Step right up folks, for “The Worst Shiva on Earth!”
What was supposed to be a fond remembrance of a beloved aunt turned into a three-ring rumble when the man who runs the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus had his sister forcibly tossed out of the memorial like a Flying Wallenda, court papers reveal.
That 2007 shiva sparked a $110 million federal lawsuit by the sister, Karen Feld, a Tourette’s-afflicted woman who allegedly blurted out, “F – – k the rabbi” before being booted, along with her toy poodle, Campari, by security goons employed by her brother, Kenneth Feld.
Kenneth Feld is now trying to force the Long Island rabbi, Joshua Burrows, to testify in that Washington, DC, suit about what he saw — and heard — during the clan’s clownish clash.
The Felds are children of Adele and Irvin Feld, who operated the renowned Ringling Bros. circus.
After their mom committed suicide in 1958, Kenneth and Karen grew up in their aunt Shirley Feld’s apartment in Washington while their father was off running the circus.
Kenneth, known as Kenny, was groomed to take over Feld Entertainment, which operates the circus, as well as productions such as “Holiday on Ice.”
Karen became a syndicated gossip columnist.
Karen and Kenny had their first legal squabble in 1984 when their dad died and Karen discovered he had cut her out of his will. Karen sued Kenny for $10 million, but later reportedly settled for less than $1 million.
When their aunt Shirley passed away in 2007 at age 92, Karen stopped by the shiva service to mourn with the family, according to her lawyer, Steven Oster.
“She belonged there,” Oster said.
Kenny and his daughters hugged Karen when she arrived, according to her suit.
Soon after, Rabbi Burrows, who was then working at the Washington Hebrew Congregation in DC, gathered the family in the living room to tell “Shirley stories.”
Karen became overcome with grief and left the room with Campari, who is trained to detect the signs of an oncoming seizure.
On her way to the bathroom, she claims she was grabbed by three “large, aggressive men,” and beaten and dragged down the hallway, tossed into the elevator and then thrown out of the building at her brother’s direction.
Karen claims she suffered a concussion, fractured ribs, torn left earlobe and a broken elbow.
But Kenny in court papers claims that Karen acted irrational during the services, saying “f – – k the rabbi.”
Burrows, who now lives in Nassau County, doesn’t want to testify. His lawyer, Jennifer Bougher, is trying to quash the subpoena sought last month in Brooklyn federal court.