791 posts categorized "Israel"

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 2, 2008: New Israeli Rabbinate Scandal: Ethiopian Jews Extorted By Rabbis, Shas Party's "Chief Rabbi" Of Ethiopian Jews Part Of Extortion Scheme
Comments: 7 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Ethiopian Jews , Israel , Sefardim
What we reported early yesterday is true. The Rabbinate is actively extorting Ethiopian Jews, forcing them to pay hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars in bribes to get "married" in a fake ceremony led by a Rabbinate-approved rabbi, and then pay...

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: 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: 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 25, 2008: Israel Kicks Out Daughter Of Man Who Saved Jews During Holocaust
Comments: 6 | Categories: Ethics , Israel
She has committed no crime. Her father was honored by Yad VaShem as a Righteous Among the Nations. But the story gets even worse.

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 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 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 16, 2008: Letter From Refugees Of Genocide Surfaces
Comments: 17 | Categories: Darfur , Ethics , Israel
If you were Prime Minister of England or President of America in 1940, what would you have done if you received the following letter:

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 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 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 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 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 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: 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 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.

June 1, 2008: Baruch Dayan HaEmet: Tommy Lapid
Comments: 34 | Categories: Israel , Jewish Leadership
Former MK, Minister of Justice and head of the Shinui Party passed away today. Lapid…

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 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 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 23, 2008: Rabbi Shlomo Aviner and Child Abuse
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal , Pedophilia
Over the past few years, I've often thought no group of people fails their public duty as often as rabbis. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a leading National Religious rabbi in Israel, gives us the latest example. First, the good news…

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 20, 2008: Israel's "Government Fails to Provide for Ethiopians" – Stinging Comptroller's Report Voices Criticisms Raised by Activists for 25 Years
Comments: 8 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Israel
This is a landmark day for Ethiopian Jews and those who have tried to help them. Israel's comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, issued a 1500 page report that blasts the government for ignoring the needs of Ethiopian Jews, botching their absorption and...

May 20, 2008: Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu In Critical Condition
Comments: 12 | Categories: Hessed , Israel , Sefardim
Former Sefardic chief rabbi and mentor to much of the settlement movement, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu seems to have gone into respiratory arrest during a medical checkup at Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem, and is now on a respirator in a...

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 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 14, 2008: Baruch Dayan HaEmet
Comments: 3 | Categories: Israel , Jewish Leadership
Shmuel Katz, a leading figure in pre-State Revisionist Zionism and later an advisor to Prime Minister…

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 8, 2008: Who Most Influenced The State of Israel? Rebbe Beats Herzel In Israeli Poll
Comments: 32 | Categories: Israel
Herzl came in 4th. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson came in 3rd. Who came in 1st and 2nd?

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 6, 2008: Please Pray For…
Comments: 26 | Categories: Hessed , Israel
Received via email: Please say Tehillim for Naftali ben Gila, one of the students wounded in the Mercaz HaRav shootings whose condition is drastically worsening.… He suffered a stroke yesterday...15 yrs old.

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

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…

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: UPDATED: Aish.com Hacked
Comments: 11 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel
It seems Aish.com was hacked over Passover. At 12:30 AM CDT Tuesday, it is still down. I was forwarded a message from an Aish subscriber that reads as follows:

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 openly and safely in Jerusalem all that time, without fear of arrest. Why?

April 21, 2008: Peres Says Secular Israelis Bigoted Against Haredim – But Is this the Whole Truth?
Comments: 11 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
President Shimon Peres told two moderate haredi rabbis last week that Israeli society needed a reconciliation between secular and religious. Peres stressed secular Israelis' mistreatment of haredim and said he would start this reconciliation by urging seculars to make amends....

April 18, 2008: Mother In Kabbalah Cult Child Abuse Case To Be Jailed Until End Of Trial
Comments: 3 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
The judge rightly says this woman poses a threat to her own children and to others.

April 17, 2008: Cigarettes Hametz, Leading Haredi Rabbis Say
Comments: 29 | Categories: Halakha , Haredim , Israel
A group of Israeli haredi rabbis led by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv has declared that all cigarettes are hametz, leven, and are not to be smoked during Passover. Why do these rabbis claim cigarettes are hametz? Because…

April 16, 2008: Women, Buses and Haredi Coercion
Comments: 23 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
Remember the spate of haredi attacks against women riding so-called mehadrin buses who refused to give up their seats for male haredim? The Transportation Ministry was supposed to appoint a panel to study the issue of mehadrin buses and the...

