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NY Jewish Week On The Fight For 770

The New York Jewish Week reports on the fight for control of the main Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Crown Heights:

The two camps — the anti-messianists run the Chabad worldwide outreach, while the messianists, a smaller but very active gorup, control the street in Crown Heights — have waged a simmering war since 1994, when the Lubavitcher rebbe died. But in recent weeks the battle has intensified over who controls the main synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, Lubavitch headquarters and home to the messianists.

In actuality, the messianists control the Chabad street in Israel, Crown Heights, Russia, France, California and many other locations and are far and away the largest grouping within Chabad. Further, the so-called "anti-messianists" believe exactly what the messianists believe – the argument is over whether or not to publicize the belief, not over the belief itself.

So what takes place in Chabad's main synagogue?

During a recent visit to 770 several men downstairs, having just finished the afternoon prayers, were passionately singing the chant that has become the messianists’ slogan: “Long live our master, our teacher, our rabbi, King Messiah, forever and ever!”

One man clutched a fistful of small plastic yellow flags with the messianic crown on it. A few others danced around during the song. Many of the men in the sanctuary, however, did not participate.

“It’s very inspiring davening at 770 because everyone davens with special power because the rebbe is there,” said Michael Rosenthal, a 24-year-old Lubavitcher who works for the emissary in Great Neck, in an interview outside.

Now for the two dumbest quotes, one of them from frequent FailedMessiah.com commenter Ariel Sokolovsky:

Rabbi Ariel Sokolovsky was among the men arrested [in a riot sparked by police attempting to protect 770's dedication plaque from defacement by messianists] Nov. 3. The Boston resident is an ardent messianist who visits 770 several times a year.

“I describe the rebbe as alive,” Rabbi Sokolovsky said in an interview. “The body of moshiach does not die, even if it appears to be so. A tzaddik [righteous person] can materialize himself in the world if he needs to. “Concealment does not mean that the rebbe has an invisible body,” he said. “It has to do with people’s readiness to see it. It’s people’s perception.”

Rabbi Sokolovsky said he has met people who have seen the rebbe in person since he died.

That perspective offends some. [Some?!? A more appropriate choice would be "many."]

“For so-called Orthodox Jews to say this undermines a basic argument against Christianity that’s been going on for over 1,000 years,” said Rabbi Berger. “It’s a betrayal of the Jewish belief in messianism, whose parameters have been defined to exclude the possibility that the messiah would declare the redemption is coming in his generation and die without completing the task.”

That's really pathetic. On one hand we have a guy who believes the Rebbe still walks this earth. On the other, we have a guy who defines the Jewish belief in a messiah by what it is not – for Rabbi Berger, it's all  about anti-Christian polemics, not positive Jewish theology. Sad.

Miriam Shaviv's take on this can be read here.

The Forward Goes To Crown Heights

The Forward has coverage of the split within Chabad over how to react to Disengagement:

Hundreds of Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim gathered in New York City last week to rally community opposition to Israel's plan to dismantle settlements in Gaza and the northern West Bank.

The rally, held June 23 at the movement's worldwide headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, featured Arieh Eldad, a Knesset member from the National Union Party, who is calling for massive civil disobedience to obstruct the removal of the settlers. The event was dominated by a faction of the Chabad community that believes that the movement's late rebbe or grand rabbi, Menachem M. Schneerson, who died in 1994, will return to life as the messiah.…

Within the Chabad movement, individual leaders, particularly those from the messianic faction, have been in the forefront.…

The neutral stance of the central Chabad leadership has caused anger among some movement members. They "feel like they have to dance at two weddings," said one attendee at last week's rally, speaking of the Chabad leadership. "The titular heads of the movement have basically marginalized themselves. Whether or not they're on the train, the train has left the station a long time ago and is going and going and going."

… Last week's rally in New York featured several leaders of official Chabad institutions, and was advertised as sponsored by both the Beit Din, or rabbinic court, of Crown Heights, and the local Vaad HaKohol, or community council. The council earlier had passed a resolution to adopt the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza as a sister city.…

And the Vaad HaKohol's president is…

Was It All About Extortion? Why Russia Really Tried To "Ban" The Code Of Jewish Law

The JTA reports:

Following a storm of protest from Jewish groups and Israeli politicians, Russian officials have dropped a probe into a Russian Jewish group for publishing a religious Jewish book.

But Russian and U.S. Jewish officials warn that those interested in human rights should remain vigilant to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“The fact that the prosecutors have been seriously considering that case for a long time, isn’t that a reason for us to be concerned?” said Rabbi Zinovy Kogan, chairman of the [non-Chabad] Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Communities of Russia, the group that was the subject of the probe.…

The probe was opened after an anti-Semitic letter was circulated earlier this year attacking the text of the Shulchan Aruch legal code as extremist and anti-Christian. The congress has published a short version of the medieval Jewish text.

The probe astonished Israeli officials and heads of international Jewish groups, who said it reminded them of religious persecution under the czar and of religious disputations foisted on Jews by the Catholic church in medieval times.

Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, said it’s still unknown what prompted the incident.

“We’re all pleased that the investigation was dropped, but it doesn’t answer the question of why the investigation was started in the first place,” he said. “This is the type of issue that shouldn’t occur in a society that is trying to promote tolerance and pluralism.”

Levin said his group will emphasize in its meetings with Russian government officials that these types of probes are unacceptable.

Direct pressure on Russia from Israel, local and foreign Jewish groups led to the decision to drop the case, observers in Moscow suggested.

Israeli and Russian media also noted that the news on dropping the probe was released during a visit to Moscow by Israel’s trade minister, Ehud Olmert. Olmert was in Moscow for talks on economic relations between the two countries.…

Again, do the math:

1. No probe could have been launched if Putin objected.
2. Putin's government reacted weakly to the probe as it has to other antisemitic incidents.
3. The announcement of the probe and of its "dropping" were timed to coincide with Olmert's visit.
4. Olmert's visit was about trade between the two countries.
5. Most graft and skimming done by senior Russian government officials is done from trade revenue.

