Failed Messiah

Failed Messiah is the rather odd name used by Shmarya Rosenberg, a Jew running a blog in New York. He explains all About Failed Messiah. He reports on the dirt which does not make him popular. It seems that religious Jews like to keep their sins private, crimes ditto. He may well have seen the light or just too much of the dirt. He is not amused by Haredi Jews, the ones who wear silly hats and take their religion very seriously.

UPDATE: After the Failed Messiah Signed Off the Lost Messiah signed on. So some Jews like the truth.

See more at Mikva Abuse. He gave us 2,445 posts categorized "Pedophilia & Related Crimes" or look for general purpose crime at http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/crime/, a rather larger 9,069. Thieving is preferred to buggering small boys.

Some of his links are at Cases.

Another view of them comes from Israel Shahak, a great peace activist in Israel. Professor Shahak tells us in Jewish History: Jewish Religion that it is based on deception; that:-
QUOTE
First, a dominant feature of this system of dispensations, and of classical Judaism inasmuch as it is based on them, is deception - deception primarily of God, if this word can be used for an imaginary being so easily deceived by the rabbis, who consider themselves cleverer than him. No greater contrast can be conceived than that between the God of the Bible (particularly of the greater prophets) and of the God of classical Judaism......

From the ethical point of view, classical Judaism represents a process of degeneration, which is still going on; and this degeneration into a tribal collection of empty rituals and magic superstitions has very important social and political consequences. For it must be remembered that it is precisely the superstitions of classical Judaism which have the greatest hold on the Jewish masses
UNQUOTE
Professor Shahak does not quite say they are fools but that is the way he points.

UPDATE - February 2016:
Failed Messiah Signs Off
UPDATE II
Lost Messiah signs on
You might find value in:-
Frum Follies
or
Protect Jewish Kids

The Failed Messiah has a virtue; he feeds us the evidence. Here is some. Find more at:-
http://failedmessiah.com/
Failed Messiah on Paedophiles or
Failed Messiah on Crime

Failed Messiah Explains
Who is he? Why does tell us about the evil done by Jews? He became an insider, didn't like what he saw and then told the truth. Whoops. Now, since 7 October 2023 Jews are busy proving that they are even more vicious, that they are Psychopathic mass murderers

Failed Messiah - Haaretz Explains
Haaretz knows all about him but doesn't want anyone else to find out.

Failed Messiah on Paedophiles
Shmarya Rosenberg aka the FailedMessiah has 891 posts on paedophiles. Are they all wrong? I seriously doubt it. Are Hasidic Jews determined to conceal their evil? Absolutely. Does that make them criminals who Pervert the course of justice? Naturally. Do they care? There is no need to be naive about this.

Rabbi Eliezer Silver on Child Sexual Abuse [ 22 June 2009 ]
QUOTE
Bend Over Agudah – Truth Is Incoming
Was there a time when some of Agudah's leaders were actually honest?
Rabbi Eliezer Silver's grandson talks about his own sexual abuse and what his grandfather did about it. Note that no senior level Agudah rabbis has done the same today, and that many children have suffered as a result. This runs about one minute:
Rabbi Eliezer Silver actually was something, unlike the Novominsker and many of Agudah's current rabbinic hacks and its apparatchiks like Dovid Zwiebel, whose combined rabbinic skills barely fill a tea bag, if that. This doesn't make Rabbi Silver perfect – it just shows again how totally imperfect and corrupt today's Agudah leaders are.
UNQUOTE
Better a clean boy than a dirty camel under the desert stars - that was TE Lawrence on Arabs of the desert. New York Jews are just the same.

Man Detained For Suspected Kidnapping & Sodomy Of 8 Year Old [ 1 September 2010 ]
QUOTE
Man detained for suspected kidnapping, sodomy of 8-year-old
‘Our children are scared to go out alone now,’ ex-policeman who lives in area tells ‘Post.’ A 37-year-old man from central Israel was arrested on Monday night on suspicion of kidnapping and attempting to sodomize an eight-year-old girl from a town in the Sharon district of central Israel. The girl was playing with a friend when the suspect pulled up in a car and offered the girls a ride to their home. He then allegedly abducted one of them, while her friend ran home and alerted her parents, who in turn alerted the girl’s parents.

Police believe the suspect, who was allegedly intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, drove a few kilometers to a local cemetery near Hadera, where he may have sodomized the girl in his vehicle. The girl then managed to escape, and was spotted by a driver as she walked around the cemetery. The driver contacted police. Officers found the girl hiding in a bush. Her small dress was found on the passenger’s seat of the suspect’s vehicle.
UNQUOTE
He can pretend to be a lunatic. Or perhaps he really is one.

Hasidic Jew Arrested For Sexual Abuse [ 2 May 2011 ]
QUOTE
Exclusive: Chabad Hasid Arrested For Sexual Abuse
The Crown Heights hasid was charged with Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree, Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. I exclusively reported the arrest last Friday. The man's name is Moshe Y. "Itzik" Vaisfiche. His next court appearance is May 4th in Brooklyn Criminal Court. His bail was set at $5,000.
UNQUOTE
Are they all at it?

Jew Molested Boys In Tel Aviv [ 2 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
An indictment was filed on Sunday in the Tel Aviv District Court, charging a Bnei Brak resident with sodomy and indecent assault against three boys aged under 16.

According to the indictment, the defendant, who cannot be named, molested the minors as they immersed themselves in a Bnei Brak mikva [ritual bath] and as they showered beforehand.

The defendant also forced the minors to perform sex acts against their will, the indictment alleges. The Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office also served a request to remand the defendant for the duration of the proceedings.

According to that request, the defendant was arrested after a member of staff at the mikva noticed he had come to the mikva just before one of the minors. The witness informed a volunteer in a local Haredi organization, who held the defendant at the mikva until the police arrived.
UNQUOTE
Are they all at it?

25% To 30% Of Israeli Prostitutes' Customers Are Haredi [ 9 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
Human rights groups and the Knesset Subcommittee on Trafficking in Women are taking on Israel’s burgeoning sex service industry. Committee chairwoman MK Orit Zuaretz is set to raise the stakes in the coming months battling prostitution with potential legislation that will make it illegal for a man to utilize the services of a prostitute..........

While there is no exact figures on how many people in Israel utilize the services of sex workers in Israel, Atzum estimates that up to 10,000 men each month visit one of the hundreds of discreet apartments or brothels throughout the country. Of those, Lauer said that roughly 25-35 percent are from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community; 25-35% are Arab; 8- 10% are foreign workers and the rest are from the rest of Israeli society.
UNQUOTE
Haredi Jews are the very religious ones, who take their rules seriously - sometimes.

Confronting Child Sex Abuse In Australia [ 11 October 2011 ]
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Video of a seminar on child sex abuse that was given for the Melbourne Jewish community in the wake of the Chabad child sex abuse scandals. It features Dr. Danny Lamm, Sergeant Scott Wells of the Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT), Dr Joe Tucci, Cathie Cincotta (who is the Team Leader of the Child Protection Response of the DHS), and Mary Mass of the South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault. Chabad was asked to publicize this event but did not.
UNQUOTE
Figures are being bandied about; huge numbers but very different. Do they know what they are talking about? Over 250 thousand cases in Victoria, or was it Australia(?) implies that a substantial proportion of children are victims. I do not believe it, not on that scale.

Haredi Fringe Group Claims Molestation Of Boys Has Surged Since Same Sex Marriage Bill Passed In NY [ 11 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
JPAC wants men's mikvas to put up its anti-gay signs "The Jewish Political Action Committee is now organizing an awareness program to stop Gay molesters from attacking children and teens. Since the gay marriage bill in New York was introduced,there has been a surge of gay attacks against youngsters in New York." However, the vast majority of pedophiles who molest boys are not gay, and medical science has long since shown that. And there is no evidence whatsoever for JPAC's claim that attacks against boys have surged since same sex unions were legalized a few months ago.........
JPAC is completely unaware of the medical science of this issue. It does not know that the vast majority of man-on-boy-pedophiles are heterosexuals, and that being gay does not predispose a person to pedophilia.
UNQUOTE
So some Jews loathe paedophiles. Fair enough. Failed Messiah disagrees, saying they do not know the science. Does he? FM does not give sources. Have a look at Paedophilia and Male Homosexuality & especially Homosexuals A re The Principal Child Molesters or Pro-Gay Bias In Study of Paedophilia. A medical man has been over the ground. He says that deviates are more likely to be after boys.

Paedophile Found Working At Day Care Centre In Israel Arrested [ 12 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
Police determine that no children at the Petah Tikva municipal daycare center were victimized by security guard convicted of sexual abuse. A former prison inmate and convicted pedophile was arrested late Monday after beginning employment as a security guard for a municipal daycare center in Petah Tikva. The guard, 35, only managed to work two shifts at his new workplace before his new job was deemed inappropriate by a parole case officer from the Prison Service.
A police investigation determined that no child in the center had been victimized by the convicted pedophile before the discovery of his criminal past.........
The man in question was convicted in 2002 of pressuring a young boy to accompany him to a bomb shelter in the South where he enticed him with drugs and pornographic movies and then sexually abused the boy.
UNQUOTE
Nasty lot, aren't they?

Prior Crimes An Issue For Rabbi's Trial [ 15 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
Prosecution Wants To Introduce Rabbi's Prior Crimes At Murder Trial
Prosecutors want to use Victor Koltun's federal criminal record to discredit him if the rabbi testifies at his upcoming murder trial. Koltun, 42, of Brooklyn, and co-defendants Frank Lewis, 57, of Brooklyn, and Craig Fennell, 52, of Manhattan, face first- and second-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the Nov. 4 double slaying in Newburgh of ex-Lloyd police Officer Francis Piscopo, 49, and Gerald Piscopo, 28, of Highland........
Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne told the court he wishes to be able to cross-examine Koltun, a rabbi, on his 2000 conviction for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and on a 2004 violation of federal probation that stemmed from allegations that he threatened people to get them to file four fraudulent tax returns.
UNQUOTE
What does it take to be a rabbi? Being a Jew but apart from that not a lot it seems.

I would have thought that the mug shot would be enough to convict on. The previous just confirms what is there for the world to see.

