1,184 posts categorized "Haredim"

July 6, 2008: Hasidm On Vacation
Comments: 0 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
A rich Gerrer hasid brings his family to Israel for its yearly vacation. They stay with non-Orthodox relatives. The hasidim refuse to eat with these relatives – even though the relatives purchase all new dishes for them – and otherwise...

July 4, 2008: US Gov't Official: Agriprocessors "Medieval"
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
The raid exposed allegations that workers at the sprawling plant, which employed more than 900 people, were underpaid, physically abused, sexually harassed and extorted. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. government official who has visited the plant described the...

July 4, 2008: Grand Jury Continues To Investigate Agriprocessors
Comments: 11 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
"Escorted by U.S. marshals, Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza (left) and Martin De La Rosa-Loera (right) walk into the federal courthouse at 4200 C St. SW. in Cedar Rapids on Thursday. Guerrero-Espinoza is accused of…

July 3, 2008: US Department of Justice: Investigation Of Agriprocessors "Continuing"
Comments: 6 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
The DOJ can't say what is being investigated. But it did say…

July 3, 2008: Agriprocessors Management Color Coded
Comments: 6 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
How senior are the two supervisors arrested earlier today? If the information I've seen is correct, they are…

July 3, 2008: US Attorney's Press Release On Agriprocessors Supervisors' Arrests
Comments: 0 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
As I mentioned earlier, the DOJ would like your help in locating…

July 3, 2008: Arrested Rubashkin Supervisors Senior Management
Comments: 10 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Both are senior supervisors. One runs the beef kill and three other departments. The other, poultry kill and three other departments. Both men report directly to the plant manager. He reports directly to Sholom M. Rubashkin. Both supervisors allegedly knowingly...

July 3, 2008: BREAKING! Two Agriprocessors Supervisors Arrested On Federal Criminal Charges
Comments: 18 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
UPDATE 7-3-08 1:35 PM – Here are the names of the arrested supervisors, along with the charges.

July 3, 2008: Rubashkin Spokesman Menachem Lubinsky Lies Again
Comments: 15 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers , Spin
This time, it's in Hamodia.

July 1, 2008: Rabbi Elyashiv: Do Not Rent To Secular Jews
Comments: 21 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
The haredi "gadol hador" (leader of this generation) does not want haredim to rent property to secular Jews. This has nothing to do with how those secular Jews might effect the character of haredi neighborhoods. He opposes such rentals on...

July 1, 2008: FailedMessiah.com Linked In Wall Street Journal – So Are FM Readers Aharon Varady and Yochanan Lavie
Comments: 45 | Categories: Chabad , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
In a story about Agriprocessors called Raid Unsettles Kosher Beliefs:

July 1, 2008: Badatz Yerushalayim: MP4s Treife, "Devil's Device," Banned – MP4 Stores Vandalized, Torched
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Haredim are at it again. As…

July 1, 2008: New Scandal Strikes Rabbinate In Israel
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Ethiopian Jews , Haredim , Israel
Extortion, haredi rabbi style, as the…

June 29, 2008: New Allegations Of Rubashkin Worker Abuse, Part 2
Comments: 9 | Categories: Chabad , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
Earlier today I wrote that Jim Martin, Agriprocessors new "compliance officer," was not doing a good job. Martin was hired with much fanfare 23 days ago. So far, his major accomplishment…

June 29, 2008: Spinka Gabbai, Banker Plead Guilty
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
And the gabbai is trying to take the fall for the Spinka Rebbe, whose trial is fast approaching, as…

June 29, 2008: New Allegations Of Rubashkin Worker Abuse
Comments: 24 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
Agriprocessors' new "compliance officer" Jim Martin doesn't seem to be enforcing compliance very well, as…

June 27, 2008: The Fix Was In
Comments: 54 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Price-Fixing , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
I've written many times previously about how the Bush Administration gave preferential treatment to companies and industries with disproportionately high links to Republican politicians and conservative causes. The pattern…

June 27, 2008: When Rabbis Turn Halakha Into Superstition, Part 2
Comments: 60 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Halakha , Haredim
Last month, I wrote about the outbreak of shigella, an intestinal infection, in haredi communities in Brooklyn. The disease spread through poor hand washing and, as I pointed out last month, haredim – especially hasidim – are…

June 26, 2008: Can Agriprocessors' New "Compliance Officer" Be Trusted?
Rubashkin Staffing Agency Advertises Cheap Mexican Labor

Comments: 28 | Categories: Chabad , Creative PR , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers , Spin
The short answer, I think, is no – he can't be trusted, even though Rubashkin's new "Compliance Officer," Jim Martin is a former federal prosecutor with a sterling reputation. But that reputation has now come into contact with Rubashkin and...