Something's rotten in Moscow and Chabad's "chief rabbi" is covering for it.

UPDATE: The Forward's coverage does not mention Olmert's role or the timing of the probe. It does, however, appear to give Lazar undue credit for ending it:

The controversy over the investigation comes amid reports of growing Russian antisemitism and claims that government authorities have failed to mount a serious enough response to the trend. Some critics blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a few observers even suggesting that the Kremlin had hoped to demand something from Israel in return for halting the investigation. But the leading Chabad official in the former Soviet Union and one of Russia's two chief rabbis — Berel Lazar — has forged close relations with Putin. At least in this case, the rabbi's influence appears to have paid off.

"We spoke to the prosecutor general of Russia and we explained it to him clearly, that in today's age, to come out with such claims on Jewish texts... it's really senseless," Lazar told the Forward. "In no way does [the code] affect today the relationship between Jews and non-Jews."

Lazar, who heads the Chabad-dominated Federation of Jewish Communities of the former Soviet Union, intervened even though the organization under investigation is aligned with the rival Russian Jewish Congress and includes Reform, Modern Orthodox and secular components.…

Lazar also used his interview with the Forward to cover for Putin:

Lazar, however, claims that Putin is committed to the Jewish community.

"I think it's not a secret of the relationship the president has with the Jewish community in general," Lazar said in a telephone interview with the Forward. "I must say that lately, after his trip to Israel and me standing by him throughout the visits, it's not a secret here in Russia."

So, Berl Lazar becomes the "hero" of this sorry episode, Israel's role is reduced to a minor footnote, and Lazar uses his "stature" as a "hero" to promote (i.e., kasher) Putin. Does this sound familiar?

 

Chabad Rabbis Meet With Prime Minister Sharon – Rabbis: We Can Barely Exert Our Authority Over Chabad

An account of Prime Minister Sharon's meeting with Chabad rabbis (from Arutz 7):

The meeting began in a friendly atmosphere, but tensions gradually rose, and at certain points it was "almost on the verge of an explosion." So said today one of the participants, Chabad Spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod, to Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri.

Participating in the meeting were Rabbi Yehuda Leib Groner, who was the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s secretary, Chabad Israel Rabbinical Court Director Rabbi Yitzchak Yehuda Yaruslavski, his deputy Rabbi Menachem Glocobosky, Binyamin Regional Council Rabbi Shimon Elituv, and other senior rabbis.

The 90-minute meeting began with the recounting of stories about Prime Minister Sharon’s meetings with the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the warm ties between them. Left unmentioned was the fact that the Rebbe once advised Sharon not to enter politics altogether.

The Chabad representatives told the Prime Minister how strongly the Lubavitcher Rebbe always opposed any concession over any part of the Land of Israel. “While we do not have your experience and knowledge," Rabbi Brod told him, "we do have the Rebbe and we are certain that he is right."

Prime Minister Sharon explained what he felt were the advantages of his plan, the circumstances that led him to initiate it, and the importance he ascribes to the settlement movement. He spoke against violence - with the full agreement of his guests - and against refusal to fulfill disengagement-related orders. Some leading Chabad rabbis have called for such refusal.

"True, it is difficult and painful," Sharon said, "but the State of Israel has decided - we are leaving Gaza. Even if it is difficult, the Plan will be implemented. The Plan will be implemented because it is the right thing for the State of Israel.”

Rabbi Brod told Arutz-7 that the rabbis decided to meet with Sharon after he said that if he could speak with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he would persuade him of the correctness of his plan. "We showed him that the Rebbe's opinion, which is the opposite of Sharon's, corresponds perfectly to the situation and dangers as we see it now," Rabbi Brod said. Sharon asked to see the Rebbe's words in writing, and the rabbis said they would send him the relevant passages.

Sharon himself admitted that the Rebbe had been more precise and accurate in his analysis of the shortcomings of the infamous Bar-Lev Line [a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the Suez Canal after the Six Day War, which was easily overrun by attacking Egyptian forces on the first day of the Yom Kippur War - ed.] than IDF experts.

Rabbi Groner told Sharon, "You feel that the plan will be beneficial to Israel, but you yourself cannot be certain that things will develop the way you want them to. We tell you with absolute certainty, in light of the Rebbe's clear words, that this plan will cause the exact opposite."

"It will lead to a most grave security deterioration, will bring terror to inestimably high levels, and will increase international pressure on Israel," Rabbi Groner continued. "If you think that giving up Gush Katif and northern Shomron will save the settlement blocs, the exact opposite will occur; it will serve as a precedent and proof that it is possible to dismantle even the large settlement blocs."

Asked if there were any arguments that seemed to make Sharon more uncomfortable than others, Rabbi Brod said, "When we talked about the danger to Jews that the plan was likely to bring, we could see that this was not pleasant for him to hear."

The Prime Minister said, "The country cannot accept violence against policemen and soldiers, and Chabad people who do this cause damage to Chabad." The rabbis responded that the disengagement plan causes such great pain and unrest in the public that they can barely exert their authority over them in these areas.

Iowa County Again Rejects Rubashkin Bid To Open Massive Factory Chicken Farm

An Iowa county has again rejected a Rubashkin bid to open a massive factory chicken farm:

[Rabbi Sholom M.] Rubashkin is manager of Agriprocessors, meat packing plant, which would take the broilers raised by Cottonballs. The Environmental Protection Agency has filed a lawsuit against Agriprocessors claiming the company repeatedly exceeded legal limits on pollutants discharged from its plant into a municipal wastewater treatment facility.