April 15, 2008: Secular Israelis Fight Back Against Haredim
Comments: 31 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Haredim led by the Gerrer Rebbe and Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv have mounted an unofficial boycott of a national supermarket chain. The purpose? To force its stores…

April 13, 2008: Child Abuse Kabbala Cult Leader Profiled
Comments: 22 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Ha'aretz has a good, detailed profile of Rabbi Elior Chen, the man who ordered horrific acts of violent child abuse in order to "purify" the souls of little children. Most chilling is this…

April 12, 2008: Chabad Messianist Concert Wins Rabbinic Approval?
Comments: 29 | Categories: Chabad , Haredim , Israel
You might think so if you saw the following poster and a letter from Rabbi…

April 11, 2008: Senior National Religious Rabbi: Keep Child Abuse Within The Family
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal
It's raining nutcase rabbis over in the Holy Land. First, we have Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger's slur against ba'al teshuvas. Now, we have…

April 11, 2008: BREAKING! Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi: Child Abuse A "Ba'al Teshuva" Problem, Real Haredim Don't Abuse Their Children
Comments: 38 | Categories: BTs , Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
This, my friends, is what kiruv is really all about:

April 11, 2008: Israel Moves To Exempt Haredi Yeshiva Students From All Secular Studies Including Math and Civics
Comments: 2 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
In what can only be described as capitulation to Shas and Israel's other haredi political party, United Torah Judaism, the Government of Israel seeks to be exempt from its own law. What does the government want to do? Fund haredi...

April 10, 2008: Leader of Burka Cult to be Released?
Comments: 10 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Extreme Sniut , Haredim , Israel
Rabbanit Beruriah Keren, the leader of the Beit Shemesh-based Burka cult was ordered…

April 9, 2008: "And You Shall be Holy…" – Haredi Child Abuse Cult Picture
Comments: 21 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Missing Indicted Escaped Leader Apprehended Shimon Gabai David Kugman Rabbi Elior Chen A. Masklatzi Photo taken at Chen's son's brit mila (circumcision) 4 1/2 years ago. More. [Hat Tip: CM.]

April 9, 2008: Money Can't Buy Love – But It Can Buy Rabbis, Kol Koreh's and Protesters
Comments: 24 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
A daughter of a haredi multi-millionaire come to Jerusalem from hutz l'aretz to go to seminary. She meets a local haredi boy from Mea Shearim and falls in love. The boy and girl decide to get married. Problem? The boy...

April 9, 2008: UPDATED: Mother Accused Of Worst Child Abuse In Israeli History Is Granddaughter Of Jewish Press Founder Rabbi Klass, Sources Say
Comments: 42 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
This is perhaps the most bizarre story I've ever printed. There's even a connection, of sorts, to the Tendler family.

April 8, 2008: UPDATED: The Rabbis And Yeshiva Students Behind The Most Horrific Case Of Child Abuse In Israel's History
Comments: 80 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
More about Rabbi Elior Chen, the ringleader of the bizarre child-abuse-kabbala-exorcism-cult, and other cult members has come to light…

April 7, 2008: "Put stones on a hot plate . . . when they are boiling, put them on the bodies of the children and then they will be cleansed."
Comments: 30 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Words of 'wisdom' from Rabbi Elior Chen.

April 7, 2008: Israel Seeks Extradition Of Rabbi Behind Horrific Child Abuse
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
AP reports that Israel, which inexplicably allowed Rabbi Chen to flee to Canada, is now seeking Chen's extradition:

April 7, 2008: Haredi Child Sexual Abuse Described From The Inside
Comments: 13 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
…The first time I encountered a sexual assault incident I was too naïve to understand. It was in the sixth grade. A classmate told us secretly about a certain man on the street who likes to hug little girls and...

April 7, 2008: Rabbi Who Directed Horrific Child Abuse Flees To Canada
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Elior Chen, the rabbi whose followers beat, shook, burned and hammered tiny children, leaving one in a vegetative state and another in serious condition, has fled to Canada. And he did so legally – Israel did not bother to bar...

April 6, 2008: Haredim Riot On El Al Flight
Comments: 35 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Haredim rioted today on an El Al flight to Ukraine. Why did these men riot?

April 6, 2008: How Racist Is This?
Comments: 50 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
Rabbi Mordechai Greenberg, Rosh Yeshiva of Kerem B'Yavne…

April 3, 2008: Bizarre Case of Child Abuse
Comments: 15 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
An American family immigrates to Israel. Then something goes incredibly wrong…

April 3, 2008: Israel "Helpless" To Stop Rampant Haredi Child Abuse, Ynet Reports
Comments: 49 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Also, we have more on the Orthodox woman who raped her own children to get back at her ex-husband, posted below in the extended post…

April 1, 2008: Israel's Courts "Non-Jewish," Supreme Rabbinical Court Rules – Agunot May No Longer Use Israel's Courts to Punish a Husband Who Refuses to Grant a Religious Divorce
Comments: 31 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
The question? Can a get be coerced and, if so, who can be used to do the coercion? The answer? Certainly not goyyim, not even the "goyishe" court system of the State of Israel, the very state that both empowers...