June 25, 2008: French Photographer: Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Asked Me To Strip So He Could See Me Naked
Comments: 14 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Metzger's attorney…

June 24, 2008: Anti-Zionist Haredi Schools Steal Money From Government, Post Reports
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
The fanatically anti-Zionist Edah Charedit (Badatz Yerushalyim), whose rabbinic court is headed by Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch (more links) and Satmar are noted for their refusal to take any money from the "sinning," Zionist, Government of Israel. But that is only...

June 23, 2008: Head Of OU Shechita Uses Lanner Excuse: Rubashkin Is The Chabad "Kiruv" Of Kosher Meat, No Worse Than Other Meat Plants – Criticism Of Rubashkin Is Lashon Hara
Comments: 135 | Categories: Chabad , Creative PR , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
Well, either all other meat plants hire 13 year olds to illegally work chicken lines; recruit and hire illegal aliens and then provide them with forged ID; extort and abuse those same illegal workers; and engage in unfair and illegal...

June 22, 2008: Role Of Agriprocessors' New "Compliance Officer" Unclear, Uri L'Tzedek Says
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
And, beside that, we also have a new, blistering attack on the OU and other Rubashkin kosher certifiers, as…

June 22, 2008: Understanding Rubashkin's Near-Monopoly
Comments: 20 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
A rather unremarkable story in J, the Jewish newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Area, has one rather remarkable bit of information buried in it, and that bit of information helps explain Rubashkin's monopoly in many areas of the country.

June 22, 2008: Rubashkin Hires New PR Powerhouse – Represents Fortune 500 Companies, Hip Hop Artists, Paris Hilton
Comments: 17 | Categories: Chabad , Creative PR , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
The new PR firm is 5W Public Relations and, among its clients are Pastor John Hagee, Televangelist Benny Hinn, a few members of Israel's Knesset and the uber-right wing Zionist Organization of America (and here, where the ZOA's president defends...

June 20, 2008: BREAKING! Rubashkin Hires Texas Homeless, Ships Them To Postville – Allegations Of Mistreatment Continue, OU Covers For Agriprocessors
Comments: 22 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
I'm speechless. At first blush, I thought this was a good thing – until…

June 20, 2008: BREAKING! Rubashkin Boss Who Allegedly Defrauded And Extorted Workers Flees To Israel – Management Knew About Extortion And Fraud, Did Not Act To Stop It, Employees Say
Comments: 4 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Not only that, but more evidence has surfaced showing the Rubashkins knowing hired illegal workers and provided those illegal workers – after a period of vetting and absolutely rock-bottom pay – with false documents as…

June 20, 2008: The Rabbis Behind The Conversion Scandal
Comments: 8 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
The conversion crisis exposé continues over on Jewcy.com today. Today's piece features five haredi rabbis behind the scandal. Link.

June 19, 2008: Rubashkin Son-In-Law Rabbi Milton Balkany Threatens Orthodox Rubashkin Boycott Leaders – Rubashkin PR Flack Menachem Lubinsky Plays Holocaust Card
Comments: 15 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
It looks like that's what happened when Balkany, another Aaron Rubashkin son-in-law Sholom Baer Minkowitz, and Rubaskin PR flack Menachem Lubinsky met last week with the leaders of…

June 19, 2008: Rubashkin To Hold "Urgent" NYC Meeting For Jewish Leadership – Invitation Only Event's Speakers Include Rubashkin's Attorney, Rubashkin's Rabbis, Rubashkin's PR Consultant
Comments: 8 | Categories: Chabad , Creative PR , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
Maybe we should crash it? If you go, please bring and use a recoding device and a camera. Details below:

June 17, 2008: Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch: Gays "Evil Criminals That Have No Place With The God Of Israel," Holocaust Happened Because Tzaddikim "Did Not Protest"
Comments: 48 | Categories: Gay Pride March , Haredim , Israel
First, carefully read the quote posted below…

June 15, 2008: Underneath A Policy Of Corruption, Rubashkin's Meat Hook
Comments: 12 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
During the first Rubashkin scandal, people wondered how the USDA could have allowed ripping out the throats of live cattle with a meat hook. Here's the answer.