Because Rubashkin is involved with facilities found in violation, [county supervisor John] Logsdon said points should be reduced. He also cited a district court decision issued last week that reversed a wastewater discharge permit for Agriprocessors.

How To Oppose Disengagement Thug (And Chabad) Style

How to oppose Disengagement thug (and Chabad) style. Note the sick use of small children:

Several dozen protesters, all of them children and teenagers, dashed into the road and stopped traffic in both directions. Police dragged about 10 protesters into a van. The protesters resisted and several escaped.

A few minutes earlier, children under the age of 10 sat on the road, chanting "Jews do not evict Jews," the slogan of the pullout opponents, slowing traffic.

…Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had instructed police and security forces to take all the necessary measures to prevent road blockages and publilc disturbances by right-wing activists.

"We will not allow a fellowship of gangs to drag the country downhill," Sharon told ministers during a cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday.

… "If there is one weak, dangerous, loose link that is guilty of this whole violent struggle, it is the Yesha Council," said Sharon aide Lior Horev. "They are acting like ostriches, looking the other way and taking no responsibility for the people whom they sent to the Gaza Strip, to that bloody hotel, and that girl who kicked the soldier in the head at the beginning of the week today, and today, people who are endangering people's lives."

One of the drivers whose tires were punctured, Gilad Levy, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Kedumim and an opponent of the disengagement, voiced strong criticism of the activists' actions.

"There are not the people of Yesha. These are members of the extreme right, with whom Yesha has no connection. They want to inflame passions like those whom are occupying the hotel in Gush Katif," a reference to young activists, many of them from the West Bank, who have barricaded themselves in former hotel in a settlement area of the Gaza Strip.

"They're guys with simply nothing to do, guys who are bored."

The oil and nails were strewn at two sites on the highway, one at the Shappirim junction, the other near Kfar Chabad, a focal point of anti-disengagement activity.

Rubashkin Ready To Open New Nebraska Slaughterhouse

"We are excited to work with our local partners in Nebraska and South Dakota to make Local Pride a full part of the Gordon community," Sholom Rubashkin, whose family owns Local Pride, said in a press release. "For us, this effort represents the best of all worlds: The Gordon plant is a great business opportunity that will allow us to better serve our customers who rely on us for kosher meat products prepared according to the tenets of our faith. And in Gordon, we have found a place this business can call home, where we can be part of a great community and join with our neighbors in making it even greater."

More here. Background here and here.

Famine Sweeps Southern (Christian) Sudan

… Naked but for a pair of bangles on his ankles and white dust caking his skin, the four-year-old had collapsed a few steps from a group of starving children sheltering under a tree. It was as if he had been discarded.

Working as a reporter in Africa, it's not uncommon to see people dying. For it to be a child, in a village in southern Sudan, during a drought makes the event even less exceptional. What made this boy different was that just a few weeks before, the world had promised to help.…

All this in what should have been a place of celebration. The northern government in Khartoum and the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army had signed a peace deal in January to worldwide applause. On paper at least, Africa's longest civil war was over.

Unlike the relatively young conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region, fighting in the south has raged on an off for almost half a century. But now the country had defied the cynics: peace seemed possible.

Rich countries meeting in Oslo had promised billions of dollars in reconstruction aid only a few weeks before our visit -- but where was the money? Not in Paliang.

Emergency warehouses in neighboring Kenya were empty -- donors had not been willing to buy the necessary food.…

… I passed the boy lying in the dust. A faint movement stirred his ribs: he was breathing. I realized I had been mistaken -- he had not been abandoned -- a woman was sitting a few yards away watching.

Mother and son would starve together.

Why The Allies Really Bombed Dresden

Why the Allies really bombed Dresden.

Russia "Ends" Effort To Ban Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh

Russia has officially "ended" its attempt to ban the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh for "incitement" against non-Jews.

The Jerusalem Post's coverage makes it appear that Chabad's "chief rabbi of Russia" Berl Lazar is behind the lifting of the probe.

Ha'aretz tells a fuller, more complete story. It seems Israel and international Jewish organizations got involved and the Israelis put serious pressure on Putin. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with the Russian Prime Minister in Moscow and demanded the probe be dropped.

Lazar (in the Jerusalem post) insists that top leaders of the Russian government were not behind the probe.

Yet Ha'aretz points out that the Russian government appears to have negotiated a "price" (i.e., blackmail) with the Israeli government in order to drop the probe.

So Putin and his fascist cronies make money off the "ban" and Chabad's "chief rabbi" covers for them. Sick.

Update: Lazar claims credit for stopping the probe here. No mention is made of Israel's role.

Chabad Delegation Meets With Sharon – Opposes Disengagement, Violent Protests

According to Ynet, a Chabad delegation from Brooklyn led by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Groner met with with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The upshot?

Chabad opposes disengagement but also opposes all non-violent forms of protest (that would include blocking highways, burning tires, vandalism, etc., along with more violent actions).

Ynet also notes that:

At this time it is still unclear which line the Chabad-Lubavitch movement would adopt once disengagement rolls around. The movement’s leadership is considered moderate, but the more radical branch has vowed to thwart the pullout and has called on soldiers to refuse evacuation orders.

Will the 'civil war' in Israel lead to a heightening of the civil war within Chabad? Only time will tell.

[Hat tip: Minnesota Twin.]

Russia Moves To Ban Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh

Related news story here. Miriam Shaviv's take here.

Chabad Rabbinical Court: You Demonstrate, You Get Arrested, We Expel You From School

According to Arutz 7, Chabad's Israel rabbinical court has decided to expel any student arrested in anti-disengagement demonstrations, unless those demonstrations were specifically pre-approved by the court.

The court has only minor influence over most rank-and-file Lubavitchers; it would appear enrollment in Chabad's openly messianist schools will soon be growing.