April 1, 2008: Orthodox Mother Rapes Children To Get Back At Ex-Husband
Comments: 15 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Worse yet – the mother admits to the rapes and justifies it:

April 1, 2008: BREAKING: Haredi Burka Cult Leader Indicted
Comments: 9 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Extreme Sniut , Haredim , Israel
Rabbanit Beruriah Keren, the leader of the Burka cult, has been indicted. Further, she's…

April 1, 2008: A Cause For Celebration Is Near
Comments: 66 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
It appears a bit of sanity is returning to the Knesset. And, best of all, this moment of sanity is a direct slap in the face to a rabbi who truly deserves it, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

March 31, 2008: Haredi City Has Highest Rate Of Sex Offenses – Bnei Brak "Tens of Percentage Points" Above Other Israeli Cities
Comments: 42 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
"The number of sex offenses in the Bnei Brak area is higher than any other city by tens of percentage points, and it is clear to us that we do not know about many cases that are not even reported...

March 30, 2008: Israel Wants To Start Combination Religious - Secular Schools –– Haredim Oppose
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Right now, Israel has either religious school or secular schools. The secular schools do not teach religion and many of the religious schools do not teach democratic values and civics (even though by law they must). MK Rabbi Michael Melchior…

March 30, 2008: Israel Lost Lebanon War Because of Women, Sanhedrin Says
Comments: 14 | Categories: Israel , Women & Judaism
That's right. You favorite rabbinic nut jobs, the self-appointed so-called Sanhedrin, has issued another 'halakhic' ruling. And it all makes perfect sense, just like…

March 27, 2008: Haredim and Organ Donation, part 3 – Rabbi Elyashiv and the Angel of Death
Comments: 15 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , Israel
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv already permits a situation where haredim do not donate organs but the do take them. In the mind of Rabbi Elyashiv, taking organs from a brain stem dead person is committing murder. Still, he allows his...

March 26, 2008: MONDROWITZ UPDATE
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The Supreme Court appeal of Avrohom Mondrowitz has been moved up to May 29, 2008. Mondrowitz, the Gerrer hasid who allegedly raped boys sent to him for counseling and then fled Brooklyn to Israel to escape arrest and indictment, is...

March 26, 2008: Haredim and Organ Donation, part 2
Comments: 30 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Halakha , Haredim , Israel
Just when you thought the debate between the rabbis who support organ donation (including Rabbis Ovadia Yosef and Shlomo Amar) and those who oppose it (Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv) couldn't get stranger, this happens:

March 26, 2008: A Spot of Good News from Israel
Comments: 18 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
Finally, a good news from Israel. Better yet, rabbis are behind it – haredi rabbis.…

March 26, 2008: UPDATE: Burka Woman Child Abuser Said To Be Head Of Burka Women Cult, Rabbanit Keren
Comments: 32 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Extreme Sniut , Haredim , Israel
Ha'aretz (still only in Hebrew) is reporting the woman arrested yesterday for physically abusing many of her 12 children and for not reporting rampant incest among them, is the leader of the Ramat Beit Shemesh-based burka women cult. And then…

March 25, 2008: Jewish Burka Fanatic Arrested On Multiple Counts Of Child Abuse
Comments: 46 | Categories: Extreme Sniut , Haredim , Israel
Remember those 'holy' Jewish women who adopted the veils, burkas and hijabs of their Arab neighbors in order to be "holy" as God "demands"? One of them was arrested today on many counts of child abuse – all with…

March 25, 2008: "What is Yours is Mine, and What is Mine is Mine"--He is a Wicked Man: Haredim and Organ Donation
Comments: 44 | Categories: Bio-Ethics , Haredim , Israel
Israel finally, after many years of trying passed an organ donation law late yesterday. This is no small achievement. Why? Haredim.

March 24, 2008: Al Qaida Leader Calls For Attacks On Jews "Everywhere"
Comments: 24 | Categories: Israel
In 'response' to Israel's attempts to stop missiles launched from Gaza into Israel, Al Qaida's #2 has called for Muslims to "strike" Jews and Americans everywhere.

March 24, 2008: Jewish Agency, Strapped for Cash, Turns To Big Kiruv For Help
Comments: 8 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Outreach
That's right. Strapped for cash (probably because it…

March 20, 2008: Father Beats Son With Hammer, Beats Wife and Daughter, Violates Restraining Order, Threatens Murder – Rabbis Give Him Sole Custody of the Children
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
You can't get much better proof that rabbis are out of touch than this. A man who beat his wife and children, used a hammer, other heavy objects, and whatever else was at hand to hurt them, who threatened his...