June 13, 2008: Haredi Spokesperson Disses US Attorney General, Modern Orthodox Jews
Comments: 32 | Categories: Haredim
Are there 1 million Orthodox Jews in America? Did God punish us with "cyclones, fires and earthquakes" because California voted to allow gay marriage? Take a look at…

June 12, 2008: BREAKING! Israel's Commissioner of Complaints Against Judges Recommends Firing High Rabbinic Court Judge
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Israel's official ombudsman of judges, Tova Strasberg-Cohen, has called for the firing of High Rabbinic Court judge Rabbi Avraham Sherman. Why? His obnoxious, disgusting…

June 12, 2008: Rubashkin Ships Meat Years Past Expiration Date To Conservative Camps
Comments: 23 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Would this have sickened campers if served? Most likely…

June 12, 2008: Interview With An Agriprocessors Mashgiach
Comments: 28 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
The Jew and the Carrot has an interview with a former mashgiach at Agriprocessors, the Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse and meat packer that produces Rubashkin's, Aaron's Best, Shor HaBor, Supreme Kosher and other brands. The mashgiach…

June 11, 2008: "Conservative and Reform Movements Despicable, Ludicrous, Spoofs On Kashrus"
Comments: 58 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
VosIzNeias, the hasidic "news blog" that bills itself as "The Voice of the Orthodox Jewish Community," is at it again, attacking…

June 11, 2008: Eternal Jewish Family Joins Fight Against Religious Zionist Conversions
Comments: 26 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Rabbi Leib Tropper convened a meeting in Jerusalem to fight against moderate Orthodox conversions – especially…

June 11, 2008: What Rubashkin Knew And When He Knew It
Comments: 13 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
I reread a large chunk of Stephen Bloom's book Postville over the second day of Shavuot. I hadn't looked at the book in a long time – I think I last read bits of it five years ago. Bloom clearly…

June 8, 2008: Should Haredim Call Police When A Child Is Abused?
Comments: 30 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
If you are haredi and hold by Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch of Jerusalem's Edah HaHaredit (Badatz Yerushalyim), the answer is…

June 8, 2008: "The Reform, Conservative Hypocrites Jews Should Stop With Their Rubashkin Crap Please"
Comments: 26 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
VosIzNeias, the lharedi news blog that bills itself as "The voice of the Orthodox Jewish Community," reprinted a column written by an editor of the Austin-Statesman on the latest Rubashkin controversy. But look what VIN did.

June 7, 2008: Rubashkin's Son-in-Law Defends Rubashkin On Zev Brenner Tonight
Comments: 13 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
Listen here.

June 6, 2008: Haredi Child Rapist Flees Israel, Hides In London, Escapes Justice – Twice
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
There is a bright side to this story. The haredi child rapist was, accidentally, arrested again, as…

June 6, 2008: Israel's Supreme Court To Decide Legality Of Haredi Conversion Revocations
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Can haredi judges sitting on Israel's state-funded rabbinic courts void conversions done by the state Conversion Authority? Israel's High Court of Justice (Supreme Court) is about to make that decision, as…

June 6, 2008: How Corrupt Are Israel's Rabbinic Courts? Going To The Gutter With Haredi Rabbi Avraham Sherman
Comments: 29 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Very. And here is a great example of that corruption involving none other than Rabbi Avraham Sherman, the haredi rabbinic judge who invalidated conversions done by the head of the Conversion Authority Rabbi Haim Druckman…

June 6, 2008: UPDATED: Rubashkin Uses Meat "Shortage" Against Enemies?
Comments: 14 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
It sure looks like it. Maybe not. I wandered over to Cooper's, Saint Paul's kosher food outlet tonight and took a gander at the kosher meat supply. What did I find?

