Newsweek's Top 50 Rabbis List Worse Than Last Year

Can a former Forward web editor improve Newsweek/The Daily Beast's list of the Top 50 rabbis in America?

No, she can't.

I'll be brief.

In past years I've noted that Newsweek's Top 50 Rabbis in America list is idiotic, and few would argue against that notion.

This year, a former Forward web editor, Gabrielle Birkner, compiled the list, keeping all the flaws from previous years.

But she also adds her own lie of omission involving FailedMessiah.com.

This is what Birkner wrote about YU's Rabbi Hershal Schachter:

Hershel Schachter (Orthodox)

Revered as a Talmud scholar, his Jewish law rulings are closely followed by centrist and Modern Orthodox Jews. Hershel Schachter, 71, heads Yeshiva University’s rabbinic seminary, where his leadership is widely thought to have pushed the university—and a large segment of the American Orthodox community—to the right. (He rejects ordaining women as Orthodox rabbis and questions organ donation in the case of brain death.) Speaking at a recent rabbinic conference, he said that Jewish law does not prohibit going to the police in cases of alleged sex abuse; in that speech, in which he used a derogatory Yiddish word for a black person, Schachter said that hadn’t reported to authorities allegations of child sex abuse at Yeshiva University’s high school for boys—allegations exposed recently in The Jewish Daily Forward—because he couldn’t ascertain whether the student was telling the truth. Last summer he suggested that Israeli rabbis’ dialogue with Catholic Church officials was tantamount to idolatry, and his statement drew sharp criticism from interfaith groups. Schachter has advocated on behalf of women seeking a Jewish divorce decree and has broken with more right-leaning rabbis in opposing the controversial oral suctioning technique during the circumcision ritual. (2012: No. 12)

Schachter's remarks to that London rabbis' conference were first reported by FailedMessiah.com and the Forward clearly credits FailedMessiah.com for breaking the story.

But Birkner doesn't.

Nor does the woman assigned by Newsweek to oversee this list mention that Failedmessiah.com has for years been reporting that Schachter held these abhorrent positions on rabbinic abuse panels, and Failedmessiah.com is also behind much of the reporting on Schachter's views on brain stem death.

Birkner makes it appear as if these stories were first reported by the Forward, or doesn't indicate any source at all.

Birkner's number four rabbi on this year's list is my old friend, Chabad's Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky:

4. Yehuda Krinsky (Orthodox)

A member of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s inner circle, Yehuda Krinsky, 79, now leads the movement that Schneerson transformed into a brand built on boundless outreach: Chabad-Lubavitch sends its emissaries, or schluchim, to Columbia, Congo, China, and thousands of points in between. This past year the organization opened centers in such unlikely locations as North Dakota and Malta. Of late, Chabad has been particularly active in setting up new early-childhood centers (it runs some 1,000 preschools around the world, about a third of them in America), and developing programming and infrastructure to serve American college students and young professionals. But Chabad remains embroiled in a dispute with the Russian government over the contents of the Schneerson’s library. Earlier this year, a U.S. district court judge ordered Russia to pay $50,000 a day that it refuses to return the rebbe’s books and manuscripts. The U.S. Department of Justice has said that such sanctions run counter to American foreign-policy interests. And a Russia-based Chabad spokesman told The Jewish Daily Forward that the Chabad lawyers should consider a compromise proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. (2012: No. 2)

Birkner obviously knows little about Chabad.

Krinsky is isolated from Chabad's mainstream and from the Chabad population of Crown heights. He widely despised in Chabad, and he leads – if you can call it that – through a series of secular court decisions. Even his former close allies like Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov (a truly nasty man, by the way) are now Krinsky opponents.

What standing does Krinsky actually have in Chabad?

His wife passed away a few months ago, and the funeral passed in front of Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway and moved on to the cemetery.

How many people, including family, participaed in this funeral?

According to news reports, about 200 – many of them family. By comparison, a funeral of a well-liked Crown heights shop owner might draw five times that. The funeral of the late Rebbe's wife drew tens of thousands as, of course, did the Rebbe's.