March 19, 2008: Dollar's Fall May Cripple Israeli Charities
Comments: 14 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
This is really frightening. The recent collapse of the US dollar due to the collapse of the US housing market, which itself collapsed do to mortgage fraud and bad loan policies may leave Israel's poorest…

March 18, 2008: MK: Religious Schools Treatment of Ethiopian Jewish Students "Blatant, Ugly Racism"
Comments: 14 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Israel , MO & Chardal
As part of the conversion negotiations taking place between the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee and the chief rabbis, the issue of Ethiopian Jews was raised by Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. Amar wants to convert…

March 18, 2008: Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Bialik Arrested on Sexual Assault Charges – Signed 'Pesak Din' in 1997 Declaring the Late Lubavitcher Rebbe the Messiah
Comments: 30 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
Rabbi Mahluf Aminadav Krispin, who is married to a granddaughter of the Baba Sali, was arrested late yesterday on multiple charges of sexual assault. Rabbi Krispin has a close connection to Chabad, as you can see, after the jump in...

March 17, 2008: Chief Rabbi Testifies About Criminals Before Knesset Committee
Comments: 2 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Israel's Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar testified before a Knesset committee about…

March 15, 2008: Shin Bet: No Plot By Mercaz HaRav Students to Kill Islamic Leader
Comments: 49 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
The Shin Bet now says there is no evidence of a plot by Mercaz HaRav students to kill an Islamic leader. But…

March 15, 2008: The Secret Agreement Behind The RCA-Rabbinate Conversion Deal – Rabbis Whose Synagogues Have Womens Prayer Groups May Not Sit As Conversion Judges
Comments: 47 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
I wrote early Friday morning that the new conversion agreement between the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and Israel's haredi-controlled chief rabbinate has much more to do about power struggles within the RCA, and the power struggle between haredim and...

March 14, 2008: Is The RCA Lying About The New Conversion Agreement?
Comments: 15 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
An interesting quote published today from a leading RCA figure lends some credence to the idea that the RCA is not telling the whole truth about its conversion deal with Israel's chief rabbinate. Rabbi…

March 13, 2008: More On Rabbis Who Backed Call For Vigilante Violence Against Arabs
Comments: 32 | Categories: Chabad , Israel , MO & Chardal
The Jerusalem Post has printed some of the names of the rabbis who called for vigilante violence against Arabs and Jewish terrorism against Arabs. Of course, the rabbis say…

March 12, 2008: Rabbi Hershel Schachter Runs Away?
Comments: 17 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
It seems so. The New York Jewish Week has done some followup on the Rabbi Hershel Schachter "shoot the prime minister" controversy. What's new? This…

March 12, 2008: Terrorist Who Planned Mercaz HaRav Attack Killed By Israel
Comments: 17 | Categories: Israel
Ynet is reporting that four terrorists, including the man thought to have planned the attack on the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, have been killed by Israeli forces in Bethlehem. Another wanted terrorist was seriously wounded in the targeted attack. Now isn't...

March 12, 2008: UPDATED: Rabbis Call For Jewish Terrorism, Vigalante Violence
Comments: 27 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal
And they signed their names:

March 11, 2008: Mercaz HaRav Rabbi Approves Revenge Terror Attack Against Mufti By Yeshiva Students, Channel One Reports
Comments: 45 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Israel , MO & Chardal
That's right. If the unnamed security sources quoted by Channel One are …

March 11, 2008: Feiglin Barred from Entering Britain
Comments: 67 | Categories: Israel , Jewish Leadership
The Likud party's resident fascist, Moshe Feiglin, has been barred from entry into Britain. Why?

March 11, 2008: Yeshiva Students Kick, Harass Female MK
Comments: 9 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
They have not learned.

March 10, 2008: Mea Shearim's Secret Rooms
Comments: 17 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
It has secret entrances. Inside, extreme secrecy is maintained. Two relatives or friends may be in adjoining rooms but never know the other is inside. It is a place of forbidden pleasure, and inside are women only – haredi women....

March 10, 2008: Amar Breaks Promise – 8 of 10 New Conversion Judges Appointed Are Haredi
Comments: 32 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Here's how it was supposed to work. The government was to appoint 10 new conversion judges. These new judges were supposed to be from the moderate wing of the Religious Zionist movement – in other words, Modern Orthodox. The aim...

March 7, 2008: The New Conversion Agreement – Will Past Conversions Be Deemed Invalid?
Comments: 6 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Has the new conversion agreement between the Israeli chief rabbinate and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) created a situation where past conversions done by Orthodox rabbis who are not currently 'approved' by the RCA will be deemed invalid? A...

March 6, 2008: 8 Killed In Terror Attack On Mercaz Harav Yeshiva In Jerusalem
Comments: 34 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal
It's the one in Kirayt Moshe, which may also hold Mercaz Harav's BT yeshiva. There are many reported injured, at least three seriously. Medic Yaron Tzuker said he arrived as the gunfire was still going on. "They were still shooting...

March 6, 2008: Food Fight In Poneviz Yeshiva
Comments: 19 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
It all began when a yoghurt cup was hurled at Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, a supporter of…

March 5, 2008: The Ungrateful Oligarch
Comments: 21 | Categories: Chabad , Court Jews , Israel
"The moment you ask a child in Israel what Yom Kippur means to him, and he answers the Yom Kippur War… then I don't know if that is Zionism or whatever you call it, but it has certainly become bankrupt,"...