June 5, 2008: BREAKING! Rubashkin Hires Former US Attorney As "Chief Compliance Officer"
Comments: 23 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin EPA , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
In response to the massive immigration raid and ongoing investigations by state and federal agencies inot alleged illegal activities by the company, Agriprocessors today hired former Missouri U.S. Attorney Jim Martin to oversee the company's compliance with…

June 5, 2008: Girl Attacked By Haredi Modesty Patrol, Burned By Acid
Comments: 34 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Beitar Illit (also known as Meah Shearim 2) has been the scene of a lot of haredi extremism. Nothing, however, is as bad as what happened to a 14 year old girl, as…

June 5, 2008: Chabad Rabbi To Face 17 Criminal Counts
Comments: 18 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim
Australian Chabad rabbi Yossi Engel apparently will face 17…

June 4, 2008: The Rubashkin-Lubinsky Smear Begins
Comments: 30 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Never people to admit their mistakes (intentional or otherwise), the Rubashkin family has launched a concerted effort to smear people involved in trying to stop the abuses at the Rubashkins' Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa. Perhaps the…

June 4, 2008: Former Chief Rabbi Lau: Tommy Lapid Not Anti-Religion
Comments: 9 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Religion
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, came to the defense of the late Yosef "Tommy" Lapid in Ynet. Lapid, who died early this week, has been vilified by…

June 4, 2008: The Dishonesty Of Menachem Lubinsky
Comments: 5 | Categories: Creative PR , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Media , Rubashkin Workers
A reader, Chaim Yankel, took Rubashkin mouthpiece Menachem Lubinsky to task for not coming clean on his financial relationship with the Rubashkin family and Agriprocessors. As many of you know, Lubinsky is often quoted by media without any disclosure being...

June 4, 2008: Tendler Case Reaches Highest Court – Rabbi Tendler's Lawyer: "What We Have Here Is Consensual [Sexual] Conduct"
Comments: 62 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , MO & Chardal
The Mordechai Tendler case has reached New York State's highest court on appeal and Tendler's arrorney appears to admit an ongoing sexual affair between…

June 4, 2008: BREAKING! Kabbala-Cult Leader Turns Himself Into Brazilian Police – Worst Case Of Child Abuse In Israel's History
Comments: 12 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Elior Chen has turned himself into Brazilian police as…

June 3, 2008: Agriprocessors Runs Help Wanted Ads In Guatemala Newspapers
Comments: 16 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The May 27, 2008 edition of…

June 3, 2008: Aaron Rubashkin: "I wish everybody should be treated like we treat people"
Comments: 12 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Ben Harris of the JTA has an exclusive interview with Aaron Rubashkin, the owner of Agriprocessors, the world's largest kosher slaughterhouse and the target of the largest single immigration raid in US history. And Aaron Rubashkin has news for you…

June 3, 2008: RCA: Believe Rubashkin, Not Workers, Not Evidence
Comments: 11 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
As you read this new RCA "policy statement" issued today, keep in mind that as of early last week almost 300 of those arrested at Agriprocessors in the largest immigration raid in US history had already pleaded guilty or been...

June 2, 2008: Haredi Spokesman Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblum Compares Rabbi Haim Druckman To Non-Orthodox Clergy
Comments: 47 | Categories: Halakha , Haredim , History , Israel
Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblum used to stand out among haredi spokesmen (there are no spokeswomen) for his honesty. But, as haredi positions have grown harder and more extreme, Rosenblum has been forced to…

June 2, 2008: Cloistered Shame in Israel – Child Abuse, Rape and Haredi Coverups
Comments: 35 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The recent spate of haredi sex crimes – most of which involve molestation or rape of children – that so shook Israel has now made real international news.

May 30, 2008: BREAKING! Labor Contractor Pulls Workers Out Of Agriprocessors, Cites Unsafe Working Conditions
Comments: 8 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
A labor contractor hired to send workers to Agriprocessors, the Rubashkin family's Postville, Iowa kosher slaughterhouse, has pulled its workers after 10 days on the job citing…

May 30, 2008: Rubashkin: Bad Landlord, Still Abusive Employer
Comments: 30 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
It's not just GAL Investments that is reportedly pushing former Agriprocessors workers onto the streets – it is…

May 29, 2008: OU Admits Replacement Of Sholom Rubashkin Ploy To Keep Kosher Supervision
Comments: 42 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
Rabbi Menachem Genack of the OU has admitted what many of us thought all along – the "ouster" of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin as Agriprocessors CEO is…

May 29, 2008: New Rubashkin Workers Claim Abuse; Rubashkin Also Alleged To Be Recruiting More Illegal Workers
Comments: 8 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
After reams of negative media attention in the wake of the largest immigration raid in US history, you would think the Rubashkin family would have learned behave in civilized society. But nothing, it seems, could be further from the truth....

