FailedMessiah.com: 23 posts from December 26, 2004

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23 posts from December 26, 2004 - January 1, 2005

January 1, 2005: Proper Shechita
Comments: 2 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Rabbi Yudel Shain of the Kosher Consumers Union writes: I’ll try to explain the preferred method of Schechita as follows; The cut should be made starting at a point of the neck closest to the rear of the animal and...

December 31, 2004: BREAKING! OU Contradicts Itself On 'Throat-Ripping' Rationale – Was Humane Slaughter Act Violated?
Comments: 4 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

The OU's website has a 'clarification' of the second cut (i.e., throat-ripping with a hook) done at AgriProcessors that contradicts a written statement made by the head of the OU's Kashrut Division, Rabbi Menachem Genack: Clarification of the Second Cut...

December 30, 2004: BREAKING! Washington Post Weighs In – Confirms Earlier FailedMessiah.com Report
Comments: 5 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

In a report that reads suspiciously like a summation of this blog, the Washington Post writes: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told federal meat inspectors that they should immediately shut down any slaughterhouse where they observe acts of cruelty...

December 30, 2004: PETA Responds To Agudath Israel
Comments: 3 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Ben Goldsmith of PETA has written a response to the most recent Shechita-gate article by Agudath Israel's Rabbi Avi Shafran. Best quote: PETA has no interest in undermining rabbinic authority, and it is not our desire to “impose new rules...

December 29, 2004: BREAKING! The OU's Rabbi Genack Admits Second Cut Not Part Of Shechita Process – May Expose OU, KAJ & Other Kosher Certifiers, Rubashkin To Federal, State & Local Prosecution
Comments: 11 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

The OU's Rabbi Menachem Genack has written a new article on Shechita-gate. In it he admits that the second cut was: [N]ot done for kashrut reasons – for after the trachea and esophagus have been severed the shechita is complete...

December 29, 2004: BREAKING! Food Inspectors Union: USDA Vets And Inspectors On Kill Floor Only 5 Minutes Per Day; Rubashkin Plant NOT Linked To Mad Cow Scare
Comments: 2 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

I spoke with Trent Berhow, the Vice-Chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Safety Inspection Locals (the union of food safety inspectors) a few moments ago about the Rubashkin Shechita-gate Scandal. In brief, Mr. Berhow noted that: A vet...

December 29, 2004: The OU In Court?
Comments: 2 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

The Waukon Standard reports on PETA's call for prosecution of AgriProcsessors. Best quote: "The Iowa secretary of agriculture has understandably expressed her revulsion at what AgriProcessors was doing to animals," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "What AgriProcessors was doing...

December 29, 2004: Tsunami Emergency Relief
Comments: 7 | Categories: Hessed

Donations to aid the survivors of the massive Tsunami that struck South East Aisa can be made through American Jewish World Service by mail, telephone or online. American Jewish World Service, Asia Tsunami Relief, 45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor,...

December 29, 2004: Does Cruelty To Animals Matter? A Practical Challenge…
Comments: 5 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

In his attack on PETA and defense of Rubashkin, Rabbi Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel of America writes: The Jewish religious tradition forbids causing animals unnecessary pain.… But the Jewish faith expressly permits the killing of animals for human needs,...

December 29, 2004: More On Yesterday's PETA Protest In Iowa
Comments: 1 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

KWWL, which bills itself as "Iowa's News Channel," has a report on yesterday's PETA protest at the Allamakee county courthouse. Oddly, the report claims that: AgriProcessors made one change to it's kosher slaughter method since PETA first start making accusations....

December 28, 2004: Rubashkin Television Interview
Comments: 0 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

KCRG-TV of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has done a brief report on the Rubashkin Shechita-gate situation. Please note Sholom M. Rubashkin's circular reasoning: Kosher slaughter is humane because the US Government defines kosher slaughter as humane, therefore, AgriProcessors slaughter – because...

December 28, 2004: THE USDA WEIGHS IN
Comments: 0 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

The USDA has begun to weigh in on the Rubashkin Shechita-gate scandal. It has posted a training document that tells inspectors to shut down plants doing shechita like Rubashkin was doing on the PETA video. It is becoming clear that...

December 28, 2004: The New York Times On Kosher Business Travel
Comments: 1 | Categories: Food and Drink

The New York Times has a valuable article on kosher business travel. You can read it all here.