Birkner gets much more right when she writes about Agudath Israel of America's Rabbi Shmuel Kamentsky.

Shmuel Kamenetsky (Orthodox)

Shmuel Kamenetsky, 88, is one of ultra-Orthodoxy’s most esteemed rabbis, and his opinions on Jewish law and practice are widely sought out and closely followed by other Orthodox rabbinic authorities. He sits on the Council of Torah Sages, the group that advises the Haredi umbrella group Agudath Israel of America, and he leads the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia. In recent years, he has opined that homosexuals should undergo “reparative therapy” and that allegations of sexual abuse should be reported first to a rabbi, who can determine whether to call the police. Agudath Israel, whose most public face is its executive vice president, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, is currently fighting in court the New York City health department’s attempt to regulate the controversial oral suctioning technique during the circumcision ritual.  In August Kamenetsky was a featured speaker at a celebration marking an end to the seven-and-a-half-year Talmud study cycle. The event drew some 90,000 Jews to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, that is home to the New York Giants. (2012: No. 21)

What she doesn't say is that I broke the story that Kamentsky said that all allegations of child sexual abuse had to be cleared with a rabbi before reporting them to police. Kamentsky said this exactly at the same time as thousands of volunteers and the NYPD searched for 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky – whose dismembered body would soon be found in a nearby dumpster and in his killer's freezer.

Birkner also fails in the entry on Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon of Lakewood Yeshiva:

Matisyahu Salomon (Orthodox)

Matisyahu Salomon—the spiritual guide of Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG), the massive Haredi yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey, and a member of a new anti-Internet group called the Union of Communities for the Purity of the Camp—is highly influential in shaping ultra-Orthodox rabbinic positions on technology. In May some 40,000 ultra-Orthodox men packed CitiField, home of the New York Mets, for an anti-Internet rally. The purpose of the event, Salomon told the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hamodia at the time, “is for people to realize how terrible the Internet is and, of course, the best thing for every [good Jew] is not to allow it in his home at all.” Salomon was among the key rabbinic leaders responsible for the rally’s turnout; he closed BMG for the day so thousands of his students could attend the gathering, where he was a featured speaker. (New)

Birkner clearly does not know the difference between a rosh yeshiva (yeshiva dean) and a mashgiach ruchanai ("spiritual guide"). The latter is a cross between a dean of students and the head of a haredi modesty patrol. The former is the head of the yeshiva and Salomon's boss.

The rosh yeshivas had to close BMG – not Salomon.

Past that, Salomon is most notorious for why he wants the Internet banned, not for trying to ban it.

Salomon wants to ban the Internet because blogs have exposed so many of the missteps and crimes of haredi rabbis who spent decades covering up child sexual abuse allegations and other crimes.

Look at the alleged arson that burned down the house of Shua Finklestein's family or Finklestein's suicide. And then look at Salomon's actions and his words leading up to both events.

Google Salomon here and on other blogs like UOJ and you'll find a litany of bad behavior meant to shut down free flow of information and dissent.

Birkner should know better. Unfortunately, she doesn't.

Comments

[Netflix]

The list is about influential rabbis not pious saints,, not does it claim to be.

[Charles]

What criteria is used to "rank" rabbis? Seems rather silly since different people would have different priorities to look for in creating a ranking system. Like how learned he is, how accessible he is, how good of a speaker he is etc...

[Yochanan Lavie]

What other unworthy rabbis are included? Who should be considered worthy but is not considered? (Granted, the list is a silly idea).

[DBSesq]

"But Birkner doesn't. Nor does the woman assigned by Newsweek to oversee this list mention that Failedmessiah.com has for years been reporting that Schachter held these abhorrent positions on rabbinic abuse panels, and Failedmessiah.com is also behind much of the reporting on Schachter's views on brain stem death."