Jack Abramoff's E-mails

Republican lobbyist and Orthodox Jew Jack Abramoff's e-mails reveal much about his apparently criminal motivation.

Abramoff defrauded* the Choctaw Indians in order to have more cash to pay for his Orthodox school and for other Jewish charitable causes.

(You'll note that Rabbi Daniel Lapin appears to be lying in the second linked article. Why? Read the fully-quoted e-mails in the first article and compare them to Rabbi Lapin's statement in the second.

Rabbi Lapin, the founder of Toward Tradition, has a history of shady business dealings – including investiments in an LA slumlord. He is sometimes accused of running a cult, and is the rabbi and mentor of talk radio host Michael Medved and author David Klinghoffer. Abramoff was for a time on the board of Rabbi Lapin's Toward Tradition. Medved often defends Tom DeLay's role in this scandal and does so without mentioning his own very personal links to Rabbi Lapin, Toward Tradition and Abramoff.

Fpr more on Rabbi Lapin, see this article in tomorrow's Washington Post, The Republicans' Rabbi-in-Arms.)

*Are you listening, Oglala Sioux? This is not the "Peace and Justice" Orthodox Judaism you are familiar with.

Iowa Court Rejects Rubashkin Wastewater Discharge, Voids Permit

Radio Iowa reports:

A wasterwater discharge permit issued to a Postville business has been thrown out in court. A Polk County District Court judge has reversed the permit issued to AgriProcessors of Postville by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The judge says the [Iowa] D-N-R violated state law in granting two variances from water quality regulations.…

Meanwhile, the EPA and the US Department of Justice continues with their suit against AgriProcessors for intentional violations of the clean water act.

And, just think: The Rubashkin family, despite all its criminal and antisocial activities, is still a pillar of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

That speaks volumes for what Chabad theology really means.

 

Stealth Chabad In Manhattan

Stealth Chabad rabbi Dovi Scheiner as portrayed in today's New York Jewish Week:

On a recent Monday afternoon, an elevator in a sleek Soho apartment building opens into an airy loft. It’s the kind of space one often sees on television when a location is called upon to convey a dab of downtown splendor: minimalist design, Chuck Close and Warhol on the walls, a gaggle of beautiful people clinking glasses. And eating cheesecake — after all, this is a Shavuot party, organized by the Soho Synagogue, the first such institution in the neighborhood’s history.

As the pretty young things, clad in designer clothes, orbit around the room, nibbling on one of 18 exotic homemade cheesecakes, one man stands out in the crowd. He’s rail thin, with soulful brown eyes and a white shirt with tzitzit peeking from underneath. He wears a velvet yarmulke with his name embroidered on top: Rabbi Dovi.

His name is Dovi Scheiner, 28, the lively spirit behind the synagogue. Although the synagogue is still raising funds to afford a permanent sanctuary, hopefully by the High Holy Days, Rabbi Scheiner has succeeded nonetheless in gathering a committed group of several hundred young Jews to attend and organize events, help network and fundraise, and establish a lively Jewish community in a neighborhood where such a creation seemed unlikely.

A peek at Rabbi Scheiner’s biography reveals an eerie bond with downtown Manhattan: On Sept. 11, 2001, just hours after the World Trade Center crumbled into a smoldering heap, the rabbi and his wife, Esty, were married in Brooklyn.

“We tried to figure that one out,” he said, “and we got guidance to continue with the wedding and see it in the context of good. Not to feel guilty about being happy when everybody’s so sad, but to feel good for doing something righteous on a day that epitomized evil.” …

Jewish law forbids having a celebration of any type in the midst of a tragedy like 9-11. But what does Jewish law matter to Rabbi Dovi?

“I want to have a lounge-type atmosphere inside the sanctuary,” he said. “I want to undo the whole bench thing; no more hard wooden benches from 200 years ago. Instead, we’ll have comfortable one- or two-seaters, maybe coffee tables with Jewish reading materials on them.”…

For those that may not know, there are many Jewish laws governing how a synagogue is designed and utilized. Benches are not mandatory and comfort is not forbidden. However, a "lounge-type atmosphere" is definately not kosher.

And then, we have the troublesome issue of Shabbat morning services that last more than 30 minutes:

“I know where people are coming from,” Rabbi [Dovi] Scheiner said. “Even I myself, I’m a bit ADD,” referring to the hyperactivity syndrome. “It’s hard to sit for three hours. If we have a mumbling Brooklyn Orthodox synagogue, we’re not going to have any membership,” he said. “We’re sensitive to how time-sensitive and attention-sensitive people are, and how foreign this is for some of them.

“We’re not going to rewrite the laws, but make people comfortable with the ideas and warm up to them, perhaps breaking the Shabbat morning services into time sections, and invite people who aren’t into sitting for two-and-a-half hours for Torah reading and musaf to come halfway through or leave early and participate in a portion of the services.”

And then we have Rabbi Dovi's "training":

… Still, something was missing for Rabbi Scheiner, an Orthodox rabbi trained at the Maayanot Institute in Jerusalem, a renowned yeshiva known for its broad and inclusive approach to Jewish studies.

Maayanot is a Chabad Jerusalem-based ba'al teshuva program that does not grant semicha and only allows students to learn for a maximum of two years. It seems Dovi was a counsellor there. Among the other luminaries trained by working at Ma'ayanot is Max Kohanzad, a.k.a. xLubi.com.

How (Not) To Leave Comments

A certain member of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement has been leaving often-insulting comments on this blog under aliases including Avodas Avoda, Curious, Crazy Guy, Meshullam, Shmaryahu and Shmarya.

I rarely delete comments or ban commentators no matter how insulting they are. But I have banned this particular commenter because he left comments in my name and represented himself as me. I have also deleted the comments he left under my name.

