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184 posts from July 2010

July 25, 2010: Notes on a Scandal
Comments: 31 | Categories: Haredim , History , Israel
The discovery of an archive belonging to the late disgraced Neturei Karta leader Amram Blau sheds new light on the rabbi's 1965 marriage to a French convert - an act that led his community to wage war on him. Notes...

July 25, 2010: Stepping Away: When Skeptics Leave Haredi Communities
Comments: 126 | Categories: Haredim , Skepticism & Former Haredim
The stripper told the hasid about evolution. When he wasn't able to intelligently respond to her, the hasid started studying Darwin and his successors. And then the hasid became an atheist just like the stripper. … … Here's the entire...

July 24, 2010: Afraid Of Atheist, Jewish School Cancels Film Shoot
Comments: 23 | Categories: Jewish Leadership , MO & Chardal , Skepticism & Former Haredim
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and a Jewish primary school have pulled out of a film about faith schools by controversial atheist Richard Dawkins, after parents protested. Protests over Dawkins faith school film By Robyn Rosen • The...

July 23, 2010: Haredim And Dental Hygiene: Probing The Roots Of Neglect
Comments: 42 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Dental hygiene among the ultra-Orthodox is often disastrous, a consequence of lack of both money and awareness. The new reform in dental care may help the situation, but some are dubious. Probing the roots of neglect Dental hygiene among the...

July 23, 2010: Letter from Riverdale: Conversion Bill A Divisive Blow To Judaism
Comments: 41 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
According to Rabbi Avi Weiss, the best way to promote Judaism and, for that matter Orthodoxy, is through openness. A divisive blow to Judaism The best way to promote Judaism and, for that matter Orthodoxy - indeed, the best way...

July 23, 2010: Letter from Israel: He Impersonated A Human Being
Comments: 36 | Categories: Israel
Sabbar Kashur wanted to be a person, a person like everybody else. But as luck would have it, he was born Palestinian. He impersonated a human Sabbar Kashur wanted to be a person, a person like everybody else. But as...

July 23, 2010: Shas: We Did Not Agree To Conversion Compromise, Bill Will Be Brought To Vote Without Delay
Comments: 8 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
"The absence of a conversion law creates a spiritual danger to the Jewish people. It would be wrong to halt a process which has already begun." Shas: We didn't agree to conversion compromise Official at Interior Minister Yishai's office says...

July 22, 2010: Letter from Israel: Who Is A Citizen?
Comments: 6 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
If the Jewish American leadership is really interested in making change, they should devote their considerable resources toward redrafting Israel's citizenship laws. Then we can finally get a bill of rights for Israeli citizens which will end the national shame...

July 22, 2010: American Jews Protest Arrest Of Woman For Holding Torah Scroll At Western Wall
Comments: 33 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism
At protest organized by Orthodox rabbi, close to 50 protesters, among them a dozen rabbis from all denominations, warned the Israeli government on Thursday that the recent arrest of a woman carrying a Torah at the Kotel risked alienating American...

July 22, 2010: Haredi Unemployment Costs Israel $1.55 Billion Annually
Comments: 27 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Treasury report reveals staggering loss of revenues due to lack of ultra-Orthodox participation in the workforce. Ultra-Orthodox often choose not to work. They collect welfare and spend their days studying in yeshivas instead. Haredi unemployment costs billions annually Treasury report...

July 22, 2010: Compromise: Conversion Bill Vote Delayed 6 Months
Comments: 10 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Government suspends legislation following intense pressure from US Jews, while Progressive, Masorti movements agree to suspend High Court petitions against controversial proposal. 'Unity primary interest of Israel, Jewish nation,' PM says. Compromise: Conversion bill vote delayed 6 months Government suspends...

July 22, 2010: Unsanitary Hasidic Poultry Plant Shuts Down Processing In Agreement With Feds
Comments: 16 | Categories: Haredim , Kosher Scandal
Federal investigators said they found poultry residue on walls and light fixtures and in the manager's office. Employee restrooms had no soap or hand sanitizer, and rubbish and foul-smelling pools of water were found outside the plant. New Square plant's...