March 4, 2008: UPDATED: Jewish Slaughter "Under Attack," Chief Rabbi Says
Comments: 160 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Kosher Scandal
According to statements made last night by Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, animals should be treated humanely during the kosher slaughter process because: Jewish law mandates it If we don't, the goyyim and/or PETA will see us and stop...

March 2, 2008: Who Is A Jew? Who Is A Convert? Who Is A Rabbi? The New York Times on Israel's Conversion Crisis
Comments: 11 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Jewish Leadership , MO & Chardal
The New York Times Magazine has feature on the conversion crisis in Israel and the Rabbinical Council of America's participation in that crisis. How did the RCA participate? By caving in to Israeli haredi demands, as we noted last week....

February 28, 2008: Banned At Least Three Times Over
Comments: 6 | Categories: Israel , Music
Radio City Music Hall is hosting a huge concert May 7th in honor of Israel's 60th birthday. Listed to perform are David Broza, Idan Raichel, Rami Kleinstein, Habanot Nechama, Matisyahu and recent McCarthur Genius Award winner John Zorn. No need...

February 27, 2008: Did The RCA Cave In? Are US Conversions Now Haredi Controlled?
Comments: 24 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Yes. The Rabbinical Council of America has caved in, adopting haredi standards for conversion and giving the haredi-controlled Israeli chief rabbinate control of the process:

February 22, 2008: They May Not Be Jewish After All – Past Conversions Need To Pass Rabbinute-RCA Muster, Converts May be Ruled Non-Jews
Comments: 16 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
The RCA and the Chief Rabbinate also agreed that conversions performed in the past by judges who are not on the new list will need the approval of Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, the octogenarian head of the RCA-affiliated Beth Din...

February 21, 2008: RCA Caves In? Rabbinute Deal on Conversions Appears to Heavily Favor Israeli Haredi View
Comments: 18 | Categories: Halakha , Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and the Israeli chief rabbinate have reached a agreement on conversion that appears to heavily favor the haredi understanding of conversion law.

February 18, 2008: Should YU Cut Ties With Ohr Somayach?
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
Yeshiva University partners with many different Israeli yeshivot and seminaries for its S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program. Students earn, in effect, a year's worth of college credits for studying Torah. But there is a problem.

February 16, 2008: FailedMessiah on the Radio
Comments: 34 | Categories: Blogs , Chabad & EJs , Ethiopian Jews , Israel , Media
I'm interviewed on a radio show, Mamash Radio, running tonight after Shmuel Butman's Moshiach is on the Air program, which itself runs immediately after Zev Brenner on the Talkline Radio Network. A list of sources I cite are posted after...

February 14, 2008: Is YU Using Shackle and Hoist Meat?
Comments: 7 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Kosher Business? , Kosher Scandal , MO & Chardal
A Conservative rabbi, Adam Frank, has an op-ed in yesterday's Jerusalem Post that was timed to run when the newest kosher slaughter scandal broke. Frank is an activist with an Israeli animal rights group, Concern for Helping Animals in Israel....

February 13, 2008: BREAKING: New PETA Video Shows Extreme Cruelty In South American Kosher Slaughter; OU Can't Stop Cruelty Because Israel's Haredi Chief Rabbis Demand Procedure
Comments: 24 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Kosher Scandal
The Forward has an exclusive report on a new, just released undercover PETA video (link posted below in the extended post). The video, made in an kosher slaughter house in Uruguay, shows an extremely cruel version of shackle and hoist...

February 12, 2008: Full Text of Mondrowitz Court Decision
Comments: 5 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The full Hebrew text of the Israeli court decision handed down Sunday finding Avrohom Mondrowitz extraditable is posted after the jump in the extended post. If you can translate, please do so and leave your translation as a comment to...

February 11, 2008: החשוד בפדופיליה יוסגר לארה"ב
Comments: 6 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
A new Hebrew language article on yesterday's Mondrowitz court decision is posted after the jump in the extended post below. As always, if you can translate, please do so and leave the translation as a comment in the comments section...

February 10, 2008: UPDATED: MONDROWITZ RULED EXTRADITABLE
Comments: 33 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
I haven't seen this in print yet but apparently Avrohom Mondrowitz was found today by an Israeli court to be extraditable. What this means is that – barring any appeals – Mondrowitz will be extradited to Brooklyn to stand trial....

February 6, 2008: Religious Soldiers Refuse To Attend Training Class Taught By Women – Jailed
Comments: 27 | Categories: Israel , MO & Chardal , Women & Judaism
Three hesder yeshiva soldiers refused to attend a training class after they realized the instructors were – shudder – women. The soldiers' yeshiva backed the soldiers' decision to refuse the order to attend the class. What were the soldiers supposed...

February 5, 2008: The Jewish Burka, Part 5…
Comments: 20 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity , Israel , Women & Judaism
A Mother in Israel has posted more of her translation of the Ma'ariv article about Rabbanit Keren, the woman who has inspired over 100 haredi women to weak burkas. Rabbanit Keren, it turns out, is a Litvak. But many of...