So, here are the rules: Choose to leave comments under one name or alias only and do not impersonate any other commentator or public figure. Also, try to make your points using fact and logic, not insults.

If Avodas Avoda wants to continue to comment, I'll reinstate him – if he agrees to abide by the rules.

Rubashkin Set To Open New Nebraska Slaughterhouse In Cooperation With Oglala Sioux And Pine Ridge Indian Reservation – USDA Must Approve But Is Expected To Do So Tomorrow – USDA Still Refusing To Release Results Of Last Year's Investigation

GORDON, Neb. -- An Iowa meatpacking firm that has drawn fire from an animal-rights group has bought an old packing plant in Gordon, Neb., and plans to process kosher beef, lamb and bison products using workers from the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

If the plant passes a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection scheduled for Friday it could begin slaughtering cattle as soon as Monday, according to Tally Plume, executive director of the Oglala Oyate Woitancan Empowerment Zone, which encompasses the reservation.

The firm, Local Pride, announced this week that it would begin hiring and training local workers for the plant. The plant will employ 40 to 50 local residents, according to a Local Pride news release. Plume said many of the workers would be tribal members.

Local Pride is owned by the Rubashkin family, which also owns Agriprocessors, operators of a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

Local Pride is working with the empowerment zone, created on the reservation in 1999, along with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Workforce in Action Program, the city of Gordon and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

Plume said the empowerment zone board expanded the zone, with USDA approval, to include 300 acres where the plant is located in Gordon, 36 miles southeast of Pine Ridge village.

Plume said the project considered Gordon for a site because the reservation lacks infrastructure to accommodate such a facility.

By being in the empowerment zone, Local Pride will be able to get a tax break for hiring tribal members, Plume said.

Reservation residents already have undergone training at the Postville plant.

"The potential for employment on this project could get pretty high," Plume said. He said the Postsville plant began with about 50 employees and now has 700 workers.…

Meanwhile, Plume said he was not worried about allegations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that Agriprocessors' Postville plant uses cruel slaughtering methods that violate federal rules and strict kosher slaughtering standards.

PETA cited a video secretly made by an activist working undercover at the plant that showed workers using large knives to slice cows' throats, as required for kosher preparation. The video also shows some of the cows then stumbling around for as long as three minutes. PETA says the animals were still alive and suffering.

Plant officials say the animals' movements are involuntary and that massive blood loss to the brain brought on by slitting their throats renders them insensitive to pain within seconds.…

Plume said he is confident that the USDA probe will exonerate the Iowa plant. He said rabbis will be present at the Gordon plant as well.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency also filed a lawsuit accusing the Postville plant of exceeding limits set in wastewater discharge permits and failing to submit proper risk management plans or hazardous chemical inventory forms.

Plant spokesman Mike Thomas told the Courier that those matters have already been resolved with city and state officials.…

The USDA is expected to find against Rubashkin in the PETA-exposed throat-ripping scandal. But the USDA has been moving slowly and has refused to release the findings from last year's investigation.

The Jewish community has a long history with Pine Ridge and the Oglala Sioux. Most of it good; some, not. The tribe's positive exposure to Orthodox Judaism has largely been through left-leaning Orthodox Jews, including at least one rabbi, Moshe Lichtman, who practice a sort of social action, peace and justice style, Judaism and who work with non-Orthodox Jews.

But the Rubashkin family has a history of illegal and anti-social behavior – a history that includes bank fraud, misappropriating union dues paid by it's employees, the documented recruitment of illegal alien workers, repeated EPA violations and the original Postville controversy.

One wonders whether the Oglala Sioux have trusted too much, based on their past experience with an atypical "bein adam lehaveyro"* Orthodoxy.

*In Judaism, the mitzvot (commandments) are broken down into two main parts, "bein adam lehaveryro," between people, and "bein adam lemakom," between people and G-d. Although both parts are meant to be equal, Orthodoxy tends to put more weight on commandments between people and G-d (for instance, prayer and keeping kosher) and to minimize the interpersonal and social justice commandments (for instance, not stealing union dues).

Most US Doctors Believe In God – Disproportionate Number Jews, Hindus and Moslems

A survey examining religion in medicine found that most U.S. doctors believe in God and an afterlife — a surprising degree of spirituality in a science-based field, researchers say.

In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.

"We were surprised to find that physicians were as religious as they apparently are," said Dr. Farr Curlin, a researcher at the University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.

"There's certainly a deep-seated cultural idea that science and religion are at odds," and previous studies have suggested that fewer than half of scientists believe in God, Curlin said Wednesday.

A previous survey showed about 83 percent of the general population believes in God.

But while medicine is science-based, doctors differ from scientists who work primarily in a laboratory setting, and their direct contact with patients in life-and-death situations may explain the differing views, Curlin said.…

Religions among physicians are more varied than among the general population, the survey found. While more than 80 percent of the U.S. population is Protestant or Catholic, 60 percent of doctors said they were from either group.

Compared with the general population, more doctors were Jewish — 14 percent vs. 2 percent; Hindu — 5 percent vs. less than 1 percent; and Muslim — almost 3 percent vs. less than 1 percent.

More On PETA Animal Cruelty Charges

More on animal cruelty charges against PETA.

The Weekly Standard weighs in on PETA's opposition to animal testing.

Chief Pilot Of Operation Magic Carpet Dead – Saved 50,000 Yemenite Jews

From the New York Times:

Robert F. Maguire Jr., the chief pilot of Operation Magic Carpet, which evacuated more than 40,000 Jewish refugees from Yemen to the newly created state of Israel between late 1948 and early 1950, died on June 10 at his home in Northridge, Calif. He was 94.…

Starting in November 1947, when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, Arabs and Jews were at war. Pogroms against the Jews of Yemen soon followed. In an operation that was arduous, dangerous and secret, nearly the entire Jewish population of Yemen was evacuated beginning in December 1948.