This says it all. Shmarya, despite his pious sounding fulminations, is not in this to help Judaism or fix problems that exist in various Orthodox communities. If he were he wouldn't care at all whether he get the credit he craves or not. He'd care only that the story be out there. Indeed Avot says that proper attribution of sources brings redemption to the world. But show me one great sage who ever cared about such things; who ever protested when he did not get proper attribution. In academia these things are important to weed out frauds. But it's highly presumptuous of a two bit blog such as this to raise such a ruckus. And it tells us much about the author's character. He's in it for his own prestige. Having failed to impress anyone in Lubavitch, when he was a student there, and having failed as a kosher butcher, Shmarya writes his screed to stroke his pathetic ego and assuage his clear and palpable inferiority complex. Make no mistake about it.

[ah-pee-chorus]

they should have credited you. and they forgot berland the magnificent.

[Zak]

Shmarya did hit it on the head with his accurate assessment of krinsky. And why should FM not get credit for what it does even when I despise the way things get presented on this site Shmarya deserves the credit for doing work which is much needed and necessary.

It's time all the frauds in high position be exposed for what they are.

[DBSesq]

I don't deny that Shmarya's entitled to the credit for his work, such as it is. But that he seeks it and complains when he doesn't get it, is very telling.

[Darth_Zeidah]

A word to the wise (and the not so wise, too): remember that the "source" of this story lies with "The Beast" a s a t i r i c a l magazine!

[Yochanan Lavie]

Schwartzy, you get lots of recognition for dismantling the education of non-Jewish children. Yashar koach. This Pesach, don't think of all the lives you're ruining as you munch down a basketball kazayit of super-dooper shmurah matzoh.

[darius]

The Lubavitcher Rebbe Died?

And Newsweek didn't?

Have a wonderful Pesach Everyone!

[Jeff]

Yochanan, HUGE "Like".

[Devorah]

"I don't deny that Shmarya's entitled to the credit for his work, such as it is. But that he seeks it and complains when he doesn't get it, is very telling."

Daniel Schwartz, how do you have time to post here yet you don't have time to answer New York State's questions regarding the way you are handling the East Ramapo School District? Are you also billing Kantrowitz Goldhammer now while you are posting on FM? Isn't that another form of fraud? They pay you for a 40 hour week--not to come here and condemn/bully anyone. Walk away from your computer NOW!!!

[Rebitzman]

And once again, my wife doesn't make the list.......

Stupid list.........

[Yosef ben Matitya]

"... through a series of secular court decisions. Even his former close allies like Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov (a truly nasty man, by the way)..."
I felt both amused and vindicated reading this. I always had this gut feeling about the Holy See ambassador to Washington. One can tell by watching the insolent behaviour of those directed by the Holy See.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

" Chabad-Lubavitch sends its emissaries, or schluchim, to Columbia, Congo, China, and thousands of points in between. This past year the organization opened centers in such unlikely locations as North Dakota and Malta."

amazing, is north dakota more surprising than the congo?
there is a logic and a rule of thumb however: 'follow the cash'.
wherever there are 2 or 3 of the faithful involved in blood diamonds, bribing foreign leaders or simply with cash that the 'emissaries' can fleece, they can open an embassy there.

[Philly blunt]

can someone explain to me what's wrong with kamenetzky view that u should go to a Rabbi first because that's what halacha says and what does leiby kletzky have to do with anything!??!!

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

This says it all. Shmarya, despite his pious sounding fulminations, is not in this to help Judaism or fix problems that exist in various Orthodox communities. If he were he wouldnt care at all whether he get the credit he craves or not. Hed care only that the story be out there. Indeed Avot says that proper attribution of sources brings redemption to the world. But show me one great sage who ever cared about such things; who ever protested when he did not get proper attribution. In academia these things are important to weed out frauds. But its highly presumptuous of a two bit blog such as this to raise such a ruckus. And it tells us much about the authors character. Hes in it for his own prestige. Having failed to impress anyone in Lubavitch, when he was a student there, and having failed as a kosher butcher, Shmarya writes his screed to stroke his pathetic ego and assuage his clear and palpable inferiority complex. Make no mistake about it.