February 4, 2008: Our Fathers Worshiped Idols, Part 2…
Comments: 43 | Categories: History , Israel
Remember the seal found by archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar? It shows two idolatrous priests offering incense to the Babylonian god Sin, the sun god. Mazar found this seal in Jerusalem and read the inscription on the seal as "Temach," a...

February 3, 2008: UPDATED: The Jewish Burka –Ma'ariv Interviews The Woman Behind It All
Comments: 49 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity , Israel , Women & Judaism
Ma'ariv has an interview with Rabbanit Keren, the woman who has 'inspired' dozens of haredi women to wear veils and burkas. What does this self-styled holy woman believe? How does she live her life? What did Ma'ariv find? Well…

February 3, 2008: What's Better Than A Jewish Burka? Photoshop
Comments: 13 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Women & Judaism
Haredi website Ladaat.net printed a picture of the Winograd Commission but blotted out the face of one of the commission members. Why? Because Ruth Gavison is a …

February 1, 2008: Why The Jewish Burka?
Comments: 39 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity , Israel , Women & Judaism
Miraim Shaviv, who for a time blogged on the iconic Protocols blog, and then at Bloghead, has been for quite some time the comments editor at the Diaspora's iconic Jewish newspaper, the venerable London Jewish Chronicle. In a column this...

January 31, 2008: Haredi Women Wear Burqa in Beit Shemesh
Comments: 55 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity , Israel , Women & Judaism
The Forward picked a up a story from its own blog, which in turn picked it up from Jameel at the Muqata, who himself got it from Ha'aretz. Who is that veiled woman shown above? A haredi woman in Israel....

January 31, 2008: Passing As White – Shas and the Sefardi Caste System
Comments: 14 | Categories: Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
Two months ago, Shas leaders attempted to solve a crisis of the utmost delicacy: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's granddaughter was not accepted to a prestigious [Lithuanian] religious seminary for girls.

January 29, 2008: Shas MK: Gays A "Plague" Like "Bird Flu"
Comments: 47 | Categories: Gay Pride March , Haredim , Israel , Sefardim
A Shas MK wants to ban gay pride parades in Jerusalem. More than that, he wants to lock up gays and lesbians.…

January 24, 2008: Terror Attack At Steinsaltz Yeshiva In West Bank
Comments: 16 | Categories: Chabad , Israel
Yeshiva counselors killed the terrorists. Two students hurt. Details after the jump…

January 23, 2008: Ethiopian Jews Form Urban "Kibbutz"
Comments: 4 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Israel
Young Ethiopian Jews have formed an urban "kibbutz" in Gedera. The idea is not to share an economy as much as it is to run social and educational programs for their own community: …The members of the urban kibbutz serve...

January 21, 2008: Mondrowitz Extradition Process
Comments: 17 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Despite what you may have read elsewhere over the past few days, this is what the Avrohom Mondrowitz extradition process looks like from here out: Last Thursday, January 17 was the final extradition hearing in this round, so to speak....

January 18, 2008: New Mondrowitz Article
Comments: 8 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Ha'aretz has a new article on the extradition of Avrohom Mondrowitz. Unfortunately, it's in Hebrew. I've posted it after the jump in the the extended post. If you can translate, please do so and leave your translation as a comment...

January 17, 2008: And Our Fathers Worshiped Idols
Comments: 63 | Categories: History , Israel , Torah & Science
In a dig sponsored by the Shalem Center, Dr. Eilat Mazar has found a seal from a prominent Jewish family mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah. But there may be a huge problem, at least if you are a Torah-believing...

January 17, 2008: Archaeologist hid 'Jesus tomb' for fear of anti-Semitism, widow says
Comments: 62 | Categories: History , Israel , Religion
So maybe my friend Simcha Jacobovici was right after all …

January 17, 2008: Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar: "I Wish Millions [of Ethiopians] Would Come To Israel"
Comments: 15 | Categories: Ethiopian Jews , Halakha , Israel
Speaking at a conference of kessim (Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders) organized by the Absorption Ministry, Israel's Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar called for the aliya of all Falash Mura, no matter how many people that might be. Ynet reports:

January 15, 2008: MONDROWITZ: ביהמ"ש: רב חסידות גור לא יעמוד בפיתוי
Comments: 1 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
ביהמ"ש: רב חסידות גור לא יעמוד בפיתוי ביהמ"ש המחוזי סירב לשחרר למעצר בית את "החסיד הפדופיל" המועמד להסגרה לארה"ב השופט: הערבים לא יעמדו בפיתוי למלט אותו מהצורך לעמוד לבין בפני "ערכאות גויים" מאת: רותי אברהם ביהמ"ש המחוזי בירושלים דחה (יום...

