him, although he continues to try.

I'd like to make one more point.  Mr Safir does not spend money
recklessly.  Flowers, which the court views as an extra expense, are
required for the Sabbath, and his spending on that is fairly typical.
He purchased a case of wine for the Sabbath, another necessity and noted
as a frivelous expense.  The Cablevision bill you quoted is Mr Safir's
only telephone and Internet service, vital things he needs to apply
for jobs and to train for positions, especially in the computer field.
He has no Television.  His use of resturants might be deemed a little
extra, but he has two children in the house who don't help clean or cook
and I think the court should view his very moderate use of restaurants
as being acceptable, and certainly not excessive.  It certainly doesn't
rise to the level of the kinds of monies that the court is expecting
for court related expenses.

One final point.  When Mr Safir was fired by Kensington Pharmacy (he
was told he can work without pay for two months if he  wished), he had
some money when he left and he expected to get a new job very quickly.
You have his bank statements up until February.  He was likely to
have some money in that period, not much, but a few hundred dollars.
Since that time, he has reached a zero point.  We know this because
he talks with everyone about it, anyone who will listen, over months,
even years as his financial problems have been going on for decades.
He has no savings, no car, old furniture with we gave him when my mother
passed a decade ago, and if you ask him, he'll show you that his shoes
have holes in them.  He has borrowed from the community, and he has
stretched that out to its limits.

That being said, Mr Safir has been an outstanding father.  He was so proud
to have gotten his son, Schmuel, back from upstate NY.  He poured nearly
every penny he could borrow into the boy, getting him into school,
buying him clothes, getting him tutors.  He now owes everyone, The
Mireer Yeshiva, Camp Sternberg, individuals in the community, and his
landlord. He's done a super human job under the circumstances, and he's
done this while he broke his hand and elbow, incapacitating  him for
3 or more months, and while absorbing the $50,000 a year loss that Mrs
Safir created when she quit her job and left Mr Safir and his daughter
Shoshana with $7,000 of back rent and expenses.  And this month he burried
his only living relative, his grandmother.

He has no support system, no relatives to lean on, and very limited resources.
Actually, one can admire his survival skills.

If you have any questions about any of this, please contact me at my office:

Fred Nussbaum CPA 
1324 Avenue J 
Brooklyn, NY 11230 
(718) 377-7719