December 28, 2004: The Kosher Consumers Union Questions Rubashkin's Kosher Status
Comments: 11 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Rabbi Yudel Shain of the Lakewood, NJ-based Kosher Consumers Union has made serious allegations about the state of kosher supervision at AgriProcessors. Among the explosive charges: [If you need help understanding the technical terms used or Rabbi Shain's English, please...

December 28, 2004: The Chicago Rabbinical Council On Rubashkin Shechita: "This Is Basically The Exact Way That God Asked Us To Do It."
Comments: 12 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

According to a new article in the LA Times: "Does the meat technically fulfill the requirements of kosher slaughter? Yes," said Rabbi Elliot Dorff, a leading philosopher in the Conservative Jewish movement. "But if by calling it 'not kosher' [you]...

December 28, 2004: US Congressmen Question Prime Minister Sharon On Slow Pace Of Ethiopian Aliya
Comments: 1 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews

Two American congressmen, one Jewish, one African-American, have sent a strong letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon questioning the slow pace of Ethiopian aliya (immigration to Israel) and noting the crushing poverty gripping Ethiopia's Jewish community: The Jerusalem Post Internet...

December 27, 2004: PETA Calls For Criminal Charges Against Rubashkin
Comments: 2 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Waukon, Iowa — After a statement by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge indicated that Postville-based slaughterhouse AgriProcessors, Inc., is subject to the local cruelty-to-animals statute, PETA will formally call for charges against the company at a news conference tomorrow....

December 27, 2004: A Rat Is A Pig Is A Dog Is A Boy
Comments: 1 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

I asked PETA about a quote attributed to Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's president. Rabbi Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel used the quote this way in his recent article: And then there are the folks at People for the Ethical Treatment of...

December 27, 2004: The Lesson Of Shechita-gate
Comments: 5 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

According to Kosher Today, the OU's Rabbi Menachem Genack has written an op-ed article on the Postville Rubashkin Shechita-gate Scandal. Here is a quote from that article, courtesy of Kosher Today: [T]he OU continues to vouch for the kashrut, which...

December 27, 2004: Animals In Translation
Comments: 0 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Dr. Temple Grandin has written a new book, ANIMALS IN TRANSLATION: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. The New York Times review can be read here. The first chapter is online here. The book can be purchased...

December 27, 2004: PETA Responds To Rabbi Avi Shafran
Comments: 12 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

PETA's Ben Goldsmith has written a response to Agudath Israel's Rabbi Avi Shafran: No one can deny that, physiologically, “where pain is concerned, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” This does not mean that all...

December 26, 2004: Agudath Israel Of America – Does Truth Matter?
Comments: 0 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Agudath Israel's Rabbi Avi Shafran has written another piece on the Rubashkin Shechita-gate Scandal. A few points: Shafran cites a scientific paper claiming that shechita renders the animal insensate in 2 seconds. The problem is that the paper is dealing...

December 26, 2004: Union: Meat Plants Violate Mad Cow Rule
Comments: 1 | Categories: Kosher Scandal

Parts of cattle supposedly banned under rules enacted after the nation's first case of mad cow disease are making it into the human food chain, according to the union that represents federal inspectors in meat plants. The National Joint Council...

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A PARTIAL LIST:
NY Times: A Muckraking Blogger Focuses On Jews

Forward 50

Heeb Magazine 100

The Wall Street Journal: "Failed Messiah follows the controversy closely with links to related press articles and judicial records."

The New York Times, Page 1: "Shmarya Rosenberg…traced the fraudulent comments on his site to a 5W address."

The New York Times: "The legal conflict has revealed a deep tension within the Orthodox community that has been reported in the Jewish weekly press, and has been the almost exclusive topic of discussion on some Orthodox Jewish Web sites like failedmessiah.com and unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com in the months since Mr. Hikind brought up sexual abuse."

The New York Times: "In Postville, residents were dismayed by a report posted on a Jewish Web site, FailedMessiah.com, saying that Sholom Rubashkin held a celebration in Postville last week after he was released from detention on $1 million bail."

THE COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW: "[Jeff] Abbas passed the video to Shmarya Rosenberg, a blogger in St. Paul, Minnesota, who has provided some of the best coverage of the raid and its aftermath; a few days later, the video was referenced in The New York Times."

The Forward: "The indictments were first reported on the blog FailedMessiah."