The flight from Yemen to Israel, a journey of more than 1,400 miles, was almost entirely over hostile territory. Though the evacuation was kept secret for fear of sabotage, the planes were routinely fired on by Egyptian forces. Fuel was scarce. Pilots were warned that if they were forced to land in enemy territory, the passengers, and perhaps the crew, risked being executed.

Requiring a little more than a year and 380 flights, Operation Magic Carpet evacuated 40,000 to 50,000 Yemenite Jews without loss of life. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, was reported to have called Mr. Maguire "the Irish Moses." The writer Leon Uris based a character in his 1958 novel, "Exodus," on him.…

… Mr. Maguire became a pilot for Alaska Airlines. With the creation of the State of Israel in May 1948, the airline won a contract to fly Jewish refugees there from around the globe. Mr. Maguire flew thousands of Jews out of Shanghai before being sent to the Middle East to help start Operation Magic Carpet in conjunction with the American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee, a humanitarian organization.

An ancient, nomadic people, Yemenite Jews had been oppressed since the advent of Islam in the eighth century. But their deliverance into Israel was prophesied in a line from the Book of Isaiah: "They shall mount up with wings as eagles."

When news of the planned evacuation reached them, they walked, sometimes hundreds of miles, carrying Bibles and Torah scrolls, until they reached a refugee camp at the British protectorate of Aden, on the southern tip of Yemen.

… Few of the Yemenite Jews had ever seen an airplane. But the airline painted an eagle with outstretched wings over the door of each craft, and the Yemenites went aboard.…

… He once ran out of fuel and was forced to land in Egypt. When airport officials rushed up to the plane, Mr. Maguire ordered them to send ambulances immediately.

"What for?" they asked him.

"I have smallpox on board," Mr. Maguire replied.

He got his fuel, and flew on to Tel Aviv.

PETA Responds To Charges Of Animal Cruelty

PETA issued the following press release in response to the arrest of two of its employees on animal cruelty charges:

It is against PETA’s policy to put the bodies of animals in dumpsters, and we are appalled that a member of our staff apparently did that. There is no excuse for that and, despite the fact that she is a caring soul, we have suspended her from work.

PETA has always supported and spoken openly about euthanasia. It is easy to throw stones at those doing the dirty work for society, but euthanasia is a necessary evil until the massive animal overpopulation problem can be solved. We invite anyone who can offer a home to any animal, pay for one or a hundred spay/neuter surgeries, or persuade others not to go to a pet shop or breeder, to please join us in doing these things. In the last year, we have spayed/neutered more than 7,600 dogs and cats, including feral animals, many free of charge and all others at well below our own costs. Support for this program is much needed.

To clarify, we do not run an adoption facility, although we do place animals, approximately 360 in the last year, despite having run out of friends and family members to approach. We are a “shelter of last resort,” taking in and giving a painless death in loving arms to animals who would otherwise have been shot with a .22 or gassed in a windowless metal box, which is what happened in North Carolina before PETA offered free euthanasia services to agencies there. North Carolina has the second highest rate per capita of euthanasia in the country—35 animals killed annually for every 1,000 residents—and most do not die a humane death. Sadly, the shelters we work with have no adoption programs or hours set aside for adoption. At the Bertie County dog shelter, residents were throwing unwanted dogs over an 8-foot-high fence, where they became infected or injured by other sick or aggressive dogs from whom they could not escape. Bertie County also had no facility for cats and used to let them go to breed in the woods and fend for themselves until PETA built a shelter for them this year. PETA has begged for years, through formal proposals and numerous meetings to have the county allow PETA to implement an adoption program as part of a larger picture of sheltering that would also include a spay neuter program, a humane education program, 24/7 emergency services, and rabies clinics.

We try never to take in adoptable animals unless we know we have a home for them—only those who are mange-covered, have parvovirus, are injured, old, unsocialized from life on a chain, or unwanted and for whom there are no good homes available. We also work at the roots, spending more than $240,000 in one North Carolina county alone, to provide shelter in winter for animals left out in the cold, to spay/neuter, to get vet care for animals in dire straits, to send Bertie County’s one animal control officer to professional training, to pay a cleaner to maintain two shelters, and much more.

We have always outspokenly advocated fixing the problems of overpopulation through practical methods. Sadly, those stories don’t get coverage in the media.

We urge you to look closer and do your part to help us help these animals. For information and resources on how to do that, visit HelpingAnimals.com.

Note that PETA immediately suspended the employee. In contrast, neither the OU, KAJ or any other kosher supervising agency has yet to reprimand, let alone suspend or fire, employees involved in the Rubashkin throat-ripping scandal. That means that Rabbi Otto "Chaim" Kohn, the man who allowed throat-ripping, is still employed by KAJ, has not been reprimanded, and still has his job overseeing kosher supervision at Rubashkin.

Two PETA Employees Arrested On Animal Cruelty Charges

Two PETA employees were arrested today on animal cruelty charges.

More to come soon.

Jewish Agency Seeks To Double Rate Of Falash Mura Aliya

According to Ynet:

The Ministerial Committee for Falash Mura Affairs is set to meet Wednesday to discuss Agency recommendations to double the rate of Ethiopian immigration to Israel from the current 300 per month to about 600.

If accepted, the plan would slash the projected length of the project from seven-to-ten years to about two-to-three years.

About 20,000 Jews remain in Ethiopia.

According to a report by former Finance Minister David Brodet prepared for the Jewish Agency, bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel quickly will benefit both new immigrants and the state.

“There is a lot of logic in speeding up the rate of Ethiopian aliya (immigration),” the report said. “There are economic and social benefits.”