DBSesq –

I realize that an amoral thug like you might have trouble processing reality. But Ill try to explain it to you nonetheless.

What this former Forward editor did is intentionally shift credit to the Forward at my expense – in Talmudic terms, steal. This is bad not just because of how it impacts me personally, Danny. Its bad because it shows that Birkner is not honest. And thats something her readers and her employer need to know.

You can make mistakes as a reporter or as an editor – we all do. But this is no mistake and there is lo legitimate rationale for doing what she did.

As for you, Danny, one day your East Ramapo escapades will truly be called into account in a court of law in which your buddies do not have inordinate sway. And when that happens, Danny Boy, your arrogance and your pompousness will be viewed along side your misbehavior. And no one will suffer more for that than Daniel B. Schwartz.

[yehudis]

DBSesq-If this is a two bit blog why do you keep reading it and putting in your two cents. I got a kick out of your response, "Shrmarya is not in this to help Judaism or fix problems that exist in various Orthodox communities". So I guess you are the School Board President in your own words to help Judaism and fix problems that exist in the Orthodox community and the heck with the 9,000 public school students.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

I dont deny that Shmaryas entitled to the credit for his work, such as it is. But that he seeks it and complains when he doesnt get it, is very telling.

Idiot.

If you had any idea how many hours I spend each month helping out journalists who do not credit me, youd be shocked. Theres one at Newsweek who sent me a series of emails last year asking me to give her my sources and data for a couple stories. A major Israeli daily just did this to me last week and the week before that. I helped Newsweek a little, because the requests were frankly outlandish. I helped the Israeli paper more because I wanted to see how this particular reporter would behave when given the information. Suffice for me to say that he behaved worse than I thought he would. People who act like that Israeli journalist really shouldnt have a job in the business. People who act like the NY Times did when it stole (primarily) Hella Winstons reporting in the Jewish Week and my reporting here need to be called out on it. You see, Danny, were the little guys and they are the big corporate Goliaths. The imbalance of power is great. But just like you exploit poor non-Jewish minority kids in East Ramapo, you dont see the problem with me being exploited here. And if those kids or I complain, were uppity and out of place, arrogant and pompous – almost as if you, one of the most arrogant, pompous people alive, were looking into a mirror and pronouncing judgment on yourself.

[Moshe Aron kestenbaum Williamsburg]

I love Sara hurovits"s hat. Wher is the satmar rebbi zalmen lieb? Last year that am Harets made that list , looks like this year Moshe gabbi ganovim forgot to send in his resume , this year this zalmen leib is even a bigger min Harrarets he is a year older

[DBSesq]

". . . were the little guys and they are the big corporate Goliaths"

You humor your inferiority complex too much with that one. You are not a "David." You are a "Korach," or perhaps from the "B'nei Eli." You can't make it in any serious endeavor. The mainstream sees you for what you are, not good enough to be part of them. And it kills you. And your anger, especially the way it goads you to act in the boorish ways you do, will ever keep you just beyond ever reaching Tantalus' grapes.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

DBSesq –

As usual, you make no sense. Hella Winston was treated exactly the way I was, and shes certainly good enough to be part of them. Past that, I turned down a couple offers from major publications when my parents were still alive but unwell, because i couldnt leave town.

Like I said before, Danny Boy, and like so many others have said before me – you are a horrible man, pompous, arrogant, amoral and abusive. (But let me be clear; I do **NOT** mean sexually or physically abusive.) And while your arrogance wont let you see it, the net around you is tightening.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Happy Pesach to all.

[Dave]

Happy Pesach to all.

Funny but true comments, Yochanan!
As the British say "you got it in one".

[spaced out BT]

As I prepare my Streits Matzo and 1950's Maxwell House Hagado I wish a joyous passover to all.

[DBSesq]

Oh Shmarya, you're so clueless. I'll think of you tonight while I listen to my youngest son sing the Mah Nishtanah and hear my other children read the Hagaddah. I'll think of you while I thank my wife for making a beautiful Pesach for all of us. What are you up to tonight? Anyone gonna really care if you're at the table or not?