Lawsuits Pile Up Against Accused Rabbi [ 15 October 2011 ]
QUOTE
A web of lawsuits have been woven around an allegedly crooked rabbi accused of forging paperwork to steal a whole building. According to court records and knowledgeable sources, Benjamin Herbst and cohorts have been the focus of a number of real estate lawsuits similar to the one Real Estate Weekly reported last week he is involved in at the midtown office building 315 West 35th Street.
The court cases and lawyers involved in them accuse Herbst and his associates of taking part in a number of schemes in which they have forged documents and signatures in order to gain title to properties they do not own and also leverage money against them.............

In that situation, the real estate investor Isaac Chetrit had purchased the distressed debt on the asset for $10.75 million in the summer of 2010. But when Chetrit tried to proceed with a foreclosure against the owner of the property, a man named Aaron Chitrik, he found that the title to the mortgage had been recorded to an imposter company with a similarly spelled name to the corporation Chetrit has used to buy the note..........

“What they are saying is an outright lie,” Meister countered. It appears that this isn’t the first time Herbst has been involved in these types of activities, court records show. In 1999, Herbst committed similar alleged misconduct at a property where he was living in Borough Park, Brooklyn that his wife, Rhoda Herbst, had defaulted on.
UNQUOTE
Greed, fornication, lechery, being a Jew. It all goes together.

After Years Of Ignoring The Problem, Haredi Synagogue Bans Serial Pedophile [ 14 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
Jerry Yechiel Brauner is a notorious Borough Park pedophile who was just released from a psychiatric facility. One of his favored stomping grounds is the Shomer Shabbos synagogue, a popular neighborhood minyan factory. For years, the rabbi who runs Shomer Shabbos refused to ban Brauner. Instead, he honored him, having him lead parts of the High Holiday services. But that has finally changed. Nuchem Rosenberg is reporting that the hierarchy of Shomer Shabbos synagogue at 53rd and 13th in Borough Park have decided to ban Jerry Yechiel Brauner, barring him from entering the building.
I imagine the guys at Chaptzem, who have been complaining about Brauner and Shomer Shabbos for years, must be thrilled that their work is finally paying off.
UNQUOTE
Do Jews have something odd about them?

Alleged Chabad Money Laundering Linked To Medical Fraud Case [ 17 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
As the College of Physicians and Sugeons pursues its own charges against Dr. Sokol, legally piggybacking on Dr. Sokol's guilty plea, the initial police allegations were of a scheme in which he sent proceeds of his billing in 26 installments over four years to Colel Chabad Lubavitch Foundation of Israel, which then allegedly issued him tax receipts, and returned between 80% and 95% of the money in the form of bank drafts made out to Dr. Sokol's offshore company, Moshe Shmuel Deitsh Corp....

In 2009, when he was facing trial on criminal charges of fraud and money laundering, Dr. Lorne Wayne Sokol, 51, an expert in pain treatment and a frequent witness at Workplace Safety Insurance Board hearings who runs a clinic in Toronto's Corso Italia neighbourhood, made a deal with Ontario prosecutors.

He repaid the $3,511,356.62 [ Three Million ] that police alleged he defrauded between 2003 and 2007 from the province's health plan by claiming reimbursement for pain injections that were not compensable, including "nerve block, trigger point, bursa joint and ganglion tendon injections."
UNQUOTE
This is fairly major fraud so he got lucky with the result.

Another Child Sex Scandal Rocks College Sports [ 17 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
Syracuse's Bernie Fine placed on leave
By Mark Schwarz and Arty Berko • ESPN
Two former Syracuse University ball boys say they were molested by associate head basketball coach Bernie Fine, starting in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1990s. Police in Syracuse said they have opened an investigation into the allegations. And in a statement Thursday night, Syracuse said it has placed Fine on administrative leave.
One alleged victim, Bobby Davis, now 39, told Outside the Lines that Fine molested him beginning in 1984, shortly before Davis entered the seventh grade. Davis, the team's ball boy for six years beginning in 1984, said the abuse occurred at Fine's home, at the Syracuse basketball facilities, and on road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.
UNQUOTE
It was all a long time ago so there is no scientific proof, no witness proof. One side or other is lying? Which one? Who knows.

A Knockdown Drag Out Fight Over Haredi Child Sex Abuse [ 20 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
A Knockdown Drag Out Fight Over Haredi Child Sex Abuse MIchael Salamon, PhD. dukes it out with Ami Magazine's dishonest publisher Rabbi Yizchok Frankfurter and Pinny Taub, the Patty Hearst of haredi child sex abuse survivors. In the process, Salamon threw bloggers and advocates under the bus, Frankfurter was sleazy and disgusting, and Taub was only marginally better. And during it all. Tzvi Gluck explained the mystery of the DA's "89" haredim arrested for child sex abuse since fall 2009, and told stories about horrific child sex abuse incidents and equally horrific rabbinic coverups........

Gluck said the 89 arrests of pedophiles since 2009 claimed by the Brooklyn DA (but for which the DA refuses to supply a list of names and case dispositions) are mostly cases that were fixed by haredi community fixers.
UNQUOTE
So 89 cases are known among New York Jews since 2009 and 89(?) Jews walked. What do the media say about this? They tells us about paedophiles in the Catholic Church.

Save Our Kids From Paedophiles [ 22 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
Details continue to unfold about the shocking scandal over allegations of child sexual abuse and cover-up at Penn State University. I think this is one of those "teachable moments" where other, similarly terrible incidents don't usually get these same front-page headlines.

Some experts call child sexual abuse a national epidemic. The statistics they cite are startling: 20 percent of America's children suffer sexual abuse, according to the National Institute of Justice; of those, 56 percent suffer that abuse at the hands of family members or people they trust and respect; the average paedophile abuses more than 100 children; and only 10 percent of perpetrators are ever exposed.......

Reputation is more important than kids: When cases of abuse arise, there is a tendency to protect the institution first. What happened at Penn State is no different from practices repeatedly exposed over the past decade in the Catholic Church and other religious denominations, in the Scouting movement or even within families. Image, bad publicity and damage to the institution are the highest concerns.
UNQUOTE
This fingers Holy Mother Church, not Jews. That is why they control the Main Stream Media.

Racist Rabbi To Be Investigated By Police For Inciting Hatred Of Arabs [ 22 November 2011 ]
QUOTE
Safed chief rabbi to be probed for saying 'Arab culture is cruel' and 'expelling Arabs from Jewish neighborhood is part of the strategy'

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced Tuesday that a criminal investigation would be launched against Eliyahu over suspicions of incitement to racism in light of statements he made in reference to the to the Arab public. by Rabbi Eliyahu together with 50 other rabbis stating that apartments should not be sold or rented out to anyone who wasn't Jewish.
UNQUOTE
He got away with it last time so why not try it on again? He is a deeply sincere Racist slob.

Third Indictment Filed In Jerusalem Pedophile Case
QUOTE
Zalman Cohen one of 5 men arrested in September for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of minors in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office announced on Sunday that an indictment has been filed charging a Jerusalem man with sexually abusing minors in the capital. Zalman Cohen was one of five men arrested in September for allegedly sexually abusing dozens of minors in Jerusalem....
In one incident, Cohen and other men allegedly abused several boys and girls, by forcing them to undress and pair up in “couples” and perform sex acts. Cohen is alleged to have threatened two of the children with a toy gun, saying that if they told their parents about the abuse, he would kill them.
UNQUOTE
It goes on and on.

The Uphill Battle To Expose Haredi Pedophiles

The Brooklyn DA allows predators to make sweetheart plea deals that keep them out of prison and off sex offender registries. Haredi rabbis demand to be the gatekeepers who decide which, if any, allegations of pedophilia are reported to police. And while child sex abuse scandals at Penn State and in the Catholic Church get extensive media coverage, the rape of haredi children is almost completely absent from America's media of record – especially from the New York Times.

Continue reading "The Uphill Battle To Expose Haredi Pedophiles" »

Posted at 09:29 AM in Crime, etc., Haredim, Media, Pedophilia | Permalink | Comments (61)

The Uphill Battle To Expose Haredi Pedophiles

The Brooklyn DA allows predators to make sweetheart plea deals that keep them out of prison and off sex offender registries. Haredi rabbis demand to be the gatekeepers who decide which, if any, allegations of pedophilia are reported to police. And while child sex abuse scandals at Penn State and in the Catholic Church get extensive media coverage, the rape of haredi children is almost completely absent from America's media of record – especially from the New York Times.

Ben Hirsch of Survivors for Justice writes in The Jewish Week [emphasis added]:

…Orthodox victims agonize over the lack of attention given this problem by mainstream media and government, particularly compared to the Catholic abuse scandal and, now, the situation at Penn State. While Jewish newspapers such as The Jewish Week, and blogs, have done hundreds of stories on this issue, the same cannot be said for the mainstream media. In five years The New York Times has published two stories; Orthodox Jewish children are being raped in the paper’s backyard but it appears that this is news not fit to print.

What happened at Penn State has hit us hard; respected figures behaved egregiously. But once the story broke, people were held accountable. This could not have happened without extensive mainstream media coverage.

Left to its own devices, the ultra-Orthodox leadership will continue covering up child molestation and harshly enforcing its version of “omerta.” In the name of “cultural sensitivity,” the Brooklyn DA will allow predators to devastate more lives.

While we work to empower Orthodox children and families, we also need the national media to shine a brighter light on this problem, and we need state legislatures, attorneys general and the federal government to strengthen and enforce the laws designed to protect our most vulnerable.

UNQUOTE
They don't care about their own children? Do they care about ours? Hint: No chance.

October 11, 2011: Hasidic Rebbe Calls President Obama "Black Dog" And "Arab"
Comments: 72 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Haredim , Israel
Isn't that racist? Not when a Jew does it presumably.

The rebbe also called Israel's president, Shimon Peres, "evil" and said the world will end soon with the wars of Gog U'Magog, and those wars will be an instantaneous worldwide nuclear holocaust. The Shomrei Emunim rebbe Note: the Jewish new...

October 11, 2011: Ashkenazi Haredi School Refuses To Admit Sefardi Students
Comments: 6 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Sefardim

Kol Hai Radio on Sunday aired a recording of a principal of a haredi high school for girls in Beitar Illit, complaining about the number of Sephardic students he already has and refusing to admit any more. Seminary refuses to...

October 11, 2011: Mea Shearim Haredim Ban Women From Public Streets
Comments: 20 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The ultra-Orthodox community in Mea She'arim is planning to impose gender segregation in the Jerusalem neighborhood's streets on Sukkot, despite a High Court order forbidding it. Women's rights and other watchdog groups intend to fight against the segregation, which excludes...

