 The rabbi 's defenders strongly objected to the decision . His primary supporter , synagogue vice president Louis Jackson , who had broken the story to the press , described the congregation as a " collection of jackasses " , with the " chief jackass " being the president Louis Schwartz , who Jackson accused of eating ham himself , and of stealing from the synagogue 's charity boxes . Jackson was expelled from the congregation , and subsequently convicted of libel and fined $ 100 ( today $ 2 @,@ 600 ) for making the accusations , while Rosenberg sued the synagogue for his salary . Rosenberg died of pneumonia in April 1893 , at the age of 43 , his " health and spirits " , according to a contemporary New York Times report , " broken " by the expulsion . At the funeral , Jackson berated the congregation 's members , who , he charged , had " hounded , hunted , driven [ Rosenberg ] to a grave of misery " , and allegedly threatened to kill one of them with a stone taken from the newly dug grave . Charges were again brought against Jackson , but this time were dismissed , with the Justice stating " it looks as if it were an even thing all around . " 