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

DBSesq –

You really are pathetic, Danny. And youre also wrong.

[WoolSilkCotton, I am a work of art as well as a sports and rock superstar]

A Happy and Wonderful Pesach to all.

These 'Top Rabbis' lists are like the 'Top Doctors' lists. Some the 'top doctors' don't even see patients, and never did, they hire PR firms, some don't even know how to get to the ICU when they are in the building.
And every few months I get a letter congratulating me for being named a 'top doctor'. All I have to do is send them $279 and I will receive a plaque and certificate saying that I am one of 'America's Top Doctors'.

[dh]

DB, what makes you think that merely because you can slip the salami to some pitiable female while it's her sorry luck to be ovulating, it makes you something special? Anyone can do that and then bounce (ahem) a little female spawn on their knee, using that disgusting scenario to hold yourself above Shmarya, or anyone else.

If someone doesn't read them your posts soon, they will have no choice but to continue to be groomed by you to become as you have become. Stupid, conniving, remorseless, easily sexually gratified, unprofessional, immoral hateful and evil.

You dreadful horrible greedy little man. How many ppl asked you to lead their Seders these nights? Not nearly as many who asked your host here. You should fail at sleep as you have failed at life.

[Michael]

Shmarya, you're an angry man. You're also a very talented, hardworking and underappreciated journalist. Separate these two aspects of your personality! Your anger gets in the way of your skill in uncovering stories.

I'll just say that good journalists do not insult and harass others in the horribly offensive way you do.

[Eli, what me messiah?]

Is Newsweek's Top 50 Messiahs list coming out next? I'm so excited!

Danny, while munching on some parsley, I'll ponder your need to convey via anonymous comments that life has provided you with meaning and satisfaction. Who are you trying to convince of this?

Happy Pesach everyone!

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Happy Pesach to you too and family, YL

[Jeff]

You really are a pathetic, horrible little man, Danny. Your time is coming soon, and I for one will rejoice.

May you live to see your children reject everything you hold sacred (or claim to).

[Abu Jihad Schneerson]

Chag sameach to all except Danny!

[Pearl of Wisdom]

DBEsq is as much of an overgrown bully here as he is to the 9,000 public school students whose education he presides over. A gross, grimacing, lug of a man. Believe me, nobody would miss you in ER. Why do you read and comment in this site? None of us would miss your pompous hateful diatribes.

You hate Shmarya, you hate the public school parents and kids too. You gate freedom of speech when you are being told what a pathetic job as President you have done. You have presided over the insolvency of a school district for the past 2 years and then chased away a fellow Jew who was smarter than you and tired of your threats and harrasment. How does it feel to be so inferior that you are even more hated than Wieder, boy, that is quite a feat!

[Sarek]

("You're the Top", Cole Porter...part of it anyway...)

At rabbi rating I’m so pathetic
So I always have found it best
To take a break and try to fress
To see which one is the most blessed
It’s so grating this rabbi rating
So this parody makes me moody
And I will tell you how dumb you are.

You’re the top!
You’re the bestest rabbi
You’re the top
I didn’t know you’d applied
You’re the biggest tzadik the world has ever seen
You’re not so humble
Your sermons jumble
You’re Mickey Mouse
You’re in denial
You’re just way too smug
To your sermons I must wear earplugs
You’re a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop
But Newsweek/Daily Beast says you’re the top

[ShmaryLover]

Question: Did any of you turds who post here bother to invite the basement rat to your seder? The man's parents are 6 feet under - there's no love in his life and the closest he ever got a to a child is possibly the impregnated hooker he once had a relationship with. So - did any of you invite him? Shame on you all!

At least I thought about him when I spilled my wine and thought about death of the first born! Ay Scotty?

[Jeff]

Posted by: ShmaryLover | March 27, 2013 at 04:27 PM
_________________________________________________

You've just finished celebrating one of the most important holidays of the year - and you couldn't wait to come here to vomit your bile.