January 15, 2008: MONDROWITZ: הפדופיל החרדי אברהם מונדרוביץ' נעצר עד להסגרתו לארצות הברית
Comments: 0 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
הפדופיל החרדי אברהם מונדרוביץ' נעצר עד להסגרתו לארצות הברית נאשם באונס ילדים חרדים בברוקלין לאחר שהתחזר לפסיכולוג והתיימר לטפל בהם מאת כתב ''עניין מרכזי'' שלישי, 15 בינואר 2008, 05:58 הרב מונדרוביץ' נאשם באונס קטינים בברוקלין נעצר עד תום ההליכים ועד...

January 15, 2008: Three Homeless Israelis Die in Severe Cold Snap – Why are there Homeless Israelis?
Comments: 27 | Categories: Haredim , Hessed , Israel
Three homeless Israelis died from exposure in Israel's worst cold snap in recent memory. Temperatures fell to as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Israel has a weak social welfare system that is overtaxed and overburdened by haredim who intentionally rely...

January 15, 2008: High Court May Stop So-Called "Mehadrin" Buses
Comments: 30 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Israel's High Court of Justice moved today to ban or heavily restrict the so-called "mehadrin" buses. These are the public buses that have, at haredi insistence, enforced gender separation, with women sitting at the back of the bus, men at...

January 15, 2008: Mondrowitz Court Document
Comments: 0 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The complete court document (as opposed to the single page shown above) from Sunday's Avrohom Mondrowitz court hearing is posted below in PDF format. As always, if you can translate, please do. Please leave your translation as a comment to...

January 14, 2008: Satmar v. Israel, Religious Zionism, All Other Jews
Comments: 16 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
This is, I'm told, a scan of an ad placed by the CRC in the January 8th New York Times, meant to coincide with President Bush's visit to Israel. Satmar has been anti-Zionist since its inception. Many Jews died in...

January 14, 2008: MONDROWITZ: The Law and the Process
Comments: 1 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Here is how Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes the part of the extradition process Avrohom Mondrowitz is now in: Under Section 7 of the Extradition Law, the magistrate may then order him/her to be held in custody for up...

January 14, 2008: MONDROWITZ TO REMAIN IN JAIL UNTIL THE END OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HIM, HA'ARETZ REPORTS
Comments: 0 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Ha'aretz reports: The Jerusalem District Court ruled on Monday that Avrohom Mondrowitz, an ultra-Orthodox man who fled the United States for Israel two decades ago to avoid sexual abuse charges, must remain in custody until the end of legal proceedings...

January 14, 2008: MA'ARIV ON LATEST MONDROWITZ COURT DECISION
Comments: 1 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Ma'ariv reports: ביהמ"ש המחוזי בי-ם הורה לעצור חשוד בתקיפה מינית בארה"ב עד תום הליכי ההסגרה נגדו שופט בית המשפט המחוזי בירושלים, משה רביד, הורה לעצור עד תום הליכי ההסגרה את אברהם מונדרוביץ', ששלטונות ארצות הברית מבקשים להסגירו לידיהם בגין כתב...

January 14, 2008: MONDROWITZ ORDERED JAILED UNTIL EXTRADITION DECISION
Comments: 0 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
I'm told the judge in the extradition hearings for Avrohom Mondrowitz yesterday ordered Mondrowitz to remain in jail until the hearings regarding his extradition are completed. This means no release into the custody of Ger hasidim, no house arrest, no...

January 14, 2008: Israel Moves to Curtail Free Speech on the Internet
Comments: 6 | Categories: Blogs , Israel
The Jerusalem Post reports: Web site owners or editors will be legally responsible for any content on their site, including comments made in talkbacks and message boards, a bill passed on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation states. According...

January 11, 2008: Dirty Laundry Exposed
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles has a magazine-length exposé on the Spinka money laundering and tax fraud case. I don't have time right now to pull quotes or comment beyond saying that my quick scan tells me this...

January 11, 2008: Chabad Rabbi Promises Violent Defense of Settlements – "It is Good to Die for Our Country"
Comments: 19 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Israel
Ynet reports: …"The struggles for the other settlements will be ten-fold what there was in Amona. It is good to die for our country," said SOS Israel chairman Rabbi Dov Wolpe, echoing the reputed last words of legendary Zionist activist...

January 10, 2008: Will Chabad Be Ruled Outside Judaism?
Comments: 99 | Categories: Chabad , Chabad & Christianity , Halakha , Israel , MO & Chardal
The Jewish Week has a good piece on the Chabad conversion crisis. Basically an Israeli beit din charged with conversions rejected a potential Chabad convert because he believes the late Rebbe is the messiah. The Jewish Week tells the story....

January 9, 2008: Chabad May Split Over Rabbi's Call to Murder Olmert, Livni, Ramon and Barak, The Forward Reports
Comments: 32 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Israel
The Forward has a piece on Chabad rabbi Sholom DovBer Wolpe's call for the murder of Prime Minster Olmert and other leading Israeli politicians including Tzipi Livini, Haim Ramon, and Ehud Barak. First, Rabbi Wolpe stands by his call for...