May 28, 2008: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef In Slap Against Ashkenazi Haredim: "Conversion Courts Too Strict"
Comments: 32 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
In what is clearly a slap at Ashkenazi haredi led by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – the leading Sefardic rabbi of this generation – says that conversions are being made…

May 28, 2008: UPDATED: Chabad Landlord – Pay Rent Now Or Get Out; Gal Investments Largest Postville Landlord
Comments: 17 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Allegedly, Gal Investments, a Postville landlord that may have connections to Agriprocessors management and the Rubashkin family…

May 28, 2008: Is Rubashkin Scamming The Jewish Community? Move To "Oust" Sholom M. Rubashkin A Ploy To Avoid Prosecution?
Comments: 27 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
If Agriprocessors CEO (and its Vice President) Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin's nephew is telling the truth, the answer is…

May 28, 2008: BREAKING! OU Pushed For Sholom Rubashkin Ouster, Jewish Star Reports – Is The OU Conning American Jews?
Comments: 17 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
Mayer Fertig of the Jewish Star is reporting that…

May 27, 2008: Did A Rubashkin Flee The Country?
Comments: 82 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
This is still an unconfirmed rumor, so take it with a large grain of salt. I've been told by a normally reliable source that…

May 27, 2008: BREAKNG! Rabbi Who Voided Druckman Conversions: Hearing And Speech Impaired Cannot Convert, Any Conversion Done Invalid
Comments: 64 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Basing himself of the halakhic idea that…

May 27, 2008: Pravada Ne'eman Returns
Comments: 14 | Categories: Blogs , Haredim
Pravda Ne'eman, the insider haredi blog which set out several years ago to expose the lies and propaganda of Yated Ne'eman, the haredi newspaper mouthpiece is back – but with…

May 26, 2008: Is This How Rabbi Zeilingold's "Independent Investigation" Of Agriprocessors Was Run?
Comments: 21 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Formerly There writes:

May 26, 2008: Rubashkin's PR Spin Continues
Comments: 41 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, the man whose kosher symbol appears on all Rubashkin non-glatt (but still kosher) meat, weighed in on the massive immigration raid at Agriprocessors…

May 25, 2008: Kasztner's Train, Part Three
Comments: 28 | Categories: Haredim , History
Reuters has a brief but still interesting report on several new works documenting Rudolph Kasztner's attempts to save Jews during the Holocaust. And one thing is clear…

May 25, 2008: Comptroller: Most Rabbinic Court Cases Mishandled
Comments: 4 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
No surprise here, as…

May 25, 2008: When The State Pays The Rabbis
Comments: 11 | Categories: Haredim , Hessed , Israel , MO & Chardal
The Jerusalem Post has an interesting article on illness and mourning in Israel. While in the US (and in most other western countries) rabbis visit sick and console mourners, in Israel this really is not true. Why?

May 24, 2008: Lubinsky on Talkline Defending Rubashkin
Comments: 5 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
He's claiming antisemitism. Listen here.

May 24, 2008: Slave Labor: Rubashkin Workers Allege Forced, Unpaid Overtime
Comments: 7 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
It just keeps coming…

May 23, 2008: BREAKING! Rubashkin Out – Agriprocessors Seeks New CEO
Comments: 16 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Details below…

May 23, 2008: Washington, DC Modern Orthodox Rabbi Calls For Rubashkin Ban
Comments: 32 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
The ban is temporary, meant to be in place only until allegations against Agriprocesors and the Rubashkin family are proved false or true. Still, once in place – and with the high probability of Rubashkin guilt, combined with so many...

May 23, 2008: And The Lid begins To Close…
Comments: 12 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
How likely is it that management of Agriprocessors, the Rubashkin family's Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse and packing facility, will be indicted? Very, if stories like this are true:

May 23, 2008: UPDATED: Alleged Rubashkin Bag Man Subpoenaed
Comments: 13 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The man many think recruited underage workers for Rubashkin and paid them – and other illegals – off the books has been subpoenaed by a grand jury.

May 23, 2008: Sins of Omission, Part 2
Comments: 6 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & the Media , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Media , Rubashkin Workers
Earlier this week, I highlighted two articles on the Agriprocessors Scandal that I believe missed the mark by a wide margin. One was a JTA piece by Sue Fishkoff. A second, less objectionable piece, was from the Forward. Now we...