You people are beneath contempt. I rejoice in the imminent destruction of your world.

[dh]

And I would like to add that I second everything that Jeff wants to say but didn't.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yashar koach, Sarek. Happy Pesach, YBM.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Dedicated to Schwartzy (Apologies to Danny Boy, traditional):

Oy Danny boy, the Pols, the Pols are crawling
From shul to shul, and down the rabbis' backside
Scholarship's gone, and all the students are crying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must chide.
But come ye back when parole's in the memo
Or when Spring Valley's schools all are closed
Then I'll mock you in your suburban ghetto
Oy Danny boy, oy Danny boy, I loathe you so.

And if you come, when all the powers are fighting
And schools are dead, as dead they well may be
You'll come back to the place where you are lying
And you won't say "kaddish" without a fee.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you spread your money
And all thy schemes will slick and slimy be
If you'll not fail to give yeshivas money
I'll simply be at peace when DA comes to thee.

I'll simply be at peace when DA comes to thee

[under duress]

That's really DBS posting and not a troll?

I am incredulous that he would post here as himself.

[Eli, what me messiah?]

YL,
Such a good Irish spirit you've got there, laddie.
Brilliant!

[Yochanan Lavie]

Cheers, Eli. And a bonny Pesach to ye.

[Shmaryeisanidiot]

"Kamentsky said this exactly at the same time as thousands of volunteers and the NYPD searched for 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky – whose dismembered body would soon be found in a nearby dumpster and in his killer's freezer."

What are you doing including this? What possible connection are you implying between the two? You're a shmuck!

[dh]

No, ye are an idiot.

[moshe zucker]

1. "B The latter is a cross between a dean of students and the head of a haredi modesty patrol."
A mashgiach ruchni is a principal or dean of students. Shmarya knows it has nothing to do with modesty patrol but cant control his venom.
Rav Solomon is also very revered in the lakewood community and yeshiva, perhaps even more then Rav Kotlar (perhaps Shmarya doesnt know this) and as such being that he championed the internet cause he is DULY credited with it.

2.
"Krinsky is isolated from Chabad's mainstream and from the Chabad population of Crown heights. He widely despised in Chabad, and he leads – if you can call it that – through a series of secular court decisions."
"According to news reports, about 200 – many of them family. By comparison, a funeral of a well-liked Crown heights shop owner might draw five times that. The funeral of the late Rebbe's wife drew tens of thousands as, of course, did the Rebbe's."

Shmarya is well aware that Krinskys placement on top of the list has nothing to do with the Crown heights community (whom have had ideological disputes with the chabad organization {shluchim} since the early 90's)and everything to do with the Shluchim around the world. He just isn't sure that YOU dont know that. and so his venom forces him to lie despite the fact that he knows he is.

this may be why they refuse to credit you in your other 2 rabbinic complaints (shechter and kaminetzky) and why wikipedia doesn't allow you to be a source. think about it. Instead of whining try to figure out why it is.......

[Yosef ben Matitya]

mz| March 29, 2013 at 01:48 PM
of course, on the other hand, nobody in chabad wants to admit that there is a very significant schism.
in many localities there are representatives of both the overtly meschichisten & those doing so covertly.
as to wikipedia, must be that they were fooled by one of the 2 chabad holy sees to take this position. (somewhat reminiscent of the days of 2 papacies. rome and avignon). so, what is that u refer to as the 'chabad organisation'? how many of them there is?

[moshe zucker]

@ybm
"nobody in chabad wants to admit that there is a very significant schism. "
from what I understand everyone readily admits their is a schism i think the multiple lawsuits prominently featured here are proof enough of that.

"in many localities there are representatives of both the overtly meschichisten & those doing so covertly."

I think thats a long ago debunked myth I dont think most people are doing anything covertly.

"as to wikipedia, must be that they were fooled by one of the 2 chabad holy sees to take this position."

Must be?? Or alternatively its as I wrote. Makes more sense too.