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166 posts from November 2012

November 23, 2012: Australian Child Sex Abuse Scandal Widens – Again
Comments: 7 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Another major Australian Jewish organization is under investigation for child sexual abuse and for covering up the crimes against the children it was obligated to protect. The Jewish Chronicle reports: Another major Jewish organisation in Australia is embroiled in a...

November 23, 2012: Rabbi Chaim Halpern Resigns Over Clergy Abuse And Sexual Assault Allegations
Comments: 61 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Rabbi Chaim Halpern, a leading member of London’s haredi rabbinate, resigned this week from his position as a dayan, religious court judge, after being confronted about allegations of inappropriate conduct with a number of women. As you read the following...

November 23, 2012: State-Subsidized Hasidic Day Care System May Be Forced To Close Due To Mismanagement, Possible Fraud
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim
Hasidic day care centers subsidized by the government of Quebec, Canada are so poorly run that they may be forced to close. The centers' governing body's record keeping is reportedly almost nonexistent, which raises the possibility that the money has...

November 22, 2012: NYS's Tuition Assistance Program Disproportionately Aids Haredim
Comments: 28 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim
Extending the Tuition Assistance Program to religious institutions at a time aid to higher education students at secular institutions was being cut was very controversial. Now it turns out the first grouping of grants given to these religious institutions were...

November 22, 2012: Happy Thanksgiving
Comments: 13 |
This Thanksgiving has heightened meaning for many East Coast residents, especially for those who live in New York City, Long Island and on the Jersey Shore. Did Superstorm Sandy change your feelings about the holiday? Does Thanksgiving have meaning for...

November 22, 2012: Haredi Group Blames “Graves Desecration” For Missile Attacks
Comments: 18 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
A previously unknown group of haredi “extremists” blames the alleged “desecration of graves in Ramle” by archaeologists for the hundreds of missiles fired at Israeli cities and towns by Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza. Haredi Group Blames “Graves...

November 21, 2012: Orthodox Jew Sentenced In $32 Million Ponzi Scheme
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Kosher Business? , MO & Chardal
Joseph Greenblatt, an Orthodox Jew with a criminal history stretching back over two decades, was sentenced today in a Manhattan court to 6 to 18 years in prison for stealing $32 million in a Ponzi scheme that targeted Orthodox Jews....

November 21, 2012: Rabbis Threaten Woman Over Lettuce, Kosher Claims
Comments: 36 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal
"People realize that my kitchen is Glatt kosher, only I don't have a certificate from the rabbinate.…I have kipa-wearing diners who tell me they come because I display [my own] 'kashrut certificate from conscience,' and not [a kosher certificate from]...

November 21, 2012: Cease Fire Announced
Comments: 17 | Categories: Israel , Terrorism
A 'quiet in exchange for quiet' ceasefire between Hamas and israel is now reportedly in place. Stage 2 negotiations dealing with arms smuggling and other issues will reportedly follow sometime in the next several weeks. I just heard Secretary of...

November 21, 2012: Terrorist In Mumbai Attacks That Killed Chabad Rabbi And His Wife Executed
Comments: 13 | Categories: Chabad , Terrorism
166 people were killed in the three-day-long attacks, including a Chabad rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his wife Rivka, who died along with four of their guests at Mumbai’s Chabad House. Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, right, and his wife Rivka Terrorist In...

November 21, 2012: Haredim Illegally Gender Segregate BOMB SHELTERS
Comments: 45 | Categories: Extreme Sniut , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
Haredim in Ashdod, probably Gur hasidim, have reportedly illegally gender segregated bomb shelters, banning women and girls from a building's shelter that haredim have designated for men only. Women presumably have to use the shelter in an adjoining building, meaning...

November 21, 2012: Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak Reportedly Claims Prophesy For Himself, Says War Caused By Attempt To Draft Haredim
Comments: 29 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion, Religion & State , Sefardim , Terrorism
Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza is caused by Israel's decision to draft haredim into the military, Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak claims, noting that his "prophesy" on the matter has now been fulfilled. Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak Reportedly Claims...

November 21, 2012: Bus Bombing In Tel Aviv
Comments: 4 | Categories: Israel , Terrorism
A massive blast occured at around noon Wednesday on the 142 bus on Shaul Hamelech Street in the heart of Tel Aviv, near the Defense Ministry. 21 people are reported to be injured, two of them moderately to seriously. It...