May 23, 2008: Conservative Rabbis Stop Short Of Boycotting Agriprocessors
Comments: 32 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Jewish Leadership , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
In a joint statement, the Conservative Movement's Rabbinical Association and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism in effect punted. Despite widespread calls within the movement for a boycott against Agriprocessors (Rubashkin), the rabbis decided to leave the decision of whether...

May 21, 2008: BREAKING! Rabbi Haim Druckman Forced Out Of Conversion Authority, Ynet Reports
Comments: 13 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity
Ynet is reporting Rabbi Haim Druckman was removed as head of the Conversion Authority by PM Olmert. Olmert– scandal-ridden and desperately clinging to power – needs haredi votes to keep him in the Prime Minister's office. Olmert apparently gave into...

May 21, 2008: Haredi Rabbi Revokes Death
Comments: 16 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
A haredi rabbi revoked a death almost 25 years after it occurred. Why? To raise the dead?

May 21, 2008: Design Firm Files Suit Against Agriprocessors – Claims Rubashkin Owes More Than $270,000 In Unpaid Bills
Comments: 71 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
A Kansas City design firm that has designed hundreds of package labels for Agriprocessors filed suit yesterday in…

May 21, 2008: Sins of Omission
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & the Media , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Media , Rubashkin Workers
Two major Jewish media stories on the Agriprocessors immigration raid deserve special mention – not for a job well done.

May 20, 2008: BREAKING! European Haredi Rabbis Void All Conversions Done By Israel's Conversion Authority And Rabbi Haim Druckman
Comments: 79 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Following the lead of Israel's haredim, the largely haredi Conference of European Rabbis has voided every conversion done by Rabbi Haim Druckman and Israel's Conversion Authority. Why?

May 19, 2008: Rubashkin Workers Said Forced To Grant Sexual Favors For Promotions, Shift Changes
Comments: 50 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
I guess Rabbi Weissmandel and his rabbis were not in this room – or, just maybe, they were…

May 19, 2008: UPDATE: Animals Neglected At Illegal Oorah Petting Zoo
Comments: 31 | Categories: Haredim , Oorah Kars4Kids , Outreach
A rotting carcass was found Saturday, along with skeletal remains and live, neglected animals. Government officials had to bring in food and water for the animals. And what is located next to this illegal zoo of horrors?

May 19, 2008: Rubashkin's Rabbis Visit Jail
Comments: 33 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Rabbis from Postville, Iowa have visited an Iowa jail holding detainees from last Monday's massive immigration raid at Agriprocessors. Who did Rubashkin's rabbis visit?

May 18, 2008: Even The Bathrooms Are Kosher
Comments: 38 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Rabbi Weissmandel, the head honcho of Rubashkin's rabbis, says he knows the government's allegations against Rubashkin are false. No meth lab on premises. No duct taping a worker's eyes and beating him with a meat hook. No extortion. No fraud....

May 18, 2008: The Pious Chabadnik
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & Christianity , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, son of Agriprocessors founder Avraham Aaron Rubashkin and head of Agriprocessors daily operations…

May 16, 2008: 18 Juveniles Arrested During Rubashkin Raid, Some As Young As 13
Comments: 42 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Here it is, buried in a story…

May 16, 2008: Lawsuit Alleges Rubashkin Extortion, Racketeering, Other Crimes
Comments: 8 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Rubashkin workers have formed a class action lawsuit against Agriprocessors. Here's what the workers allege…

May 15, 2008: Rabbi Weissmandel: Allegations Against Rubashkin "False"
Comments: 12 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Supreme Kosher's Rabbi Moshe Weissmandel weighed in on the massive immigration raid conducted against Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa Monday. What did the uber-haredi have to say?

May 15, 2008: Eternal Haredi Family
Comments: 29 | Categories: BTs , Haredim , Israel , Outreach
At least one American haredi rabbi has revoked a conversion more than one year after supervising it. Who is that rabbi? Why did he revoke the conversion? Could something be…

May 15, 2008: Experts See Charges for Rubashkin Bosses
Comments: 22 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Yesterday the Jewish Week printed the opinions of two prominent legal scholars who, after reading the affidavits used in Monday's raid on Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, thought senior plant managers (i.e., Rubashkins) were soon to be charged with crimes. Today...

May 15, 2008: Rubashkin Family State Campaign Contributions May Have Purchased Pols Silence On Wrongdoing
Comments: 4 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Yesterday we learned about Rubashkin federal campaign contributions thanks to a Des Moines Register article. Today, we move on to bigger, unregulated money donated to Iowa state politicians by Rubashkin family members – and what very well might be influence...