July 22, 2010: Letter from Long Island: Honoring The Badge Of Torah
Comments: 16 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Accountability for one’s actions came to mind as I read an anonymous flyer full of bluster and threats that was recently circulated in Lakewood, NJ against a hitherto respected rabbi. His crime? He chose to report the sexual abuse of...

July 22, 2010: Convicted Haredi Molester Loses Appeal
Comments: 24 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Brooklyn-based Yona Weinberg molested students he tutored for their bar mitzvahs. Yona Weinberg was convicted last year in Brooklyn and was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Weinberg appealed. Tuesday, Weinberg lost that appeal: DECISION & ORDER Appeal by the...

July 22, 2010: Letter from Israel: Framed As Israel-Diaspora Issue, Conversion Bill Cuts To Heart Of Israel’s Identity
Comments: 20 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
The conversion bill is one in a long line of examples that expose a fundamentally flawed system in which the State of Israel has yet to decide if and how to be both Jewish and democratic. 62 years into Israel’s...

July 22, 2010: Rubashkin Attorney Misrepresents Case In Article For Right Wing Publication
Comments: 30 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
Bob Barr's article for the Andrew Breitbart-owned website BigGovernment.com riddled with inaccuracies. Barr does NOT identify himself as a member of Rubashkin's legal team and the Breitbart-controlled website does NOT, either – despite clear ethical mandates for both to do...

July 21, 2010: Sponsor Of Controversial Conversion Bill Says Reform And Conservative Movements Irrelevant
Comments: 38 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Many opposed to the bill would like to see Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel granted the same recognition as Orthodox conversions. However, public support in Israel is not there yet. To date, there are only approximately 200 non-Orthodox...

July 21, 2010: Videos: Hasidic Camp Kids Raise More Than $16,000 For Rubashkin
Comments: 50 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
At what was an emotional and inspiring event, the Munkchater Camp in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains arranged a special gathering honoring and recognizing all those children who raised thousands of dollars for the Sholom Rubashkin Pidyon Shvuyim Fund. Rubashkin...

July 21, 2010: Arab Found Guilty Of Rape By Deception After Having Consensual Sex With Jewish Woman
Comments: 51 | Categories: Israel
A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape by deception after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew. Arab guilty of rape after consensual sex with Jew A man has been sentenced...

July 21, 2010: Chabad Admits It Took Birthright Groups To Hebron, Claims Birthright Approved
Comments: 11 | Categories: Chabad , Israel
“If we can visit Kibbutz Misgav Am, which is in the firing range of Hezbollah on the Lebanese border; we stand on a Golan Heights border lookout at Mizpe Gadot and look into Syria, then why make a point of...

July 21, 2010: Large Lakewood Rally Hears From Rubashkin's Wife And Daughter
Comments: 38 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
“Because of my father's deep faith, from the witness stand he could calmly tell the prosecutors who are out to destroy him, 'All I want in life is to serve my G-d.' Mrs. Rubashkin Addresses Lakewood Gathering Mrs. Leah Rubashkin...

July 21, 2010: In Apparent Bid To Give Control Of Israeli Conversions To Haredim, RCA Tells Reform And Conservative Movements To Shut Up
Comments: 16 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
The RCA was the only major Orthodox group to issue a statement on the proposed conversion bill. Both the Orthodox Union and the Agudath Israel of America said they would have no comment; the National Council of Young Israel did...

July 21, 2010: Haredi Tombstone Unveiling For Convicted Cop Killer Martin Grossman
Comments: 48 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim
On day of Jewish national mourning, haredim make an unveiling ceremony for Martin Grossman, the executed cop killer. Pictures: Martin Grossman's tombstone; the Williamsburg Mishkultz Rav; hasidim at the ceremony today, Tisha B'Av, in Liberty, NY. [Hat Tip and photo...

July 20, 2010: Rabbi Refuses To Turn Torah Scrolls Over To Poor Widow
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Sefardim
Despite two rabbinic court rulings against him, a Sherman Oaks rabbi is refusing to turn over four Torah scrolls that a rabbi’s widow says belong to her. Rabbi Refuses to Turn Torah Scrolls Over to Widow By Julie Gruenbaum Fax...

