Henry Sobel is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian reform rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 citizen, and was president of the Congregação Israelita Paulista

Congregacao Israelita Paulista

The Congregação Israelita Paulista in São Paulo, is the largest synagogue in Latin America, serving more than 350 people. Established in 1936 by a group of refugees from Nazi Germany, it is a Reform synagogue, but also has ties with the Conservative movement.The rabbinate of the congregation...

 (CIP), the second largest Jewish congregation in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

While Rabbi Sobel was an infant his family moved to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 where he grew up and was eventually ordained a reform rabbi in 1970. In the same year, he accepted an invitation to be the rabbi at CIP and established himself in São Paulo, Brazil. In his own words, it "made possible my actuation in the social and politic fronts and gave me the chance of engaging myself". As of 2007, he had two colleagues sharing the rabbinate, Rabbi Michel Schlesinger and Rabbi Yehuda Busquila. Sobel has one daughter, Alisha, born in 1983.
During the 1970 and 1980's Sobel had an extraordinary role in protecting the Human rights in Brazil

Human rights in Brazil

Human rights in Brazil are legally protected by the Brazilian Constitution, statutes and laws. However, there are serious issues in regard to human rights abuses. Brazil had a remarkably poor record during the dictatorship of the 1960s, and still has many problems today...

 (at that time governed by the military). Alongside with catholic Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns and others, Sobel showed great courage in denouncing the assassination of journalist Wladimir Herzog by right wing military in Brazil.
He had also a great role in promoting inter religious dialogue in Brazil and elsewhere by cultivating excellent relations with Catholic dignataries including the Pope Johan Paul II. During more than 30 years, Sobel was recognized as an informal leader of the Jewish community in São Paulo.

U.S. arrest and hospitalization

On March 23, 2007, Sobel was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida

Palm Beach, Florida

The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...

, accused of shoplifting

Shoplifting

Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....

 US$680 worth of neckties. He was released on a $3,000 bail and returned to São Paulo. He initially denied the accusations and then requested a suspension from his position at CIP.

On March 30, Sobel was admitted to Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. According to the doctors, due to "an episode of mood disorder, represented by a lack of emotional control and altered behavior." The hospital also informed that he had been taking large quantities of drugs to treat severe insomnia that "cause potential states of mental confusion and amnesia." On April 2, Sobel gave a brief press conference at the hospital. "I don't know where to start," he began. "I am taking relatively strong medications. Regarding what happened, it is very hard for me to explain the inexplicable. I do not have scientific and psychological knowledge to understand, explain and, much less, justify what occurred, but one thing I know: the Henry Sobel who committed that act is not the Henry Sobel you know." He ended saying: "I want to close with an apology, and I also want to make a commitment. I want to apologize for the distress that I caused, especially for having taken medication without a medical prescription. I want to apologize for the distress that I caused everybody, and I want to make a solemn commitment: I intend to keep on defending all the moral and ethical values that I have always stood up for, as a Jew, a man and a rabbi."