January 9, 2008: Colmer Bail Set at $10 Million
Comments: 4 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The NY Daily News reports: An orthodox Jew extradited from Israel to face charges of sodomizing two teenage boys in his Brooklyn home was ordered held Tuesday on $10 million bail. Stefan Colmer, 31, allegedly went on the lam last...

January 9, 2008: Man-on-Boy Pedophile Extradited to US from Israel in 2005 – Mondrowitz Treaty Excuse Does Not Stand
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
For years, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office claimed it was impossible to extradite Avrohom Mondrowitz because the US extradition treaty with Israel did not cover certain man-on-boy sex crimes.* In January 2007 the treaty changed. It was then that Charles...

January 8, 2008: Chabad Rabbi Calls for Murder of Olmert, Ramon, Livni, Others – Crowd of Rabbis Cheers, Part 2
Comments: 34 | Categories: Chabad , Crime, etc. , Israel
Last week in front of a cheering crowd of fellow rabbis, many of them Chabad-affiliated, Rabbi Wolpe called for the murder of Prime Minister Olmert and other government officials. Rabbi Ariel Sokolovsky, the extreme Chabad messianist, has been urging me...

January 7, 2008: Colmer to be Extradited
Comments: 7 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
The Brooklyn DA announced today that accused haredi pedophile (and BT) Stefan Colmer will be extradited. No word yet on when Colmer will leave Israel for Brooklyn.

January 4, 2008: Is Ohr Somayach a Cult?
Comments: 36 | Categories: BTs , Haredim , Israel
David Kelsey has a series of interviews with "Seth," a recent student at Jerusalem-based Ohr Somayach, the premier haredi yeshiva for English-speaking ba'al teshuvas. Here's an excerpt: …“Is scientific method accepted? What is O.S.’s position on evolution? What is the...

January 2, 2008: Chabad Rabbi Calls for Murder of Olmert, Ramon, Livni, Others – Crowd of Rabbis Cheers
Comments: 48 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , MO & Chardal
The Jerusalem Post reports: Government leaders should be hanged for negotiating with the Palestinians, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe told an audience of rabbis in Tel Aviv, according to Channel 1 report aired Wednesday night. "The terrible traitor, [Prime Minister] Ehud...

January 2, 2008: Olmert: "If haredim were allowed to run the haredi education system they would destroy it, because they would only hurt one another.”
Comments: 12 | Categories: Haredim , Israel
Israel's Prime Minister, a former mayor of Jerusalem who has much experience dealing with the educational system as a whole and the haredi system specifically, spoke out against haredi educators and administrators in the Knesset today. According to Ynet, this...

January 2, 2008: Haredi Schoolteacher Sentenced to 23 Years for Sexually Abusing Students
Comments: 10 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
Ha'aretz has a video report, which for some reason won't play in my browser. If it plays in yours, please leave the details as a comment to this post. Thanks! [Hat Tip: UOJ.]

January 1, 2008: A Request for Prayer
Comments: 0 | Categories: Hessed , Israel
The IDF's former Chief of Staff Moshe Levy is in unconscious in serious condition after suffering a second stroke. Levy, 72, was born to Iraqi immigrants and was Israel's first IDF Chief of Staff to have served only in the...

January 1, 2008: Haredi Missionaries Lure Children With Cash Payments
Comments: 19 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel
Ynet reports: Religion or bribery? Haredi rabbis have reportedly started offering students at one Ramat Gan high school NIS 18 to attend Torah lesson, as noted by concerned parents. Is this a downpayment for becoming religious? Principal of Ohel- Shem...

January 1, 2008: Haredi Baby Burned, Parents Refuse Medical Treatment, Painkillers
Comments: 23 | Categories: Haredim , Insanity , Israel
Ha'aretz reports:A Bnei Brak infant sustained second-degree burns Tuesday afternoon, apparently while he was being bathed by his parents – who subsequently refused to allow a Magen David Adom emergency medical team to treat the 14-month old. MDA paramedics who...

December 31, 2007: GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL: Mondrowitz was "Protected" by Ger Hasidim, Found "Refuge" in Ger Community
Comments: 29 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
These are excerpts from the latest Mondrowitz court appearance: Moaz [Mondrowitz's lawyer]: In addition to the electronic bracelet, there is Meir Zilberstein, the main rabbi of the Ger hasidim in Jerusalem. In tow with him is Yaakov Kaminsky, [Rabbi Zilberstein's...

December 28, 2007: BREAKING! Government of Israel Claims Rabbis Told Mondrowitz To Flee US To Israel
Comments: 10 | Categories: Crime, etc. , Haredim , Israel , Pedophilia
UPDATED and REPOSTED from 12-27-07: The Government of Israel appears to be admitting that haredi rabbis in th