Jewish Agency officials also said they hoped the government would present a formal time frame to carry out and complete the operation to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Jewish Agency President Sallai Meridor said an expedited program of aliya will save the country NIS 100 million (USD 22.3 million).

“People will come to Israel younger, healthier and better educated,” he said. He added that an expedited program would allow the Jewish Agency to close down camps and services in Ethiopia.

The report states that pushing the program forward will allow immigrants to integrate into Israeli society quickly and will increase the number of years they live in Israel.

It emphasizes young people, who account for 50 percent of Ethiopian immigrants, and says that bring them to Israel quickly will increase their chances to successfully integrate into Israeli society.

The report also states that speeding up the immigration rate could stem the number of non-Jews seeking to emigrate with the Falash Mura, or the Jewish-Ethopian community in Addis Ababa.

“We should try to close the camps in Ethiopia in order to prevent the emigration of non-Jews and to complete the emigration process for true Falash Mura,” the report said.

Ha'aretz coverage can be read here.

Israel's Next Wave Of Aliya?

Gary Motokow of Avotaynu.com writes:

The latest discoveries are that a good number of New World Hispanics, as suspected, have Semitic (Jewish) DNA.… [T]here are plans to do a rigorous acquisition of Sephardic DNA samples in order to create a DNA profile of Sephardic Jewry. They will then sample non-Jewish New World Hispanics for a Jewish connection. There are many stories of today's Hispanics descending from crypto-Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity in Spain and Portugal at the time of Christopher Columbus. It is theorized that many crypto-Jews colonized the New World in order to avoid the Inquisition.

Typical is the Spanish colony Santa Elena which existed briefly (1566-1584) in what today is South Carolina. The leader of the colony was a Spanish soldier named Juan Pardo. Pardo is a Spanish-Jewish name. Other colonists were named Braganza, Castillo, Chavez, Gallegos, Gomez, Lopez, Martin, Molina, Moreno, Navarro, Peres, Rivera and Zamora --all Spanish-Jewish names.

Can an American-Hispanic wave of aliya be far behind?

The Rabbi Menachem Brod Chabad Doublespeak

In an interview published in today's Jerusalem Post, Chabad spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod explains why Chabad – although opposed to disengagement – will not be officially protesting:

Brod also said that Chabad simply cannot afford a costly PR campaign against disengagement. "After our anti-Oslo campaign we were left with huge debt. We simply don't have the resources. If Yesha had money, we could join them but they are broke also."

This is an odd contention from an organization whose anti-Oslo efforts were largely paid for by wealthy donors like Cyril Stein.

It also raises the question: If, as Chabad claims, disengagement is really an issue of pikuakh nefesh, saving the lives of Jews in immediate danger of death, how can Chabad officially sit on the sidelines?

The answer is this bit of sophistry:

"When Chabad comes out strongly and publicly in favor of Greater Israel and against disengagement, even though this is not necessarily a political act, the public sees it as taking a political stand.…

"And that hurts Chabad's main activities, which, like the struggle to maintain Greater Israel, is pikuah nefesh [a matter of life or death]. Because if Jews are alienated from Judaism as a result of our activities, if they end up not celebrating Pessah or Rosh Hashana, that is also pikuah nefesh in our eyes," he said.

Really? Funny that 'definition' of pekuakh nefesh can't be found in Jewish legal, halakhic, sources.

But it can be found here, proffered by none other than Chabad's late rebbe, Mendel Schneerson as a reason not to save Ethiopian Jews.

Chabad, it's time to face facts: Your rebbe lied. So do your current leaders. It was never about pikuakh nefesh. It was always about empire-building and money.

New "Sanhedrin" Gets Coverage In The Jerusalem Post

More on the new "sanhedrin" from the Jerusalem Post.

Chabad's Kadesha Puts Out For Aguch

Chabad's very own kadesha, Sue Fishkoff, has written a piece for the JTA on the fight for control of Chabad's main synagogue, 770. But in typical Fishkoff fashion, the article leaves out any hint of the true scope of Chabad messianism and at the same time makes it appear as if 770's gabboim do not represent the Crown Heights Community – a strange contention since all three were elected to their positions, and that election took place after this latest controversy surfaced.

Fishkoff has made lots of money off her paean to Chabad, The Rebbe's Army, and perhaps even more money from speaking fees garnered from Chabad Houses worldwide, where she is an often-featured, well-paid speaker.

Neither Fishkoff or the JTA disclose this lucrative relationship – a relationship dependent on Fishkoff's continued whitewashing of Chabad's darker side.

Fishkoff is a kadesha, impure and simple.

NY Jewish Week's Gary Rosenblatt Responds

The New York Jewish Week's editor, Gary Rosenblatt, responds to this article by writing:

Dear Shmarya,
I meant no disrespect to Rabbi Bleich. It seemed that every rabbi I met was a chief rabbi.
Shalom,
GR

What does that say for the Jewish Week's fact checking or for Gary Rosenblatt's knowledge of Chabad's hostile takeovers in the Ukraine, Vilna, Moscow, etc.? How can one presume to write an article on Chabad's behavior in Europe without knowing this?

But this still leaves the question unanswered: Why term Ukraine's long-serving non-Chabad chief rabbi "a leading chasidic rabbi in Kiev" and Chabad's newbie "the chief rabbi of the Ukraine"? Why choose one over the other? On what grounds was that choice made?

If Rosenblatt truly "meant no disrespect," let him apologize publicly and acknowledge Rabbi Bleich as Ukraine's chief rabbi.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Interview With A Russian Totalitarian Thug: Chabad 'Chief' Rabbi Berel Lazar's Spokesman

Tzemach Atlas has an interview with Boruch Gorin, Russian 'Chief Rabbi' Berel Lazar's spokesperson. In it, Gorin denies the Federation of Jewish Communities acts on behalf of Chabad and then justifies all questionable FJC actions by citing Chabad policy. What a thug.