July 20, 2010: Letter from Israel: New Conversion Bill Promises Resolution But Delivers Conflict And Strife
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
We have just observed Tisha b’Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem. Our ages tell us that the ultimate cause of the destruction was our lack of respect for fellow Jews. Time and again, the teachings of...

July 20, 2010: Israeli Company May Cease Service Calls To Haredi Areas After Attacks
Comments: 14 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Haredim violently attacked Electra technicians making service calls following a boycott declared by the haredi rabbinical court Badatz Yerushalayim. Electra may halt service to Haredi areas Haredim violently attacked technicians making service calls following a boycott declared by the Haredi...

July 20, 2010: Letter from Be'er Sheva: Secular Ignorance On Tisha B'Av
Comments: 13 | Categories: Israel , Religion, Religion & State
According to the law, restaurants in Israel must close on the eve of Tisha B'Av. Seemingly, this is another act of religious coercion joining the lack of public transportation on Shabbat, the dearth of options to hold a civil marriage,...

July 20, 2010: Conversion Crisis: Israel's Haredim Reject the Diaspora, Threatening to Split World Jewry
Comments: 38 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
"Israel didn't mind if I died for the country, so long as I didn't get married there." Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Reject the Diaspora, Threatening to Split World Jewry Sarah Wildman • Politics Daily Foreign Policy Correspondent A Jew is a Jew...

July 20, 2010: Fight Over Who Is A Jew Rages On
Comments: 24 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
"My mother's Jewish, my grandmother was a Jew, so was my great-grandmother. Who are these people to decide who is a Jew and who is not? Israel, isn't it the home for all the Jews in the world?" Rivka has...

July 20, 2010: Sex Abuse Case Against Rabbi Raises Larger Issues
Comments: 13 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Researchers concerned about sexual abuse by rabbis attribute a gradual change in attitudes among orthodox Jews to websites and blogs where victims have felt free to discuss their abuse anonymously. Sex-abuse case against rabbi raises larger issues By Michael Rezendes...

July 19, 2010: Letter from Israel: Abolish The Tisha B'Av Fast
Comments: 38 | Categories: Israel , Religion, Religion & State
The only reason that the third temple has not been built is that a majority of Israelis simply are not interested. Secular Jews have no affinity to a priestly caste sacrificing heifers and goats, while the great majority of religious...

July 19, 2010: Yeshiva Students Expelled For Getting Drivers Licenses
Comments: 43 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Haredi yeshiva expels three students after they obtain driver licenses without permission from their rabbis. Yeshiva students expelled over driver's licenses Jerusalem's Darchei Torah Yeshiva expels three students after they obtain driver licenses without permission from their rabbis. 'Prohibition meant...

July 19, 2010: Victim Gets $10 Million To Make Up for Botched Bris
Comments: 42 |
A Brooklyn federal judge has awarded $10 million to the victim of a circumcision gone wrong, leaving his man parts "partially amputated." Victim Gets $10MM to Make Up for Botched Circumcision Jaya Saxena • Gothamist Mazel Tov? A Brooklyn federal...

July 19, 2010: Letter from Tel Aviv: Jewish And Democratic? No Way
Comments: 11 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Israel
The gist of the Citizenship Law amendment, which will entrench the ban on family unification between Arab-Israelis and Palestinians, through a demand to pledge allegiance to a “Jewish, democratic state,” is discrimination against these citizens. After all, they would not...

July 19, 2010: Sefardic Chief Rabbi Says He Did Not Tell Haredi Parties To Quit Govt Over PM's Refusal To Back Conversion Bill
Comments: 5 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion, Religion & State , Sefardim
"The Reform Jews are using the political situation to blackmail the prime minister. They sit there and they want to dictate our lives." Sephardi chief rabbi: I didn't urge ultra-Orthodox to quit coalition over conversion bill Sephardi chief rabbi Shlomo...

July 18, 2010: Chabad Rabbi And 89 Others Sue al-Jazeera For $1.2 Billion
Comments: 25 | Categories: Antisemitism , Chabad , Israel
In July 2006, a Katyusha rocket landed near Haim Kaplan's home in Safed. Since then he has been part of a legal campaign that has already recovered more than $70 million from banks and countries suspected of aiding terrorists. Now...