October 11, 2011: City Workers Remove Sexist Yiddish Signs
Comments: 38 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Media

City workers have removed signs warning women in a Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn to step aside for men. The signs were first reported on FailedMessiah.com. City workers remove Yiddish signs directing women to move aside for men in Hasid neighborhood...

October 10, 2011: Should A Powerful Congressman Fire His Senior Advisor Because The Advisor Is In Cherem For Refusing To Give A Get?
Comments: 56 | Categories: Haredim , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

Aharon Friedman is refusing to give his ex-wife Tamar Epstein a Jewish divorce called a get. Without a get a religious Jewish woman cannot remarry and is known as an agunah, a chained woman. This is despite the fact that...

October 10, 2011: Kosher Meat Still Inhumanely Slaughtered, Forward Says
Comments: 33 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Extremely cruel methods of slaughter, including one banned in the US, are used in OU supervised slaughterhouses in South and Central America and imported to the US. At the same time, Agri Star is still using its infamous inverted pen...

October 10, 2011: Between Mudslinging And Exposing Cover-Ups
Comments: 53 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

In Brooklyn, Yehuda Kolko was arrested yet again recently for harassing one of his young victims. He continues to be welcomed in the Flatbush shul of Rabbi Weinfeld, where until last year he was honored by being the Baal Tkiah,...

October 10, 2011: Recalcitrant Husband Ordered To Pay $183,000 Fine
Comments: 0 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

Family Court rules divorce recalcitrant must pay high compensatory damages to wife with whom he has not cohabited since 2002. 'Refusing to grant a get violates the values protected by Israel’s Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom,' says judge. Recalcitrant...

October 10, 2011: Haredi Fringe Group Works Borough Park
Comments: 63 | Categories: Haredim , Homophobia and its Discontents , Torah & Science

The haredi fringe group JPAC puts its signs in sukkas in Borough Park. The JPAC people have created at least one unwelcoming sukka in Borough Park. Note the sign that says homosexuality is worse than murder. That moronic statement is...

October 9, 2011: Israeli Chabadniks Behaving Badly
Comments: 33 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc.

A yeshiva student walking home late at night was attacked from behind, a towel wrapped around his head so that he could not see his attackers, kicked and punched to the moment he felt that he was surely going to...

October 9, 2011: Haredi 2-Year-Old Found Walking Alone At 3 AM
Comments: 33 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Hessed

Borough Park Shomrim patrolling the streets of Borough Park were shocked when they came across a 2-year-old boy walking alone early Sunday morning just before 3:00 a.m. Miracle In BP: Shomrim Find 2-Year-Old Child Wandering Streets On Motzei Yom Kippur...

October 9, 2011: More Kapparot Chicken Abuse Photos
Comments: 26 | Categories: Haredim , Kosher Scandal

More haredim mishandle chickens during kapparot. All photos from Flash 90

October 9, 2011: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's Charity Under Fire – Again
Comments: 26 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc.

The 2009 Form 990 filing indicates the charity took in more than $651K in contributions and other revenue and racked up $638K in operating and administrative expenses--but only $70 K of that figure amounted to charitable disbursements. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach...

October 9, 2011: On Orders From Rabbi, Settler Violates House Arrest To Fly To Rabbi Nachman's Grave In Uman, Ukraine
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

The Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court on Sunday extended the remand of a 25-year-old man from Elon Moreh by two days because he flew to Uman on the orders of his rabbi despite being under house arrest, entering and leaving the...

October 9, 2011: Video: Chabad Messianists Receive Dollars "From" The Dead Rebbe
Comments: 51 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & Christianity

Chabad messianists receive dollars to be given to charity "handed" to them by Chabad's Rebbe, who died in 1994. Many of the messianists in the video posted below appear to be Israeli. They're reacting a charity distribution the Rebbe u

October 22, 2011: NYC Will Close Gender Segregated Hasidic Bus Line
Comments: 44 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

New York City authorities said they will shut down a city bus service run by hasidic Jews if the group doesn't stop making women sit at the back of the bus. NY may close bus service that makes women sit...

October 22, 2011: Israeli Society Racist, Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Says
Comments: 16 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Ethiopian Jews , Israel , MO & Chardal

Rabbi Amiel Keinan says 'great honor' to teach children from the now-closed, predominantly Ethiopian school Ner Etzion; Keinan enrolled his own son in Ner Etzion as the only white student, because 'it's an excellent school and we're against racism.' Rabbi...

October 22, 2011: Haredim Throw Concrete Blocks At Police
Comments: 41 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

Haredim in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim hurled concrete blocks from their balconies at police officers on Saturday. Several officers were lightly wounded and treated on the spot. Earlier on Saturday, police arrested one man on suspicion of disorderly...

October 19, 2011: Blog Schedule
Comments: 27 |

Tonight at sundown is the beginning of the holiday of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, which continues through Friday at sundown, at which time Shabbat begins. That's a long way of saying that there won't be any new posts until...

October 19, 2011: The Jewish Community Should Be Ashamed – But It Isn't
Comments: 15 | Categories: Hessed , Homelessness

The holiday of Sukkot is both a harvest festival and a commemoration of the time the ancient Hebrews spent in the desert after fleeing Egypt. The sukkah symbolizes the protection God gave them during their 40 years of wandering. It...

October 19, 2011: Rubashkin Robo Calls Violate Law
Comments: 58 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

"We have been receiving phone calls nightly between 10:00-10:30pm from 718-640-1870. It is an automated call to sign the [Sholom] Rubaskin [White House] petition. Not only are they waking me up, but my husband is going through chemotherapy…and they are...

October 19, 2011: Hasidim Protest At Community College
Comments: 65 | Categories: Haredim , Homophobia and its Discontents

Hasidim protested same sex marriage, promiscuity and high taxes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Hasidim protested same sex marriage, promiscuity and high taxes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College earlier this week. Stealtheworld writes on Tumblr: Hasidic...

October 19, 2011: Women Flock To Special Torah Evenings – Some Rabbis Object
Comments: 13 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

In a synagogue one evening a few weeks ago, dozens of women burst into laughter when Noam Zigedon joked about getting one's husband to change a lightbulb: "So it takes him a month or two - a year or two....

October 19, 2011: In Brooklyn, An Illegally Gender Segregated City Bus
Comments: 51 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

Hasidim have turned a public bus line into a gender-segregated bus line, despite New York City regulations (and court decisions) that make this illegal. And the city is doing nothing to stop it. The B-110 bus. Sasha Chavkin/The New York...

October 18, 2011: The Founders Of Pop Kabbalah (Part 2)
Comments: 15 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Religion

After complaining that Karen had too much power, "we were presented with an ultimatum -- to have us agree that Karen Berg possessed Ru'ah HaKodesh -- Holy Spirit (total obedience to every decision of hers) or that we could no...

October 18, 2011: Haredi Zealots Attack Bookstore – Again
Comments: 16 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

The store is haredi-owned and stocks only religious books, but they include volumes published by Orthodox institutions that are Zionist -- anathema to the Sikrikim, who believe a Jewish state can be established only with the coming of the Messiah....

October 18, 2011: Another Arrest In The Chabad Child Sex Abuse Scandal
Comments: 49 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Pedophilia

Another alleged pedophile at Chabad's Yeshiva College has been arrested. The charges relate to molestations that allegedly took place during the past five years. Aron Ezriel "Ezzy" Kestecher top and above left in Chabad Youth T-shirt and tzitzit Another alleged...

October 18, 2011: Jerusalem City Council Member Stripped Of Portfolios For Opposing Haredi Gender Segregation
Comments: 17 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

Jerusalem City Council Member Rachel Azaria quickly paid a high price for standing up for what she believes in. Earlier today, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat stripped her of her portfolios on the city council that concern community councils and early...

October 17, 2011: Reform Movement Demands Western Wall Gender Segregation Be Ended
Comments: 31 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The Reform Movement in Israel is demanding that forced gender segregation at the Western Wall plaza and on buses departing from its main entrance be immediately ended. Above: The prayer areas abutting the Western Wall The main entrance to the...

October 17, 2011: Rabbi: IDF Soldiers Should Shoot Terrorists "In Their Beds"
Comments: 52 | Categories: Ethics , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion , Terrorism

The Israel Defense Forces' former chief Rabbi criticized a prisoner swap deal that is due to set abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit free, saying on Monday that Israeli soldiers should from now on "kill terrorists in their beds." "When you...

October 17, 2011: Photos: Ivanka Trump On Sukkot
Comments: 47 | Categories: MO & Chardal , Religion , Sightings

Ivanka Trump, who converted to Orthodox Judaism before she married Jared Kushner, walks with her husband, baby and a lulav in Manhattan on the second day of Sukkot.

October 17, 2011: The Founders Of Pop Kabbalah
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

He is a former haredi yeshiva student and insurance salesman who used ghost writers to make his books appeal to a mass non-Jewish audience. She is his former secretary. They married after having an affair and built a multi-million dollar...

October 17, 2011: Hasidim Dance For Shalit's Release
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel

"Thousands" of Miskolc hasidim dance for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's release, scheduled for Tuesday, claiming their rebbe's prayers facilitated the deal. The Miskolc rebbe Thousands of Hasidim dance for Shalit Miskolc Rebbe's followers dedicate Water Drawing Festival to kidnapped...

October 17, 2011: Haredi "Taliban" Woman In Monsey
Comments: 48 | Categories: Haredim , Women & Judaism

A haredi "Taliban" or burka cult woman in Monsey, New York. Women like this are part of a small group of ultra-Orthodox women who believe their faces and bodies – even if clothed in a normal long sleeved dress that...

October 16, 2011: A Letter To An Agudath Israel Of America "Gadol"
Comments: 58 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

"As an adult survivor of severe and unrelenting childhood sexual abuse, I have followed your halachic decisions and media pronouncements regarding this issue with great concern. I am a Litvak, yeshiva-trained, from Monsey, New York. For many years I taught...

October 16, 2011: Right Wing Rabbis Issue "Halakhic Manifesto" Against Shalit Deal
Comments: 41 | Categories: Halakha , Israel , MO & Chardal , Terrorism

Two notoriously extreme and racist Orthodox Zionist rabbis, Dov Lior and Shmuel Eliyahu, came out against the deal to ransom kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Rabbis Dov Lior, left, and Shmuel Eliyahu, right Rabbis share 'halachic manifesto' against Shalit deal...