November 20, 2012: Video: Police Hunt Possible Serial Killer In Brooklyn
Comments: 9 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Sefardim
Two Sefardic Jews and one Muslim have been killed so far. All are shopkeepers whose shop's address contained the number "8." A possible suspect is shown at right. [Hat Tip: Yael.]

November 20, 2012: Alleged Victims In Chabad Child Sex Abuse Scandal Move To Form Nonprofit Advocacy Group
Comments: 2 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
"It's important to highlight the fact that we currently don't have a public victims' advocacy group in our community - a group to promote the interests of some of the many child sexual abuse victims within our community. We need...

November 20, 2012: Progress In London?
Comments: 49 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes , Women & Judaism
A prominent haredi rabbi has reportedly been forced to step down from all his positions of leadership – except for the synagogue and study hall he runs in his house – because he allegedly sexually assaulted young women who came...

November 20, 2012: Video: Neturei Karta Demonstrates In Support Of Hamas
Comments: 44 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Neturei Karta leaders demonstrated in NYC Sunday in support of the Hamas-led government in Gaza and against Israel, ripping the Israeli flag and chanting, "Free, Free Palestine." Here's a second video showing Neturei Karta members demonstrating with other pro-Hamas activists...

November 20, 2012: Haredim Burn Jerusalem “House Of Prostitution”
Comments: 29 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Skepticism & Former Haredim
Large numbers of police and firefighters rushed to the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood of Jerusalem last night after an apartment containing what local haredi rabbis and haredi activists call a “house of prostitution” – but really appears to be nothing more...

November 19, 2012: “What? We’re At War?” Haredim In Beit Shemesh Detached From Israel’s Reality
Comments: 64 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Haredi Ramat Beit Shemesh residents unaware of war even as missiles rained down on Israel and Gaza. “What? We’re At War?” Haredim In Beit Shemesh Detached From Israel’s Reality Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com Beit Shemesh is a bedroom community that...

November 19, 2012: Missiles Won't Hit Bnei Brak Because Haredim Study Torah, Haredi Rabbi Promises
Comments: 41 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky told hundreds of haredim panicked by missile warning sirens and who wanted to flee the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak to stay put and not be afraid. The haredi city can rely on the words of...

November 19, 2012: Video: Ex-Haredim Thank Footsteps
Comments: 48 | Categories: Skepticism & Former Haredim
Ex-haredim who now have new lives through the help of Footsteps say thank you to Footstep's management, donor and volunteers.

November 19, 2012: Stealth Yoga And Hasidic Child Abuse In Ramat Beit Shemesh
Comments: 30 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia & Related Crimes , Religion, Religion & State
The yoga studio that Rachel and Avraham Kolberg run is situated at the end of the street, a useful location for preserving secrecy. And secrecy is vital because the Kolbergs, a couple in their thirties, teach yoga to haredi residents...

November 18, 2012: IDF Should Learn From Syrians How To "Slaughter And Crush" Enemies, Rabbi Says
Comments: 28 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Sefardim
“The army should learn from the Syrians how to slaughter and crush the enemy” - that is how Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of [Sefardi haredi spiritual leader] Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, “blessed” the IDF soldiers who may soon find themselves in...

November 18, 2012: Israel: Is Praying For Peace Enough?
Comments: 24 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion, Religion & State
The Torah did not exempt Torah scholars (or wearers of beaver hats in the hot Middle Eastern sun, for that matter) from fighting in wars of defense, and as nice as haredi prayers for the safety of Israeli Jews may...

November 18, 2012: Haredi Spokesman Confuses Simple Talmud Passage In His Defense Of Haredi Pedophile Coverups
Comments: 29 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Like the non-kosher pig that displays its kosher-looking hoofs as if to say, "I'm kosher, you can eat me," Rabbi Avi Shafran puts forward passages from the Talmud and stories of "gedolim" to "prove" that his fellow clown suit wearers...

November 17, 2012: Haredi Rabbis Wrong About Circumcision, Rabbi Says
Comments: 31 | Categories: Circumcision , Haredim , Med-Ethics, Public Health , MO & Chardal
Rabbi Hershel Schachter says that haredi rabbis who insist on "following in the steps of our forefathers" are wrong, because they don't understand what the term "following in the steps of our forefathers" means. Rabbi Hershel Schachter Yeshiva University's rosh...