May 14, 2008: Government Laying Groundwork For Indictment Of Rubashkin, Senior Managers, Legal Experts Claim
Comments: 25 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Surprised by the breadth of the affidavits used in the raid against the Rubashkin family's Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa early this week, legal experts believe…

May 14, 2008: What Did The Rabbis Know And When Did They Know It?
Comments: 18 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin EPA , Rubashkin Gordon , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
In the wake of the largest immigration raid in the modern history of America, a question must be asked: What did the rabbis supervising Agriprocessors know and when did they know it?

May 14, 2008: Rubashkin Food Safety, Worker Safety and Pollution Violations Detailed
Comments: 34 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin EPA , Rubashkin Safety , Rubashkin Workers
The Des Moines Register has a long list of all Agriprocessors violations of safety, food safety and pollution regulations over the past two years. As regular FailedMessiah.com readers certainly know, the article stresses Agriprocessors has a…

May 14, 2008: Devastating Effects Of Rubashkin Immigration Raid
Comments: 25 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Even though Agriprocessors, the Rubashkin family's Postville slaughterhouse, was open for business yesterday, one day after the largest immigration raid in the modern history of the United States, the effects of the raid…

May 13, 2008: INTERVIEW: OU's Rabbi Menachem Genack on Rubashkin
Comments: 58 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal , Rubashkin Workers
I spoke briefly with the CEO of OU Kosher, Rabbi Menachem Genack. I asked him the following question:

May 13, 2008: Rubashkin Search Warrants
Comments: 4 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
Posted as pdf files, after the jump in the extended post:

May 13, 2008: RUBASHKIN OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL
Comments: 40 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The slaughter line is operating this morning at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. The I.C.E. raid, carried out yesterday in conjunction with 14 other federal and state agencies, only stopped production yesterday.

May 13, 2008: Rubashkin Family Members Large Republican Campaign Contributors
Comments: 9 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The Federal Elections Commission records show Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin gave…

May 13, 2008: How Aaron Rubashkin Does Business – Duct Tape To The Eyes, Meat Hook To The Head
Comments: 24 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The Cedar Rapids Gazette has excerpted parts of the search warrants used in yesterday's massive raid on Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa, the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the world. Is your glatt kosher meat worth this?

May 13, 2008: New York Times Blows Raid Coverage
Comments: 5 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Media , Rubashkin Workers
I'm running a contest. Whoever finds the most number of mistakes (including omissions) in the NY Times coverage of the raid on Rubashkin's Postville plant wins. I'll spot you…

May 12, 2008: RUBASHKIN WORKERS PAID $5 Per Hour
Comments: 19 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
That's right. Chabad rabbi and former shaliach…

May 12, 2008: RUBASHKIN TARGET OF ONGOING STATE & FEDERAL LABOR PROBE – Rubashkin Alleged to Employ Underage Illegal Workers Paid Under the Table, Fake OSHA Report May Come Back to Haunt
Comments: 29 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
The Des Moines Register is reporting United Food and Commercial Workers Union leadership asked ICE not to raid Agriprocessors. Why?

May 12, 2008: 700 ARRESTS POSSIBLE AT AGRIPROCESSORS; LARGEST IMMIGRATION RAID IN HISTORY; DRUGS AND WEAPONS VIOLATIONS ALSO ALLEGED
Comments: 11 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
USA Today and the Des Moines Register are both reports 600 to 700 arrests at the Rubashkin family's Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa. As of approximately 3 pm CDT, at least 300…

May 12, 2008: AGRIPROCESSORS RAID SAID TO BE LARGEST EVER CONDUCTED
Comments: 10 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , Rubashkin Workers
A reliable source informs me the Immigration raid now in progress at Rubashkin's Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa is "the largest raid ICE has ever conducted - 500 agents." The source also tells me federal agents "raided public schools looking...

May 12, 2008: BREAKING: Israeli Rabbis Refuse To Allow Converts To Marry – Thousands Of Converts In Jewish Law Limbo
Comments: 20 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Remember the thousands of converts who had their conversions revoked by haredi rabbis sitting on the Rabbinate's High Rabbinic Court? Well, official marriage registrars across Israel – rabbis all – are now refusing to register the marriages of these poor...