October 16, 2011: High Court Again Rules Against Mea Shearim Gender Segregation
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

"I call on the court to intervene immediately in what is happening in the haredi neighborhoods and ensure that women feel comfortable walking anywhere in the State of Israel. If Rosa Parks succeeded in racist US of the 1950s, we...

October 16, 2011: Does Judaism Really Want Women To Step Aside For Men?
Comments: 34 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

The Talmud (Horiyot 13b) indicates that the reason a man should not walk between two women has to do with the superstition that it may impair the man’s ability to remember the Torah he learned. Many haredi men are particular...

October 16, 2011: Yoel Weisshaus Versus The Port Authority
Comments: 15 | Categories: Haredim

He is a 30-year-old college student who gets by on loans and freelance jobs as a legal assistant and public notary. He does not have a bank account. He does not have a credit card. When he says he lives

October 29, 2011: Live: Women To The Back Of The Bus
Comments: 38 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Turf Disputes , Women & Judaism

The reporters who broke the Brooklyn B-110 segregation story will talk about the forced gender segregation and a deputy mayor of Jerusalem will talk about the violence between the the Sicarii and Gerrer hasidim tonight on the radio. SASHA CHAVKIN...

October 29, 2011: Why Haredim Now Vote Republican
Comments: 95 | Categories: Haredim

More and more haredim now vote Republican. Why? Read my answers to this question on Moment Magazine. The Latin sounding words at the end of the article are gibberish. Apparently Moment uses gibberish fake Latin text to block articles, and...

October 29, 2011: White House Turns Down Rubashkin Petetion
Comments: 56 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Thank you for signing the petition "Call an Investigation into Allegations of Prosecutorial & Judicial Misconduct in the Case of Sholom Rubashkin." We appreciate your participation in the We the People platform on WhiteHouse.gov.… Sholom Rubashkin Various Chabad and haredi...

October 28, 2011: Elderly Widow Claims Chabad Rabbis Scammed Her
Comments: 92 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim

An elderly widow claims father-and-son rabbis swooped down on her the day after her husband died and coerced her into signing over to Chabad of California her multimillion-dollar Malibu home, and buying a $100,000 Torah, while deceptively promising "to support...

October 28, 2011: Gender Segregation Continues On Brooklyn Bus Line
Comments: 34 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

Despite promises made to the city by Private Transportation Corporation's hasidic owner, the Brooklyn B-110 bus line is still segregated by gender. No signs forbidding such forced segregation were posted, and the bus driver did not intercede to stop hasidic...

October 28, 2011: Sick Of Haredi Excesses, Orthodox Jews Marry Without Israel's Rabbinate
Comments: 11 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

Growing numbers of Orthodox couples in Israel have opted for so-called private weddings to bypass the long arm of the state's Rabbinate, whose overarching authority they reject. Without the Rabbinate, I'll thee wed In recent years, growing numbers of religiously...

October 28, 2011: Haredi Basketball Team
Comments: 10 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sports

They play in black uniforms, hide their 'peyes' behind their ears. They don't have a budget or a seal of approval from rabbis – but they are well-equipped when it comes to faith. Meet Jerusalem's new smash hit: the Maccabi...

October 28, 2011: Haredi Violence Rocks Mea Shearim
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Turf Disputes

Residents of the Mea She'arim neighborhood in Jerusalem fear the violence that has erupted between two ultra-Orthodox sects will grow and complain the police are not protecting them. Violence between ultra-Orthodox sects rocks Jerusalem neighborhood A group of Hasidim brutally...

October 27, 2011: Weinstein Indicted In $200 Million Scam
Comments: 54 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Eliyahu Weinstein, a/k/a “Eli Weinstein,” was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Newark on charges alleging he ran an investment fraud scheme causing losses of at least $200 million, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Weinstein...

October 27, 2011: Haredi Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Black Market Kidneys
Comments: 84 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Med-Ethics

Levy Izhak Rosenbaum pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton to brokering three illegal kidney transplants for New Jersey-based customers in exchange for payments of $120,000 or more. He also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to broker an...

October 27, 2011: Haredi Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty To Child Sex Abuse Counts
Comments: 18 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Rabbi Moishe Turner has pleaded not guilty in a Spring Valley court today to seven counts of committing a criminal sexual act and child endangerment. News 12 calls Turner a "self proclaimed rabbi" because haredim claim that Turner, who worked...

October 27, 2011: The Chabad Rebbetzin In The Short Skirt
Comments: 59 | Categories: Chabad

The wife of a Chabad ordained rabbi is photographed wearing a skirt that is too short according to normative halakha. The photo appears in a Jewish publication and the Chabad blog COLLive pics up the related story and runs the...

October 27, 2011: Thousands Of Haredim Demonstrate Against Inter-Haredi Violence
Comments: 25 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

Thousands of haredim demonstrated against inter-haredi violence last night in Mea Shearim. The demonstration came one day after 20 Ger hasidim ambushed and beat a leader of the Neturei Karta linked haredi street gang, the Sicarii, with clubs and spikes...

October 27, 2011: Gutnick Knew Of Child Sex Abuse Claims In 2003
Comments: 31 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Chabad community leader multimillionaire Rabbi Joseph Gutnick's personal bodyguard told a Melbourne court yesterday that his employer was aware of child sex allegations against Yeshivah College security guard David Cyprys in 2003. David Cyprys Originally published at 10:30 pm CDT...

October 26, 2011: Happy Birthday Rubashkin
Comments: 45 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Today is Sholom Rubashkin's 52nd birthday. Rubashkin, the former VP of Agriprocessors, once the largest kosher meatpacker in the world, is currently serving a 27- year prison sentence for bank fraud, related charges and perjury. He lost his appeal and,...

October 26, 2011: A Salem Witch Trial In Modern Day Israel
Comments: 41 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion , Women & Judaism

A state sponsored rabbinical court in Israel ruled against a woman whose husband claimed she is a witch. A Salem Witch Trial In Modern Day Israel Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com A state sponsored rabbinical court in Israel ruled against a...

October 26, 2011: Hasidic PR Flack Says Rabbis Tell Followers To Call Police
Comments: 31 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Despite reams of evidence to the contrary, including the faact that rabbis knew about the alleged child sex abuse committed by Rabbi Moishe Turner for years but never called police or allowed their followers to call police, haredi spinmeister Yossie...

October 26, 2011: Hasid Arrested For Assaulting Cameraman
Comments: 3 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

A Toldos Aharon hasid was arrested yesterday for allegedly assaulting a Hot TV news photographer on Simchat Torah in Mea Shearim. Yeshiva World is reporting that a Toldos Aharon hasid was arrested yesterday for allegedly assaulting a Hot TV news...

October 26, 2011: New Square Arsonist Arrested For Violating Court Order
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Ramapo police arrested Shaul Spitzer after he left the Rockland County Courthouse following an appearance on felony charges of attempted murder, arson and assault. Police today accused Spitzer of standing outside Aron Rottenberg's Truman Avenue house on Oct. 4 at...

October 26, 2011: New Square Arsonist Due In Court Today
Comments: 21 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Shaul Spitzer, the 18-year-old butler of the Skvere Rebbe, is due in criminal court in Rockland County today on arson and attempted murder charges. Spitzer tried to burn down the home of Aron Rottenberg, a New Square dissident, in May....

October 26, 2011: End Of The Road For Haredi Bus Gender Segregation?
Comments: 48 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

The Williambsburg to Borough Park B-110 bus, operated by a hasidic-owned company that franchises with the City of New York to operate the B-110, has for years forced women to sit at the back of the bus. But after an...

October 26, 2011: Alleged Chabad Pedophile May Face More Charges
Comments: 51 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

More alleged victims have come forward to accuse Samuel David Cyprys, who was a guard and karate teacher at Chabad's Yeshivah College in Melbourne. Cyprys is currently charged with 29 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency relating to former...

October 26, 2011: The "Messiah" Of Mea Shearim
Comments: 21 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Ethics , Haredim , Israel

The attorney who defends violent extremist haredim who beat, extort, steal and bully Jews they oppose is a hero in Mea Shearim. "Their word is their word," the attorney says about these criminals. "I know too that in most cases...

October 26, 2011: Haredi Gang Beats Jew With Clubs And Spikes
Comments: 54 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Turf Disputes

Avraham Hirschman was walking home to Batei Warsaw in Mea Shearim. But he didn't make it. Ten masked haredim jumped out of a truck and beat Hirschman with clubs and metal spikes, leaving him lying in the street in a...

October 25, 2011: Video: Rabbis Knew Turner Was Allegedly Raping Boys But Failed To Call Police
Comments: 58 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

That's right. Haredi rabbis knew of credible allegations that Rabbi Moishe Turner was raping boys. They banned him from a local synagogue but they did not call police or allow victims' families to call police. And Turner went on to...

October 25, 2011: Video: Levi Aron's Attorneys Talk About Insanity Defense
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

The attorneys for confessed child butcher Levi Aron, who slaughtered and dismembered 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky in July, explain why their client's confession should be disregarded and why they believe him to be insane. [Hat Tip: FGBA.]

October 25, 2011: Spring Valley Man Accused Of Child Sex Abuse Due Back In Court Thursday
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

"We want to state, without commenting further, that Mr. Turner intends to enter a plea of not guilty and that we intend to litigate this matter in court," his attorney Kenneth Gribetz said. A felony hearing will be held on...

October 25, 2011: Haredi Rabbi's Murder Trial Delayed
Comments: 48 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Koltun complained that his health has worsened in Orange County Jail, and he says he's been harassed there because he is a rabbi and a devout Hasidic Jew. He claimed the jail has not provided proper kosher food, so he...

October 25, 2011: Racist Rabbi: "Better To Kill A Terrorist Than Call Police"
Comments: 31 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal , Terrorism

Rabbi Yosef Elitzur of the Od Yosef Hai yeshiva in Yitzhar and co-author of the racist book Torat Hamelech, wrote in a halachic ruling on Monday that should someone encounter a terrorist, it is preferable to shoot and kill them...

October 25, 2011: Alleged Chabad Sex Offender Violated Bail, Court Told
Comments: 68 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

A security guard at Chabad's Melbourne yeshiva who has been charged with multiple sex offences should have his bail revoked because he was seen with children, prosecutors say. David Cyprys Originally published 10-24-2011 at 11:39 pm Alleged sex offender seen...