November 16, 2012: The Evil Of Rabbi Avi Shafran
Comments: 22 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
"Is child abuse more common in the Orthodox Jewish community than it is elsewhere? There are no reliable statistics … but there’s reason to believe the answer to that question might be yes.' Those words, sandwiching an important admission between...

November 16, 2012: Is This Any Way To Treat The Poor?
Comments: 56 | Categories: Halakha , Hessed , MO & Chardal , Poverty & Homelessness
"…Jews believe in charity, but primarily as a private endeavor. The tithing obligation, or the dispensing of gifts to the poor in Biblical times (maasrot, leket, shikcha, pe’ah – known collectively as matnot aniyim, gifts to the poor), are all...

November 16, 2012: The Shame Of Modern Orthodoxy
Comments: 51 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , MO & Chardal , Poverty & Homelessness
The Rabbinical Council of America and the Beit Din of America prove through their inaction that poor people and "mud" people can never really be members in good standing in Modern Orthodoxy. Rabbi Steven Pruzansky Just over a week ago...

November 15, 2012: Harvey Erlich Arrested On Child Sexual Abuse Charges
Comments: 110 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
The Toronto dentist and Pirchei Boys Choir leader allegedly sexually abused two boys between 1975 and 1980, one of them at Shaarei Shomayim Congregation. Police believe there may be more victims, as well. Heshy Nussbaum, who was arrested several months...

November 15, 2012: Six More Women Reportedly Arrested For Wearing Tallits At The Western Wall
Comments: 36 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Religion, Religion & State , Women & Judaism
This morning, Israeli police arrested six women who were praying at the Western Wall wearing tallits, prayer shawls. All the women arrested were wearing tallits draped over their shoulders like a full shawl. Other women wearing smaller, more colorful “female”...

November 15, 2012: 3 Chabad Followers Killed By Hamas Rocket
Comments: 67 | Categories: Antisemitism , Chabad , Haredim , Israel , Terrorism
The victims were identified as Ahron Smadga, Yitzchak Amselam, and a 25 year old pregnant woman, Mirah Scharf (nee Cohen). An infant and several children were wounded in the attack and were hospitalized. The apartment where the three Chabad members...

November 15, 2012: Haredi Group Sent Death Threats And Put Laxatives In The Water Of “Enemy” Archaeologists, Doctors And Pathologists
Comments: 21 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel
"We decided to bring hell into their homes,” Meshi-Zahav reportedly wrote. So Meshi-Zahav and his co-conspirators poured tar at the entrance to the houses of doctors and pathologists and planted fake explosives. They also gave children letters containing bullets and...

November 15, 2012: Desecrated Ancient Temple Sheds Light On Early Power Struggles In The Land Of Israel
Comments: 2 | Categories: History , Israel
Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers have uncovered a unique 11th-century BCE sacred compound at the site of Tel Beth-Shemesh, an ancient village that resisted the aggressive expansion of neighboring Philistines. Desecrated Ancient Temple Sheds Light on Early Power Struggles at...

November 15, 2012: Activists Accuse Government Of Dodging High Court Ruling Ordering Haredi Military Service
Comments: 3 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Religion, Religion & State
Draft reform advocates are enraged by the response of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF, which was issued in an attempt by the government to block the High Court from ruling on a petition from the advocates demanding the...

November 15, 2012: Chabad Principals Ask Women For “Modesty”
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Haredim , Women & Judaism
Principals of all the Chabad schools in the Chabad’s Crown Heights, Brooklyn neighborhood joined together to send out a letter attacking what they claim is a decline of modesty standards by Chabad women and girls. Chabad Principals Ask Women For...

November 14, 2012: Better Late Than Never, Too?
Comments: 10 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
The head of Australian Jewry lies about Chabad coverup of child sexual abuse on national radio, claiming that Chabad has fully cooperated with police when police repeatedly have stated – including in court under oath – that the Chabad community...

November 14, 2012: Better Late Than Never?
Comments: 1 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
Two days late, Chabad finally issues a statement on government child sex abuse commission. Better Late Than Never? Two Days Late, Chabad Finally Issues Statement On Government Child Sex Abuse Commission Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com The principal of Chabad’s Yeshivah...