July 18, 2010: Accusations Mount At Beit Din Hearing Case For Control Of Chabad Central Organization
Comments: 14 | Categories: Chabad
Last week hearings at a beis din commenced regarding the management of Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch, the organization responsible for the global Shlichus network. Despite this disharmony within the board, order was generally upheld. The dispute which was the last straw...

July 18, 2010: Rubashkin Sends Fundraising Letter To Aid Chabadnik Convicted Of Bank And Wire Fraud
Comments: 52 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
Eliyahu Ezagui was convicted in February of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. He defrauded banks and he defrauded fellow Chabad Jews. And "long time friend" Sholom Rubashkin wants him freed. Rubashkin implores on Ezagui's behalf "I feel the pain,...

July 18, 2010: Agri Star Hit With Sexual Harassment Suit
Comments: 21 | Categories: Agri-Star , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
A former employee at Agri Star in Postville alleges in a lawsuit that the plant failed to protect her from a supervisor's sexual harassment. Harassment lawsuit targets Postville plant By GRANT SCHULTE • Des Moines Register A former employee at...

July 18, 2010: Letter from LA: Lessons For The Rest Of Us From The Success Of Chabad
Comments: 41 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & the Media , Outreach
Although not a member of Chabad, I have been involved with the organization for three decades. Here are five factors I believe account for its success and the lessons the rest of us can learn from them. Lessons for the...

July 18, 2010: Netanyahu Says He Will Oppose Conversion Bill
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he would oppose a conversion bill that has rekindled the age-old debate over who is a Jew — and provoked an angry response among liberal Jewish groups abroad whose support is critical...

July 18, 2010: Haredim Riot Over News Ticker Updates
Comments: 29 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel
A haredi riot broke out on Sunday in a postal branch in Jerusalem's Bukharim neighborhood over Ynet news updates. Haredim described the screens showing Ynet news updates as an "abomination." Haredim riot over 'obscene' plasma screen news updates Some 25...

July 18, 2010: 14-Year-Old Takes Rabbinute Smicha Exam
Comments: 16 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
Moshe's 13-year-old brother already holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 14-year-old takes Rabbinate exams Chief Rabbinate hopes to encourage gifted teen by allowing him to sit ordination exams, but rules his answers will not...

July 18, 2010: The Conversion Conundrum
Comments: 41 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
The proposed conversion bill has created some of the strangest bedfellows ever seen in Israeli politics while alienating most Diaspora and liberal Jews. Politics: The conversion conundrum The proposed bill has created some of the strangest bedfellows ever seen in...

July 18, 2010: Left Wing MO Group Tries To Stop Discounted Insurance For Haredi Yeshiva Students
Comments: 2 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
"The study of Torah cannot, from a religious standpoint, provide a student greater rights than other people, certainly not when [the benefits] are funded by the public, while discriminating against others." Religious group aims to cut subsidies for yeshiva students...

July 16, 2010: Rubashkin Prison Update
Comments: 61 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
Where will Sholom Rubashkin be spending this Shabbos?

July 16, 2010: Major Dem Donor Gets 12 Years In Massive Ponzi Scheme – Rubashkin Got 27 Years – Does This Prove Rubashkin Is Being Persecuted?
Comments: 39 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
Hassan Nemazee, 60, the finance chair for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, pleaded guilty in March to a $292 million ponzi swindle. Yeshiva World has the following headline on a New York Daily News report: Former Big-Time Dem Donor Gets 12 Years...

July 16, 2010: Porn Star Passionate About Jews
Comments: 49 | Categories: Philosemitism
A porn star and naked butler, who lost his job teaching sex education when pupils discovered his website, has spoken of his real passions – "Hebrew, Israel and all things Jewish." Porn star passionate about Jews Porn star is learning...

July 16, 2010: Who Is A Jew? The Diaspora Need Not Apply
Comments: 42 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Who is a Jew? It’s an age-old inquiry, one that has for decades (if not centuries) provoked debate, discussion and too many punch lines to count — all inspired by what many assumed was the question’s essential unanswerability. But if...

July 16, 2010: Rubashkin Fundraising Brochure
Comments: 23 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
"The appeal to every Jewish heart.' [Hat Tip: Seymour.]

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