October 24, 2011: Women Removed From Jerusalem Ads Due To Haredi Pressure
Comments: 12 | Categories: Bans & Censorship , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The safety advertisements for Jerusalem's new light-rail system have featured images of twins, to reinforce the idea of being "doubly safe." Children, teenagers and haredim have been pictured in this safety campaign – all of them males. The city built...

October 24, 2011: Video: Spring Valley Rabbi Arrested For Molestation
Comments: 62 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Neighbors claim to be "shocked" by the arrest of Rabbi Moishe Turner on child sex abuse charges. [Hat Tip: 613 Enforcer.]

October 24, 2011: Attorneys Say Kletzky Murder Confession "Coerced," Levi Aron "Insane"
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Defense attorneys for a New York City man charged with abducting, killing and dismembering an 8-year-old boy say his confession was coerced and that Levi Aron is "insane." "My opinion is you'll get him to admit he shot Kennedy if...

October 24, 2011: Confessed Kletzky Murderer To Ask For Trial To Be Moved, New Defense Lawyer Added
Comments: 3 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Levi Aron's attorneys are expected to ask for his trial to be moved out of Brooklyn because they claim the publicity surrounding the murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky – a hasidic boy whose dismembered body was found in Aron's apartment...

October 24, 2011: Sicarii Threaten To Kill Israel's Haredi Deputy Health Minister
Comments: 10 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

The Shin Bet and Prime Minister's Office have decided to provide Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman with private bodyguards following death threats from the Mea Shearim haredi extremist group known as the Sicarii. Rabbi Yakov Litzman Deputy Minister Litzman gets...

October 23, 2011: Spring Valley Rabbi Accused Of Sodomizing Boys
Comments: 43 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Ramapo police arrested 58-year-old Rabbi Moishe Turner earlier this week for allegedly sodomizing boys. Rabbi Moishe Turner Spring Valley Rabbi Accused Of Sodomizing Boys News 12 Ramapo police arrested 58-year-old Rabbi Moishe Turner earlier this week for allegedly sodomizing boys....

October 23, 2011: Missing Boy
Comments: 21 | Categories: Haredim , Hessed

A 12-year-old boy has been missing from the Catskills since yesterday. Monticello Police and Catskills Hatzalah are reportedly setting up for a large-scale search. The missing boy The staging area is being set up at the Hebrew Day School across...

October 23, 2011: Chief Rabbi's Remark On Intermarriage Causes Uproar
Comments: 128 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion

"Marrying gentiles is like playing into the hands of the Nazis," Yad Vashem Council Chairman and former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau has been quoted as saying to students from an Israeli high school, causing an uproar among students. Rabbi...

October 23, 2011: Women Soldiers Leave IDF Event After Being Forced To Segregate
Comments: 15 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

About 100 female soldiers left the main non-holy-day celebration sponsored by the Israel Defense Forces marking the second non-holy-day night of the Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah holiday on Thursday after they were told to move to a separate women's section. IDF...

October 23, 2011: Measles Outbreak In Brooklyn Haredi Community
Comments: 60 | Categories: Haredim , Med-Ethics

A haredi community in Brooklyn is experiencing a measles outbreak, which will probably spread because of the the close proximity of people during the holidays. Outbreak generally happen when parents do not have their children vaccinated. This is a real...

November 5, 2011: Pol Ousted For Opposing Haredi Gender Segregation Asks What Happened To Israel
Comments: 19 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

With a quivering voice and tense face, Rachel Azaria, freshly ousted from the Jerusalem city council, gave a speech the other day summarizing her campaign against gender segregation in the capital. She had received notification of her firing two days...

November 5, 2011: Former Mossad Head Says Haredim Biggger Threat To Israel Than Iran
Comments: 116 | Categories: Haredim , Israel

The former head of the Israeli secret service said Thursday during an army boarding school reunion that while Iran should be prevented from becoming a nuclear power, its capabilities are still "far from posing an existential threat to Israel." "The...

November 5, 2011: The Other Side Of Jerusalem's Tracks
Comments: 15 | Categories: Israel

The Jerusalem Light Railway has provided the ancient city with new travel possibilities since it opened in August, but it is also proving controversial. Jerusalem tram offers view of other side of tracks By Matthew Teller Jerusalem • BBC The...

November 4, 2011: Gangs Force Poor To Sell Organs To Israelis, Report Says
Comments: 41 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Med-Ethics

Because of rulings from haredi rabbis like 101-year-old haredi leader Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv that forbid donating organs under most circumstances, and haredi rabbis' opposition to donor cards, Israel's organ shortage has made sick Israelis depserate. And those can afford...

November 4, 2011: More Illegally Gender Segregated Haredi Buses Outed
Comments: 39 | Categories: Haredim , Women & Judaism

Monroe Bus operates routes between Brooklyn and Kiryas Joel and surrounding areas. The buses have curtains hanging down the middle of the passenger sections to divide men and women. The buses are funded in part by government, which means the...

November 4, 2011: Haredi Election Ad
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Anti-Bob Rhodes ad attacks him for enforcing the law against haredim and implies that Christopher St. Lawrence won't. [Hat Tip: Critical Minyan.]

November 4, 2011: Divorcing The Rabbinate
Comments: 3 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion , Women & Judaism

Growing dissatisfaction with the state’s official haredi-controlled rabbinical courts has led many couples seeking divorce to turn to alternative religious tribunals. Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi thinks this is "rotten to the core." Israel's Sefardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar Divorcing the...

November 4, 2011: Haredim Spit On Priests Every Day, Cops Don't Help
Comments: 35 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Religion

Ultra-Orthodox young men curse and spit at Christian clergymen in the streets of Jerusalem's Old City as a matter of routine. In most cases the clergymen ignore the attacks, but sometimes they strike back. Ultra-Orthodox spitting attacks on Old City...

November 4, 2011: Large Israeli HMO Eliminates Depictions Of Girls
Comments: 8 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The Clalit health maintenance organization has recently issued stickers for children that completely exclude girls. The stickers, distributed in clinics in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox ) community, are intended to be given to children as a prize for undergoing a medical...

November 3, 2011: Rubashkin Appeal Denied
Comments: 42 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Sholom Rubashkin's request for an en banc hearing of his appeal's earlier rejection by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals was denied late this afternoon. JUDGE ORDER: denying…petition for enbanc rehearing filed by Appellant Mr. Sholom Rubashkin. Petition for panel...

November 3, 2011: Brother Of Slain Kabbalist Scam Artist Adopts Hooded Dress, Photograph Ban
Comments: 28 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Sefardim

Rabbi David Abuhatzira, the brother of murdered Kabbalist cum scam artist and extortionist Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzira, has decided to wear a hooded garment and to ban photographers from taking photographs of him. A rare photograph of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzira Rabbi...

November 3, 2011: Haredi Pol Slams Gilad Shalit For Going To Beach On First Shabbat Out Of Captivity
Comments: 50 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Outreach , Religion , Sefardim

Haredi MK Meshulam Nahari slammed Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier who was held captive by Hamas for more than 5 years, for going to the beach with his father on the first Shabbat after his return instead of going to...

November 3, 2011: Bill Would Force Rabbinic Courts Grant Religious Divorces Within Days Of Ruling To Dissolve A Marriage
Comments: 6 | Categories: Israel , Women & Judaism

The Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee brought a proposal that will obligate rabbinical courts to set a date to grant a get within a set time period. The proposal will obligate rabbinical courts to set a date for the...

November 3, 2011: Questions The Jewish Federations Won't Answer
Comments: 55 | Categories: Jewish Leadership

15 days ago I sent a series of questions to Andy Neusner, who runs the Jewish Heroes project for the Federations. Neusner didn't answer. What were the questions? Take a look… From: Shmarya Rosenberg Subject: Media Query Date: October 19,...

November 3, 2011: No Comment On Rubashkin
Comments: 56 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

"It’s shameful and insensitive that Obama would not even take the time to acknowledge sentencing disparities in our justice system." No comment on Rubashkin It’s shameful and insensitive that Obama would not even take the time to acknowledge sentencing disparities...

November 2, 2011: Rabbi Natan Slifkin: The Making Of Post-Haredism
Comments: 138 | Categories: Bans & Censorship , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Religion , Torah & Science

"Seven years ago, three of my books were banned by three dozen leading rabbis from the haredi rabbinic establishment in Israel and the US. This was due to my Maimonidean approach to resolving conflicts between Torah and science – that...

November 2, 2011: The Battle Of Beit Shemesh
Comments: 28 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal

At 8am, little girls carrying backpacks stuffed with books and lunchboxes greet each other with giggles and whispers as they wait for the security guard to unlock the school gates. All are dressed in compliance with the school's regulations: skirt...

November 2, 2011: Jewish Whistle Blower Blows Lid Off NYC Medicaid Fraud
Comments: 12 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Dr. Gabriel Feldman, a 50-year-old former kosher restaurant owner who works in public health, is the son of a Conservative rabbi. After two decades fo trying, Feldman blew the lid off NYC Medicaid fraud. His elderly mother hopes than he'll...

November 2, 2011: Rabbi Mordechai Elon Indicted For Sex Assault
Comments: 12 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia

A criminal indictment was served today against Rabbi Mordechai (Moti) Elon, one of the most prominent rabbis in Israel's Orthodox Zionist movement, for two counts of indecent and sexual assault against two minor boys, one of whom was his student...

November 2, 2011: Operation Solomon 20 Years Later
Comments: 17 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Israel

Despite impressive initial achievements, Ethiopian immigrants lag behind immigrants from other countries who arrived here at the same time, according to a study by the Brookdale Institute published in 2010. The report found that after making great strides in employment,...

November 2, 2011: Women Fight Back Against Haredi-Imposed Ban Against Images Of Women
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

On Tuesday, six women met in Jerusalem to be photographed so their pictures can be hung from balconies throughout the city to counteract what appears to be the attempt to keep women out of advertising in the capital. Jerusalem women...

November 1, 2011: Israel Closes Down Settler Yeshiva Due To Violent Attacks Against Palestinans, Israel Security Forces
Comments: 18 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal

Israel's Education Ministry decided Tuesday to follow the recommendations of the Israel's secrect service the Shin Bet and close down the yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, following its students' involvement in violent acts against Palestinians and Israeli...

November 1, 2011: Shigella Outbreak In Haredi Brooklyn
Comments: 40 | Categories: Haredim , Med-Ethics

Forty-five people in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox communities in Williamsburg and Borough Park have contracted a mild infectious disease called shigella since August, according to city health officials. Shigella Outbreak in Brooklyn's Ultra-Orthodox Communities WNYC Forty-five people in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox communities in...

