Tat pointed to susp in arson at rabbi’s home

The tattoo on his arm that says “Kill Rabbi Max” was just one sign that Menachem “Matthew” Karelefsky was a good suspect in the torching of the rabbi’s home (photo) in Brooklyn.

Karelefsky, 41, left several signs out in the open that he held a crazed grudge against the holy man — including the inked appendage and several social media screeds.

The McKeesport, Pa., man was arraigned Sunday night in Brooklyn Criminal Court, where a judge ordered him held without bail on attempted murder and arson charges.

Police blame Karelefsky for a massive arson fire early Thursday that torched Rabbi Jonathan Max’s house as well as two adjacent homes on E. 17th St. near Avenue N in Midwood. The blaze sent 13 people — including a 6-week-old child — to the hospital, police said Sunday.

Shortly before his arrest on Saturday, Karelefsky texted a Daily News reporter: “So many people know that this ‘holy man’ uses his big beard and big hat to cover up the BIG sins that he does in private.”

Max said Sunday night that he believes Karelefsky concocted the allegations against him while in jail in Pennsylvania, after an arrest years ago.

Karelefsky says on his Facebook page that he is divorced. The rabbi said he helped protect Karelefsky’s estranged wife and children.

“He needed an idea to get me, and that was the simplest way,” said Max, a teacher at Chaim Berlin Yeshiva.

At arraignment, a prosecutor described the extensive evidence in the case.

Max was at home at the time of the incident, and video shows Karelefsky at the scene, said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Tziyonah Langsam. Karelefsky admitted setting the fire, and when he was arrested, he possessed lighter fluid, an ax and knives, Langsam said.