The Forward: Blogger Focuses on Orthodox Foibles

Ha'aretz: Jewish Bloggers To Gather In Jerusalem

The Village Voice: The Fall Of The House Of Rubashkin

Tablet Magazine: Blogger charges Jerusalem Online University tricking secular students into Orthodoxy

"PR Week: Shmarya Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com did some sharp investigating…"

GAWKER: 5WPR Flacks Get So Freaking Busted Impersonating People Online

GAWKER: 5WPR Busted For Even More Blog Fraud; Uses Apology As Slimy Sales Pitch Opportunity

Jerusalem Post: Agriprocessors' PR company faces allegations of identity theft

The Forward: Flacks for Kosher Slaughterhouse Accused of Impersonating Company's Critics Online

The Forward: Flacks for Kosher Company Admit Impersonation

JTA: PR firm accused of impersonating rabbi

GAWKER: 5WPR Scares Holy Man With Sock Puppet, Blames Intern

JTA Traces Fake Rabbi Morris Allen Comment To Agriprocessors Spokesman's Home

JTA: Agriprocessors' PR firm accused of impersonating rabbi

Ha'aretz: Jewish blogger tackles perceived shortcomings of Orthodox Judaism

PR Week: 5W faces accusation for blog misconduct

GAWKER: Scheme To Blame Intern For PR Fraud Unravels

The Forward: Meat Company’s P.R. Firm Acknowledges Responsibility of ‘Senior Staff Member’ in Online Deception

GAWKER: Sad Flacks Secretly Edit Their Boss's Own Wikipedia Page

NY Jewish Week: A P.R. Nightmare

The Forward: Postville’s City Council initially voted to support the idea of a community benefits agreement, but later voted to withdraw support for such an agreement — a development first reported on the blog Failed Messiah.

The Forward: The blog Failed Messiah reported that Hirsch wrote an e-mail to the alliance assailing its Jewish member groups.

Mpls StarTribune: PR firm's meat plant messages misleading

Iowa Independent: Misconduct by Agriprocessors' PR Firm Has Rabbi Considering Legal Options

The Forward: Public Relations Firm Criticized

PR Week: 5W, Orthodox Jewish group at odds over statement

The Daily Kos: "This project could not have been completed without the help of others. While I cannot name them all, I would be negligent if I did not mention Shmarya Rosenberg of FailedMessiah.com…"

The Cedar Rapids Gazette: "…[H]e did not broadcast the interview on his radio station but [instead] sent it to failedmessiah.com and played it for local law enforcement agencies."

The London Jewish Chronicle: "Shmarya Rosenberg muses on religious racism"

The Forward: "The indefatigable foe of ultra-Orthodox excess"

Samuel Freedman in the Jerusalem Post: "[T]the scandal of Agriprocessors has been chronicled from Stephen Bloom's book Postville to Nathaniel Popper's investigative reports in the Forward to Julia Preston's coverage in The New York Times to the muckraking blogger FailedMessiah.com."

ASBURY PARK PRESS: Dwek Faces Shunning, If Not Death

Religion In The News: "So authoritative has Rosenberg become that he is now regularly quoted by the Register; and his site has been referenced by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and both the Forward and the JTA."

New Vilna Review: Is There An Orthodox War Against Modern Orthodoxy?

Conservative Columnist David Klinghoffer: "[T]he consistently sour but readable blog FailedMessiah.com"

Talkline Radio Network Interview: Rabbinic responses to Ethiopian Jewry.

Tablet Magazine: “If you’re Jewish and you were married five years ago, you have not confronted the problem that exists today,” Rosenberg says. “The problem is much worse for anyone who isn’t Orthodox. As the Haredi strength grows and their control grows, that’ll become clearer.”

Religion Dispatches: "The best collection of articles I’ve found can be perused at failedmessiah.com, the blog of Shmarya Rosenberg, who, with the perspective of insider turned disillusioned outsider, has been probing the nuances and hypocrisies of the ultra-Orthodox establishment since 2004."

Jewcy: Conversion Exposé.

Jewcy: Conversion Exposé #2

Jewcy: Most Wanted: The Big, Bad Butchers and Bullies of Agriprocessors

Jewcy: The Heretic

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23 posts from December 26, 2004 - January 1, 2005

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23 posts from December 26, 2004 - January 1, 2005

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