November 1, 2011: Crown Heights Pedophile Arrested
Comments: 46 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Haim Feinhandler is arrested and charged with child sex abuse. [Hat Tip: Crown Heights Watch.]

November 1, 2011: Yeshiva Students Expelled For Having Driver's License
Comments: 38 | Categories: Haredim , Israel

The head of the prestigious Be'er Torah yeshiva has announced that he will expel 30 students from the institution after discovering that they hold driver's licenses. Driver's license prompts mass yeshiva expulsion Some 30 young men expelled from prestigious yeshiva...

November 1, 2011: Haredim Try To Shut Down Modern Orthodox Wedding Project
Comments: 8 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

The flagship project of the Modern Orthodox Tzohar organization - performing thousands of wedding ceremonies a year for secular Israelis afraid of or upset with Israel's haredi-controlled chief rabbinate - is in danger of collapsing because the chief rabbinate and...

November 1, 2011: Modern Orthodox Beit Shemesh Leader Appeases Haredim
Comments: 32 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal

The ultra- Orthodox population is reproducing at a far more rapid pace than the rest of the country. At some stage, the ultra-Orthodox will constitute a majority of Jews in Israel. Is that a problem? God forbid! The average ultra-Orthodox...

October 31, 2011: The Alleged Extortion Of Rabbi Baruch Lebovits
Comments: 9 |

Was the convicted child sex abuser extorted by another haredi rabbi? Rabbi Baruch Lebovits The Forward has a report on the status of the case against convicted child sex abuser Rabbi Baruch Lebovitz and the case against the man who...

October 31, 2011: Exclusive: Yiddish Sign Ordering Jewish Women To Step Aside For Men Still Posted On Public Property In Brooklyn
Comments: 74 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

Despite earlier reports that the signs ordering women to step aside for men had been removed from public property by the city, at least one of these signs is still posted – bolted to a tree on public property in...

October 31, 2011: The War For Jerusalem
Comments: 8 |

Why is Jerusalem's secular mayor fighting the leader of the battle against haredi extremism? Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, right, and Jerusalem city council member Rachel Azaria, left The war for Jerusalem Op-ed: Why is secular Jerusalem mayor fighting leader of...

October 31, 2011: Satmar Schools May Go Down In Massive Bankruptcy Fraud Linked To Rubashkin Crony
Comments: 48 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal

Satmar’s massive United Talmudical Academy network of schools is being sued for $200 million dollars by the bankruptcy trustee for Allou Healthcare, the Satmar-hasid owned pharmaceutical, healthcare and beauty supply wholesaler whose owners were imprisoned for fraud. Satmar Schools May...

October 31, 2011: Toward Separation Of Synagogue And State
Comments: 28 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

Israel is in danger of no longer being governed by the people; this danger does not come from the multitudes surrounding us who seek our destruction, but rather from those who wish for rabbinic fiat and Torah law to rule...

October 31, 2011: Priest Gets Pass For Punching Yeshiva Student
Comments: 56 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel

In a rare ruling, a judge in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court dismissed an indictment filed against a priest who punched a haredi yeshiva student in the face after the student spat at him as he walked on the street. An...

October 31, 2011: Kabbalah Follower Sues Jews Over High Holidays
Comments: 18 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Religion

A Kabbalah follower from Brooklyn is suing her former Jewish employers because they refused to let her take time off work for the Jewish holidays. Kabbalah Follower Sues Jews Over High Holidays Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com Shayla Sweatt, a Kabbalah...

October 30, 2011: Sefat Jewish Landlord Kicks Out Druze Students After Haredi Threats
Comments: 29 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Xenophobia

Almost a year after Zionist Orthodox and haredi rabbis' published a letter illegally ordering Jews to not rent or sell apartments to Arabs, Druze and other non-Jews – even those who serve in Israel's army – racism strikes in Sefat...

October 30, 2011: The Talmud Wasn't Accepted
Comments: 58 | Categories: History

For several hundred years after the Babylonian Talmud's supposed acceptance by all Jewish communities as binding, its rulings were routinely ignored by rabbis. Why? A page of the Babylonia Talmud Lawrence Grossman review's Talyia Fishman's new book, Becoming the People...

October 30, 2011: Haredi Rabbi's Fraud Of "Biblical Proportions" Sparks Extradition
Comments: 25 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim

Considering his claims to be able to decode the Bible to predict the future, Rabbi Avraham David should have seen his arrest coming. Instead the rabbi, aka suspended New York lawyer Earl S. David, sits in the Toronto West detention...

October 30, 2011: Exclusive: Convicted Sex Offender Moving To Boca Raton, Florida
Comments: 86 | Categories: Crime, etc. , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia

Rabbi Baruch Lanner is allegedly moving to Boca Raton, Florida. Lanner physically, sexually and emotionally abused dozens – perhaps hundreds – of boys and girls during more than 40 years at the OU's NCSY youth movement and at least one...

November 12, 2011: In Response To Haredi Forced Gender Segregation On Public Buses And Streets, And Zionist Orthodox Gender Sgregation In The IDF, Hundreds Protest For Women's Rights
Comments: 39 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

Hundreds of people demonstrated against forced illegal gender segregation in cities across Israel. Hundreds protest for women's rights in rallies across Israel Demonstrations spurred by recent incidents of separation between men and women; Jerusalem city council member: State cannot stay...

November 12, 2011: Only Without The Haredi State Rabbis Will I Convert To Judaism
Comments: 21 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion

Hundreds of people are choosing to skirt the official haredi-controlled rabbinic system for conversions to Judaism and instead go through private conversions – even when the price may include deportation from Israel. Without the rabbinate, I'll convert to Judaism Hundreds...

November 12, 2011: Haredim Impede Water Repair Due To Fears Of Shabbat Violations
Comments: 48 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Med-Ethics

An explosion in a pipe on Shabbat caused hundreds of Ashdod residents to lose water service, and when the city tried to fix it, haredim stopped the work because of misplaced fears of Shabbat violations. A haredi Jew argues with...

November 11, 2011: Have 89 Brooklyn Haredim Been Arrested For Child Sex Abuse Since 2009?
Comments: 34 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

The Forward reports the Brooklyn DA claims 89 haredim have been arrested on child sex abuse charges since 2009, a figure far higher than advocates and victims are aware of. Is the claim true? Kings County, New York (i.e., Brooklyn)...

November 11, 2011: Modern Orthodox Yeshiva Kids Accused Of S.A.T. Fraud
Comments: 27 | Categories: Crime, etc. , MO & Chardal

Two students at a Great Neck yeshiva are suspected of paying someone smarter to take their SAT tests, according to a ballooning probe that has ensnared 35 kids at five Long Island high schools. LI yeshiva kids probed in SAT...

November 11, 2011: Haredi Gang War Continues – Gerrer Hasid Beaten By Sicarii In Beit Shemesh
Comments: 30 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Turf Disputes

A Gerrer hasid tried to stop two Sicarii members from posting signs from Eidah Charedit condemning Gerrer violence against the Sicarii. The two haredi groups are fighting for control over the Batei Warsaw houses in Mea Shearim. Both Ger and...

November 11, 2011: Hasidic Bus Company Uses Yiddish To Illegally Order Passengers to Segregate By Gender
Comments: 56 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Women & Judaism

Private Transportation Corporation's B110 schedule and guidelines seems benign in English. But its Yiddish version orders men and women to segregate by gender and cites a ruling by haredi rabbis that forbids the sexes from mixing on the B110 –...

November 10, 2011: Accused Crown Heights Pedophile Arrested
Comments: 87 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Alleged pedophile Tzion Zuviv arrested on charges of sexual abuse Tuesday. [Via: CrownHeightsWatch.]

November 10, 2011: Modern Orthodox Weddings Back On After Ban
Comments: 3 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

After a public outcry resulting from a ban on Modern Orthodox weddings insituted by Israel's haredi-controlled Religious Services Minister Yakov Margi, Margi and the head of the Modern Orthodox Tzohar organization Rabbi David Stav met yesterday and reached a series...

November 10, 2011: Chabadnik Who Fled To Israel To Be Extradited
Comments: 36 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Xenophobia

Shmira street patrol member Yitzchak Shuchat is suspected of beating a black honors student, Andrew Charles, with a club in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in April 2008. He fled to Canada and from there to Israel to escape...

November 10, 2011: Chief Rabbi "Sees The Light" After Visiting Shelter For Battered Jewish Women
Comments: 37 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

Studies of abused Jewish women show that they remain in abusive relationships four times longer than non- Jewish women. When they approach a rabbi for advice on how to deal with an abusive situation, they are often told that shalom...

November 10, 2011: A Stain That Will Not Go Away
Comments: 21 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

Whether we want it to or not, the murder of Yitzhak Rabin by a Zionist Orthodox student shall forever remain a terrible stain in the history of Zionist Orthodoxy. Up until now, Zionist Orthodox leaders chose to avoid a genuine...

November 9, 2011: Meal Mart Salmonella Warning
Comments: 22 | Categories: Haredim , Kosher Scandal

The New York City Health Department has identified 56 cases of Salmonella bacteria-related illness in New York City that are linked to eating MealMart brand kosher broiled chicken livers from the Schreiber Processing Corporation that were not cooked. The 5...

November 9, 2011: Keep Your Hands Off West Bank Settlements, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Says
Comments: 35 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim

The preeminent Sefadi haredi rabbinic leader who is also the spiritual head of the Shas political party tell Israel's prime minister to keep illegal West Bank outposts built by West Bank settlers intact. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Rabbi Yosef to Netanyahu:...

November 9, 2011: "Tell Your Father To Stop" – Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky On Sex Abuse
Comments: 143 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

The haredi gadol who is the rosh yeshiva of the Philadelphia yeshiva and Agudath Israel of America's number two rabbinic leader again shows why haredi rabbis are dangerous for women and children, and that they should not be allowed to...

November 8, 2011: Haredi Forced Gender Segregation Increases In Israel
Comments: 23 | Categories: Bans & Censorship , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

Posters depicting women have become rare in the streets of Israel's capital. In some areas women have been shunted onto separate sidewalks, and buses and health clinics have been gender-segregated. The military has considered reassigning some female combat soldiers because...