May 11, 2008: Kabbala Child Abuse Cult Rabbi On The Lam In Brazil?
Comments: 14 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
He may be, if…

May 9, 2008: Jewish Code Snarls Probe Into Crown Heights Attack
Comments: 22 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Haredim
And what "code" would that be, you ask?

May 8, 2008: Conversion Revocation Update: RCA Appalled, Marc Shapiro Explains Why
Comments: 28 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
In what the Jewish Week calls, "an unusually bold move," the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) has…

May 7, 2008: Neturei Karta Attack Man With Israeli Flag, Demonstrate Against State On Yom HaZikaron – In Jerusalem
Comments: 51 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
A group of Neturei Karta members were demonstrating against the State of Israel in Jerusalem on Yom HaZikaron, the day of remembrance for fallen Israeli soldiers. A non-haredi man carrying an Israeli flag approached the area – near Kikar Shabbat,...

May 5, 2008: When Rabbis Turn Halakha Into Superstition
Comments: 63 | Categories: Halakha , Haredim
A report from the NYC Department of Health points out a problem with Orthodox Judaism – hand washing.

May 5, 2008: We Are Not One People
Comments: 34 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
It's sad, but it's true:

May 5, 2008: Yeshiva: They're Old, They're Sick, They're Holocaust Survivors – Evict Them
Comments: 23 | Categories: Ethics , Haredim
Back in April of last year, I suggested we start a Haredi Hall of Shame after learning a Brooklyn yeshiva had…

May 4, 2008: Chief Rabbi To Try To Revoke High Rabbinical Court Decision Invalidating Tens Of Thousands Of Conversions
Comments: 21 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who is also president of Israel's rabbinic courts, is trying to overturn the decision released last week by the High Rabbinical Court to void all conversions done by Conversion Authority head Rabbi Haim Druckman since...

May 4, 2008: Burka Cult Leader: I Never Beat My Children; My Prayers Protect Beit Shemesh From Arab Terror
Comments: 18 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Ma'ariv has long interview with Burka cult leader, Rabbanit Bruria Keren, and Ynet has a shorter interview. Keren answered each question in writing because she is "forbidden" by her "religion" to speak with men. Just how loopy is this woman...

May 4, 2008: Haredi Rabbis Order Snack Food Boycott; Neturei Karta Protests Holocaust Remembrance Day
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Badatz Yerushalayim has ordered haredim to boycott Osem snacks like Bamba and other foods. Why?

May 2, 2008: Rabbi Aviner: Women Must Not Wear Pajamas, Even If Alone In The Dark
Comments: 50 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism
In another bizarre ruling from an Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the rabbi of Beit El and a leader of National Religious rabbis, ruled that a woman…

May 2, 2008: BREAKING! ISRAEL'S HAREDI-CONTROLLED HIGH RABBINICAL COURT RULES ALL CONVERSIONS DONE BY CONVERSION AUTHORITY HEAD RABBI HAIM DRUCKMAN INVALID –– THOUSANDS OF CONVERTS AND THEIR CHILDREN NOW NEED TO RE-CONVERT
Comments: 48 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
All I can say is…

May 2, 2008: The Satmar Rebbe and the Holocaust
Comments: 111 | Categories: Haredim , History
Many right wing and haredi Jews (including a few who comment here) like to say that Hungarian Jews did not know about Auschwitz. If they had only known, if the left wing Zionists the "controlled" Jewish communal affairs had only...

April 30, 2008: Brooklyn DA Changes Story On Kolko Plea – Inconsistencies In DA's Story Point To Incompetence, Corruption
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia
Only in Brooklyn could people this incompetent (and/or this corrupt) be district attorneys. Read the whole shocking story after the jump in the extended post:

April 30, 2008: Why Are Mandatory Reporting Laws Necessary?
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Pedophilia
Why, this, of course…

April 29, 2008: Aish.com Still Under Cyber Attack?
Comments: 1 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Trying to access Aish.com's Torah Parsha page through Google search results in the following error message:

April 29, 2008: Oorah The Bad Neighbor
Comments: 54 | Categories: Haredim , Oorah Kars4Kids , Outreach
You buy a retirement home across the street from a camp. For 10 years, everything is fine, no problems. Then the camp is sold to Orthodox Jews. Now even neighbors one mile away from the camp complain about noise and...

April 28, 2008: How Mondrowitz Escaped Justice
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Avrohom Mondrowitz, the alleged haredi pedophile who fled Brooklyn for Israel more than 20 years ago, lived o