November 14, 2012: New High Tech Doors Trouble Haredi Rabbis
Comments: 50 | Categories: Halakha , Haredim , Israel
Two senior haredi poskim, decisors of Jewish law, Rabbis Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and Nissim Karelitz, the first hasidic and the second non-hasidic, have ruled that a new type of self-locking doors are problematic and should be avoided – but not...

November 14, 2012: Illegal Haredi Parking Ticket Gemach Shocks Almost No One
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim
Holy gemach, Batman! Gotham City has been struck by another nefarious plot, this one hatched in Borough Park and meant to deprive the city’s cash-strapped coffers of cold hard cash. Illegal Haredi Parking Ticket Gemach Shocks Almost No One Shmarya...

November 14, 2012: 5,600 Join Organization For Orthodox And Haredi Homosexuals
Comments: 27 | Categories: Haredim , Homophobia and its Discontents , Israel , Med-Ethics, Public Health , MO & Chardal
Approximately 5,600 religious homosexuals have joined the Hod organization since its establishment in 2008, according to figures presented by the organization in a special seminar held in collaboration with the Israel Psychological Association. 5,600 join religious gays' organization Testimonies collected...

November 13, 2012: A Moral Panic In Great Neck
Comments: 38 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
A series of mistakes by parents and therapists along with police procedural errors may have led to the wrongful convictions of a father and so more than two decades ago. Now the mother of one of the duo's "victims" is...

November 13, 2012: Chief Rabbinate Allegedly Stonewalls, Blocks Women From Working As Kosher Inspectors
Comments: 14 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Kosher Scandal , Women & Judaism
An investigative report has found that women trying register for courses that train them to be a mashgiach, kosher food inspector, are being turned away because Israel’s haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate is blocking the courses for modesty reasons" – even though...

November 13, 2012: Shocking: Australian Media Confirms Chabad Leaders Intimidating Victims In Child Sex Abuse Scandal, Rabbi Claims Child Victims Consented To Sex And Were At Fault For The Abuse
Comments: 38 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes
One of the global Chabad community's most senior figures has categorically warned at least one victim he could not report allegations of abuse to police. The senior rabbi said doing so would ruin the alleged perpetrator's life and would amount...

November 13, 2012: Secular Jewish School's Firing Of Openly Gay Principal Contested In Court
Comments: 32 | Categories: Homophobia and its Discontents
Joseph Gerassi, who is believed to have earned more than $300,000 a year as principal, is unlikely to find an equivalent job at another Jewish school because homosexuality is not condoned by sections of the Jewish community. Joseph Gerassi The...

November 13, 2012: Ashkenazi Haredim Panic After New Shas Co-Head Declares War On Anti-Sefardi Discrimination By Ashkenazi Haredi Schools
Comments: 16 | Categories: Bigotry & Racism , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
Aryeh Deri announced a plan to combat discrimination against Sefardi students by Ashkenazi run haredi schools. Deri, who now co-heads the Sefardi haredi Shas political party, said he would work to close Ashkenazi haredi schools caught discriminating against Sefardim. Aryeh...

November 13, 2012: 3 More Haredim Arrested For Another Millions Of Shekels Fraud
Comments: 9 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel
The three haredi men allegedly used an existing nonprofit’s name – the Meah Shearim-based Bnos Yerushalayim school – and added the name Keren Moshe to it. The men then represented it as a new nonprofit and allegedly used it to...

November 13, 2012: Australia Launches Royal Commission To Investigate Child Sexual Abuse In Religious Institutions
Comments: 3 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia & Related Crimes , Religion, Religion & State
The inquiry will not be confined to the Catholic Church, but extend to all religious organisations and to children in state care, and into other institutions including schools. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Julia Gillard announces royal commission will probe...

November 12, 2012: Haredim To Be Drafted Starting Next Summer
Comments: 9 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Mandatory army service will apply to all 18-year-old Israeli citizens starting in the summer of 2013. Within the next two years,14,000 haredi teens are expected to be drafted. Ynet reports: Following the expiration of the Tal Law, mandatory army service...

November 12, 2012: 11 Haredim Indicted In Massive Fraud
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, Litigation, etc. , Haredim , Israel
The indictments allege that the haredim – many of whom are prominent figures in the Mea Shearim-based haredi umbrella organization Eidah Charedis – embezzled over 48 million NIS from the Ministry of Education. Some defendants are also charged with money...

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