November 8, 2011: Knesset Slams No-Women Policy At Haredi Radio Station
Comments: 9 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women held a stormy hearing on Monday on a policy of the independent haredi radio station Kol Berama that prevents women from working as radio broadcasters and from being interviewed...

November 8, 2011: Peace Now Gets Death Threats
Comments: 8 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

One day after Peace Now’s Israel office received a bomb threat, the home of the director of its Settlement Watch project was defaced with graffiti that included a death threat and that supported “price tag” violence against Arabs, police and...

November 8, 2011: The Haredi Bomb
Comments: 102 | Categories: Haredim , Israel

Israel's greatest demographic threat doesn't come from its Arab population – it comes from haredim. The ultra-Orthodox bomb Op-ed: In light of demographic trends, Israel en route to becoming Iran-style state Yaron London • Ynet Former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy...

November 8, 2011: Haredi Controlled Religious Services Ministry Bans Modern Orthodox Weddings
Comments: 14 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion

A group of Zionist Modern Orthodox rabbis and educators who perform no-charge weddings for an estimated 3,000 Israeli couples a year has announced that it will no longer be able to conduct the ceremonies because they have been blocked by...

November 8, 2011: Haredi Pressure Forces Removal Pictures Of Women From Organ Donor Campaign
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Med-Ethics , Women & Judaism

The recent removal of images of women from bus ads in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak encouraging Israelis to sign organ donor cards has sparked protest, with some people threatening to revoke their agreement to donate organs after their death. Pressure...

November 7, 2011: Baruch Dayan HaEmet
Comments: 41 | Categories: Haredim

Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, the largest yeshiva in world, has passed away. Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, ZT”L Baruch Dayan Emmes – HaGaon HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel ZT”L Yeshiva World 07:03 IL:...

November 7, 2011: Kletzky Murder Trial To Stay In Brooklyn – For Now
Comments: 54 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Levi Aron, the Brooklyn man who confessed to killing 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky and carving up his corpse, will have to face trial in Brooklyn after an appeals court skewered his bid for a change of venue. Levi Aron B'klyn man...

November 7, 2011: Abuse In The Jewish Community
Comments: 83 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia

A new book documents the ongoing coverups of child sex abuse in the haredi community and explains the communtiy values and mores that make those coverups possible. Dr. Michael Salamon Occasional FailedMessiah.com contributor Dr. Michael Salamon’s new book, Abuse in...

November 7, 2011: Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry Names First Ethiopian Jewish Ambassador
Comments: 18 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Israel

Rachamim Elazar has been named by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Israel's next Ambassador to Ethiopia, making him the first Israeli of Ethiopian descent ever to serve as an Ambassador for the State of Israel. Rahamim Elazar with...

November 7, 2011: 9-Year-Old Killed By Van Ran Out Into Traffic, Cops Say
Comments: 50 | Categories: Haredim

A 9-year-old haredi boy died early today of injuries he suffered when he was hit by a van and fell on Sunday while crossing the street to catch a school bus. 9-year-old Monsey boy dies after being struck by van...

November 7, 2011: Kiryas Joel Sues Neighbor
Comments: 34 | Categories: Haredim , Turf Disputes

The Village of Kiryas Joel is suing its neighbor, the Town of Woodbury to dismantle its zoning laws, accusing Woodbury of discriminating against hasidic Jews by not allowing dense housing in an area where the hasidic community hopes to expand....

November 7, 2011: Male Officers Commanding Women Soldiers In Army Is Against Torah, Rabbi Says
Comments: 32 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism

Rabbi Dov Lior, the hardline settler rabbi who is chief rabbi of both Hebron and Kiryat Arba, ruled Sunday that Orthodox soldiers should not take positions in the IDF where they would need to supervise women soldiers, because doing so...

November 6, 2011: Haredi School Advertises "Private Rooms" Where A Teacher Can Have A Private Meeting With A Grade School Boy
Comments: 90 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

A haredi heder (grade school) in Antwerp, Belgium is advertising that in its new, state-of-the-art building each classroom has an attached "private room" where teachers (males) can have private meetings with students – a clear breeding ground for pedophilia. Translation...

November 6, 2011: As Haredim Spit At Armenian Clergy And Churches, Police Begin To Crack Down
Comments: 42 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Religion

When Narek Garabidian, a Canadian of Armenian extraction, came to Israel to study at the Armenian Orthodox theological seminary in Jerusalem, he never thought he would have to endure harsh insults from passersby. For the past 18 months, Garabidian said...

November 6, 2011: Circumcision Ban?
Comments: 32 | Categories: Circumcision , Haredim , Kosher Scandal

Rabbis and senior Jewish officials trying to stop a proposed ban of circumcision. EU Jews fear anti-circumcision laws Rabbis, Jewish organizations launch struggle aimed at thwarting initiatives to ban religious ritual in Britain, Holland and Finland Kobi Nahshoni • Ynet...

November 14, 2011: After Years Of Ignoring The Problem, Haredi Synagogue Bans Serial Pedophile
Comments: 141 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Jerry Yechiel Brauner is a notorious Borough Park pedophile who was just released from a psychiatric facility. One of his favored stomping grounds is the Shomer Shabbos synagogue, a popular neighborhood minyan factory. For years, the rabbi who runs Shomer...

November 14, 2011: Brooklyn DA On Radio Tonight
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia

Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes will be on the radio this evening talking about the recent rise in antisemitism in Brooklyn. This would be a good time to ask Hynes about his office's claim to have arrested almost 90 haredi and...

November 14, 2011: CDC Investigating Multi-State Salmonella Outbreak Linked To MealMart Chicken Livers
Comments: 22 | Categories: Haredim , Kosher Scandal

The US Centers for Disease Control is investigating a nationwide salmonella outbreak reported here last week which is linked to MealMart (Alle/Schreiber) broiled chicken livers sold in 5 pound instituional packages. Investigation Announcement: Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Heidelberg Infections...

November 14, 2011: Grenade Attack On Kabbalist Linked To Multimillion Dollar Haredi Extortion Plot
Comments: 40 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Sefardim

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, the Sefardic “mystic” and “kabbalist” known as a rabbi to prominent businesspeople, athletes, politicians and actors, had a “grenade” thrown at his home in Israel Sunday after Israeli media reported that Pinto had asked America’s Federal...

November 14, 2011: Haredi Gang Attacks Girls, Riot Ensues
Comments: 34 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

Three girls described by a haredi eyewitness as being “modestly dressed” were attacked by a group of Sicarii, the haredi street-gang-cum-mafia which often acts as “modesty police” and as extortionists. Haredi Gang Attacks Girls, Riot Ensues Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com...

November 13, 2011: Video: Neturei Karta Swastika Spurs Outrage
Comments: 104 | Categories: Haredim , Israel

A small demonstration in Flatbush against New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind by Neturei Karta members caused outrage because a sign carried by Neturei Karta had a swastika on it.

November 13, 2011: After Pressure From The Knesset And From The Israeli Public, Women's Voices Will Be Heard On Haredi Radio Station
Comments: 9 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

The Israeli ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Barama will allow women to call in for one hour every Sunday morning, following the public battle against women's exclusion from its programs. Even though halakha, Jewish law, only bars women from singing in...

November 13, 2011: Jerusalem Mayor Tell Police To Stop Haredi-Driven Exclusion Of Women From Billboards And Bus Ads
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism

After several weeks of outrage from women's groups and from secular and Modern Orthodox politicians and groups, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat told the Jerusalem District Police Commander to stop the haredi-driven exclusion of women's images from billboards across the city,...

November 13, 2011: Lessons For Haredim And Modern Orthodoxy From The Penn State Child Sex Abuse Scandal
Comments: 66 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia

Does Penn State's long coverup of a coach's pedophilia and its board's relatively swift response when that information became public carry specific lessons for the Orthodox and haredi Jewish communities? If it does, are those the lessons hareim and Orthodox...

Cock Sucking Jews Pass On Unpleasant Diseases [ 17 March 2012 ]

Cock sucking Jew kills baby [ 18 March 2012 ]
Dangerous oral-to-genital contact, known as metzitzah b'peh, by the mohel, ritual circumciser, during the brit milah, circumcision ceremony, apparently transmitted herpes simplex virus Type 1 to baby, who died two weeks later. Metzitzah b'peh would have been banned almost six years ago, but haredim – led by Satmar and Agudath Israel of America – lobbied to stop that ban, Satmar going so far as to demonstrate against the mayor while wearing concentration camp uniforms and claiming the mayor – himself Jewish – was an anti-Semite. It appears the city government tried to hide this new death from the media, leading to the question: how many more babies have been killed by Satmar and Agudath Israel lobbying that we don't know about?

Cock Sucking Jews With Herpes Are Dangerous [ 19 March 2012 ]
Untreated neonatal herpes simplex virus is associated with a 40 percent survival rate, and even with the early initiation of high-dose intravenous acyclovir therapy, it can result in “considerable disability among survivors.” The neonatal herpes virus can spread to the brain and central nervous system causing encephalitis and meningitis and leading to mental retardation, cerebral palsy. Herpes can also spread to internal organs, such as the liver and lungs.

Cock Sucking Is Healthy Claims Jew [ 20 March 2012 ]
Agudath Israel's Executive VP Rabbi David Zwiebel explains why Agudath Israel of America's previous support for metzitzah b'peh is not responsible for a baby's recent death from the oral-to-genital suction health professionals wanted to ban. Meanwhile, NYC's Mayor Michael Bloomberg explains why MBP has to go.

Four Jews Running Leading Haredi News Site Arrested For Extortion [ 2 April 2012 ]
QUOTE
"This is going to be one of the biggest extortion scandals in the history of Israel," a senior ultra-Orthodox figure said. More arrests are expected.

Police suspect four directors of ultra-Orthodox website of extortion
Four directors of popular Haredi website Behadrey Haredim are rumored to have demanded huge sums for withholding damaging information.
"This is going to be one of the biggest extortion scandals in the history of Israel," a senior ultra-Orthodox figure told Haaretz Sunday, following the arrest of four directors of the popular Haredi website Behadrey Haredim. Police placed a gag order forbidding publication of any details of the affair, but revealed that more arrests are expected........

Some of the website's employees told Haaretz they were completely taken by surprise by the arrests, but rumors circulating in Haredi circles for the past year describe a system of extortion by the website's directors against dozens of Haredi figures, some of whom are very well known. According to the rumors, the directors would approach well-known figures and demand a sum - anywhere from several thousand dollars to NIS 100,000 - in return for withholding publication of potentially damaging information. On Sunday, the police interviewed dozens of people who revealed various details about the website in past few years...........

The more Haredim used the Internet - nowadays around 30 percent of Haredim do - the easier it was to spread sensationalist stories. The Haredi community is naturally a closed community and everyone knows everyone, so naturally the forums gained a lot of power, especially since information of that sort was new to them. Rumors could easily ruin families," he added.
UNQUOTE
Jews rob Jews. It is a change from Jews robbing honest folk.

About Failed Messiah

The Failed Messiah explains all at http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/about-me.html

My name is Shmarya Rosenberg and I publish FailedMessiah.com

Contact

Email Address: Email Me Email Me

One-Line Bio

"Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." – Elie Wiesel. ~~~ "The seal of G-d is Truth." – Rabbi Hanina, Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 64a.

Biography

I was drawn to Chabad-Lubavitch, a grouping in Orthodox Judaism, because it seemed to be the perfect combination of social service and religious mystery. Long before the pop-Kabbala craze made famous by Madonna, Chabad was teaching a form of Jewish mysticism to Jews like me who had grown up in secular homes. And it combined that mysticism with social service. Chabad had a drug treatment facility in LA, poverty programs in New York City and Jerusalem, underground outreach in what was then the repressive Soviet Union – and a rabbi just around the corner from practically every Jew in America, even those in Jews who found themselves in Iowa, Texas and Minnesota, far away from the coastal centers of Jewish life. Under its charismatic leader or rebbe, Chabad focused on macro issues – for example, opposition to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, promotion of prayer in American public schools, and the staging of public displays of Jewish religious symbols on government property – promoting an in-your-face, unique and unapologetic brand of Judaism that included any Jew, no matter how removed from Jewish life he might be, in its body politic. As a Chabad wag is fond of saying, "All Jews are members of Chabad – some just don't know it yet!"

My involvement in Jewish life predated my joining Chabad. I was active on my college campus, with a national Jewish fraternity, with an international Jewish student group, and in the effort to rescue the small endangered Black Jewish community of Ethiopia. It was this last involvement that would lead to my excommunication.

Soon after joining, I asked Chabad to help with this rescue. I spoke with Chabad leaders, men close to the Rebbe. Chabad would not undertake such a mission without permission from the Rebbe, I was told. (His immediate predecessor had been described as the "Pope" of Orthodox Judaism.) So I wrote the Rebbe directly. After months of waiting, asking, and waiting again without a response, I sent another letter, this one sent certified special delivery, to the Rebbe in Brooklyn. In it I listed some things Chabad could do to help the Ethiopian Jewish community. After each item, I asked a simple question: Is Chabad doing this? If not, why not? I also asked if the Rebbe considered these black Jews to be Jewish.

I already knew the answers to the first part of those questions. Chabad was not doing these things. Less than 40 years after the Holocaust, I wanted to know why.

Two months passed. The Rebbe did not answer my letter. I decided to leave Chabad. Before doing so, I gave my contacts in the Chabad leadership another chance to get an answer from their leader.

They returned with an answer. The Rebbe had read my letter. He directed me to continue the work I was doing to help Jewish communities, especially the work I was doing locally. And, if I wanted to resolve any dispute over the Jewishness of Ethiopian Jews, I should do so through the leading Orthodox Jewish legal authority in the United States. The Rebbe did not feel himself competent to decide this complicated issue of Jewish law.

The Rebbe had answered my letter but had not answered any of my questions – and Chabad was not helping Ethiopian Jews. Still, I saw hope. If this leading Orthodox legal authority would endorse rescue, surely the Rebbe would order his followers to help.

So I worked on it, months later getting that endorsement. Soon after, I took a leading Ethiopian Jew to Washington to meet with senators, representatives and State Department officials. After successful meetings, we decided to go to New York to meet with Jewish religious leaders to line up support for rescue. Our first stop was Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn where we were refused a meeting with the Rebbe. However, the chief judge of the Chabad religious court agreed to see us. He endorsed rescue and our efforts.

Four months later, Operation Moses, the rescue operation that saved thousands of Jews from Sudanese refugee camps bordering Ethiopia, would begin.

Fast forward 20 years. Chabad was still not involved with Ethiopian Jews, but the issue did not seem so pressing after the rescues were completed. I remained in Chabad, working at times for the organization in America and Israel. I went to rabbinical school, studied and was about to take the equivalent of rabbinic boards. A large Israeli-based Chabad magazine was publishing a series of letters from the now late Rebbe. These were private correspondence meant to answer difficult and often intimate questions. The Chabad publication got around privacy issues by removing the name of the correspondent. In my case, the letter read "To Mr.___, S. Paul, MN 55116."

The letter was an answer to my letter on the rescue of Ethiopian Jews. The original may have been lost in the mail. More likely, it was taken by an alert aide who recognized its potential damage to Chabad and the Rebbe's reputation. The letter is a collection of excuses. Why other things, like American Jewish spiritual needs, are more pressing than saving poor, starving Black Jews and therefore must come first. Fanciful denials of Chabad involvement in Washington lobbying and Israeli immigrant absorption – two well-publicized Chabad activities. But worse yet was the tone, so mean, spiteful, and uncaring about the suffering of Ethiopian Jewry.

Because the Rebbe could not bring himself to write the phrase "Ethiopian Jews" – perhaps a good indication that he, despite rabbinic rulings to the contrary, did not consider them to be Jews – he wrote the phrase, "the matter that you are so concerned about." Because of this, and because the letters the Rebbe responded to were not filed with those responses, Chabad did not realize the true import of the letter, and they published it.

I waited a month before responding. Then I published my letter to the Rebbe along with the Rebbe's response on my blog started for that purpose, www.FailedMessiah.com. Because I refused to take down the blog, I was excommunicated. That means:

1. I can no longer be counted as part of a prayer group.
2. I cannot lead prayers or receive any religious honors.
3. I have been shunned by members at the request of the rabbis.
4. Members are urged not to do business with me or to see me socially.
5. I cannot work in religious-related business.
6. I have completed rabbinic training but cannot sit for what is the equivalent of my boards.
7. I have been told that there is no repair for my soul and that I will burn eternally in hell.

I have also:

1. Been threatened.
2. Had websites hacked and destroyed.
3. Had my home address and telephone number posted on the internet.
4. Had thousands of dollars of magazine subscriptions and other materials illegally charged to my name.

Would I do it again? Yes, I would.

UPDATE: January 2007 – I no longer have an interest in being a rabbi. My religious beliefs have changed much since I started this blog. For more details, please read this. [ What I Believe ]

What I Believe
October 24, 2006
I received an email from a man I greatly admire, although I often disagree with him. David Klinghoffer wrote with a suggestion, which I'll paraphrase: "Why not write a post on what you actually believe rather than simply bitching about every rabbi in the world?" Fair enough. This post will explain my "theology," so to speak. But there will be plenty of bitching involved, because what I complain about has so shaped my worldview that I cannot make my case without mentioning it.

I'm evolving. If you'd asked me three years ago, I would have spouted rhetoric largely indistinguishable from Avi Shafran, but with some carping about nepotism, cronyism and the missed opportunities generated by same added in. But that was then. I've seen enough since then to realize that my initial revulsion at the business of the haredi world, suppressed so long ago, was well justified. And I've seen that non-haredi Orthodoxy is no better.

I've also learned that many if not the vast majority of "facts" presented by the likes of Aish HaTorah, Agudah and Chabad are false, nothing more than slick, often cult-like PR.

Jewish belief is based on a mesora, on tradition handed down from father to son, teacher to pupil, from Mount Sinai until today. But a mesora is based on trust, on the honesty and credibility of the fathers and teachers who pass it down.

The lies of the kiruv movement and the lies and misbehavior of the so-called gedolim, the deification of a false Brooklyn prophet, and all those criminal convictions, indictments, investigations, abuse coverups and the like have real impact – they destroy the mesora, break the links in the chain, so to speak, that once bound us. If today's rabbis lie to us, why not Rashi? Why Not Moses?

And, indeed, if the findings of archeology, genetics, astronomy, and so many other scientific disciplines are to be believed – and they should be, in part because they independently confirm each other's work – our forbearers did quite a lot of lying. Either that, or they spoke in the language and style of their day, using myths to teach spiritual truths, never intending those myths to be taken as literal truth, And this, David, is what I believe. Those myths contain some of humankind's earliest memories, often in fragmentary form, of what came before civilization after the great ice age ended and humans discovered agriculture, built the first cities and began to live for the first time in groups larger than an extended family or band. They tried to make sense of their world and to communicate in a non-literate society important information to their children and grandchildren in ways it would be remembered without writing – through myth.

Our unique contribution to these early myths was to emphasize the power of God over the powers of the demigods, stars and other natural forces. It was to bring God into this world. Most cultures viewed the Creator or Sky God as being too remote, unknowable and unreachable to be dealt with – hence the pantheons of the ancients. Jews returned God to this world where we are commanded to make a home for him, both in our hearts and in our actions. We are also commanded to carry this message to the nations of the world.

But we do neither, instead obsessing over ridiculous minutia in halakha and defining ourselves down in the process. Worse yet are the lies and corruption, the stealing and fraud, the Abramoffs and the Lanners, the Balkanys and the Kolkos, rabbis Lau, Amar and Metzger, Elyashiv and the seemingly endless list of other black hatted and black garbed fools we call leaders.

So there you have it. I no longer believe in the mesora as preached in Orthodoxy. I follow halakha for the most part due to simple inertia. I find little religious inspiration in Judaism. Yet I still believe in God the Creator who many billions of years ago made room for specks of dust like us and started the process that brought us – and brings us – into being.

Think of the words of the marvelous Eric Bazilian song made famous by Joan Osborne:

What if God was one of us / just a slob like one of us / just a stranger on the bus / trying to make his way home…

God is in exile because we put Him there. He's with those poor children as their rabbi fondles their penises and as other rabbis lie to cover it up. He sits in the fraudulent beit dins and in the special assemblies called to fake non-existent lunch programs. He was there with Abramoff as he stole from poor Indians and gave to rich Jews and He was there when rabbis looked the other way. We, all of us, those who stole and those who lied, those who abused and those who covered up, and those who just closed their eyes and would not see – have turned God into a lonely old man riding a bus, a liar, irrelevant, lost.

I can't bring God home, but I can stop covering for and associating with those who abuse Him.

That is what I believe.