Rabbi Steinsaltz Elected Head ("Nasi") Of Sanhedrin

Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz has been elected nasi of the new Sanhedrin.

But, there's more:

Semicha - original rabbinic ordination - was successfully reintroduced when hundreds of Israel's greatest rabbis agreed on the worthiness of a certain rabbi to receive it. This was also agreed upon by leading Sephardic and Ashkenazic spiritual leaders Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv. The committee who oversaw the process made every effort to fulfill the Jewish legal requirements as outlined by Maimonides, as closely as possible.

The rabbi himself eventually backed down from serving as Nassi of the Sanhedrin due to pressure from a leading Hassidic rabbi, but not before granting semicha to Rabbi Dov Levanoni. At the age of 83, the sage is above the age limit to head the Sanhedrin, though. He accepted the semikha in order to ordain one who is fitting to renew the Sanhedrin. It is he who ordained Rabbi Tzvi Idan who, as its first temporary Nassi, ordained the members of the Sanhedrin in Tiberias, October 13, 2004.

… Also present, though not seated around 71-seat semi-circular row of chairs was famed archaeologist Dr. Vendyl [i.e., Indiana – Shmarya] Jones, who is working with the Sanhedrin to establish a system of courts for non-Jews adhering to the Seven Laws of Noah, which are obligatory upon all of humanity. One of those laws is to establish courts of justice. A high court has been established by the Sanhedrin for such purposes and a subsidiary of that court will soon be established in the United States as well.

Among the many topics the Sanhedrin intends to address are the bridging of the divisions between various communities of Jewish exiles who have returned to Israel; the establishment of authentic techeilet, the biblical blue thread Jews are commanded to wear amongst the fringes attached to four-cornered garments; the definition of the measurement of the "ammah" (the biblical "cubit"); the determination of the exact point of human death, so as to deal with the Jewish ethics of euthanasia; and the issue of agunot - women whose husbands refuse to grant them a divorce.

One more thing – the Sanhedrin has a website.

USDA AgriProcessors Investigation: 6 Months After, Still Not Released

It's now 6 months after the USDA sent inspectors into AgriProcessors, Rubashkin's Postville, Iowa slaughterhouse of throat-ripping infamy. In December, shortly after the inspectors left Postville, the USDA issued new training guidelines that would, if followed, shut down an operation like Rubashkin's throat-ripping shechita.

But the USDA has not released findings of its investigation. Why?

Because Orthodox Jews – especially haredim – are perceived to vote in blocks under the direction of their rabbis, and their rabbis want desperately for Rubashkin to be exonerated.

Why are the rabbis so intent on exonerating Rubashkin?

For the following reasons:

1. Because their fate is linked with his. FailedMessiah.com has now confirmed that on October 23, 2003, leading rabbis and kosher industry leaders met with the USDA in Washington and lobbied successfully for directives on religious slaughter to be changed. The changes they lobbied for – with the help of Rubashkin's attorney Nathan Lewin – led directly to the throat-ripping and other horrible violations seen on the PETA video.
2. Statements issued by the OU, Nathan Lewin and Menachem Lubinsky all acknowledge that throat-ripping was sanctioned by the kosher supervising agencies. A finding of guilt by the USDA could easily open up those agencies to prosecution.
3. A finding of guilt would seriously damage the industry's spin on kosher: "It's healthier and it's more  humane."
4. The rabbis attacked PETA, comparing PETA to the Nazis and implying PETA's primary motivation was antisemitism and not animal welfare. A USDA finding of guilt would effectively destroy the rabbis' spin and further undermine the already shaky relationship between the rabbis and the Jewish public at large.

Look for the USDA results to be published – sometime after the 2006 elections. The Bush Administration cannot afford to alienate rabbis who deliver votes before then.

UPDATE: The report finding Rubashkin violated animal cruelty laws and that USDA inspectors took illegal gifts from Agriprocessors was released on March 9, 2006 – but only after a Freedom of Information request from PETA forced it into the open.

Click here for the NYTimes report on the this and a link to the PDF of the entire (heavily censored) USDA report.

A Schvartze Is A Schvartze Is A Schvartze – Affirmative Action For Ethiopian Jews?

Ha'aretz reports:

President Moshe Katsav on Monday called upon the government to implement a policy of affirmative action to support the integration of Jewish Ethiopian immigrants into Israeli society.

Speaking at the official memorial ceremony for Jewish Ethiopian immigrants who died during their journey to Israel, Katsav said: "I expect the government to use affirmative action and provide full support for the integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israeli society. I wish to tell (Jewish Ethiopians), the government should stand at your side to help you. You deserve an affirmative action policy."

… The Jewish Ethiopian community in Israel holds a memorial ceremony annually since the 1980s, to commemorate some 4,000 of their members who perished in the Sudanese deserts as they were making their way to Israel in a massive operation performed by the Israeli government [with the financial and diplomatic backing of the United States government, which conceived, negotiated and largely paid for the rescues – Shmarya] known as the Moshe Operation.

Beginning last year, the community's quiet unofficial ceremony was replaced by an official state-sponsored ceremony. Justice and Immigrant Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni said in her speech "your mourning must become part of the mourning of the State of Israel."

4000 Ethiopian Jews died in 1983-85 trying to reach Israel. Some were murdered. Many starved to death. Many more died of dysentery and other diseases.

Still, to Orthodox Jews (except for parts of Bnei Akiva and Shas), especially Israeli haredim and American Orthodox Jews of all affiliations, Ethiopian Jews are simply schvartes, with all the negative connotations that word implies.

To Rabbis Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the Novominsker Rebbe, the late Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe, Hershal Schachter, JD Bleich, Mordechai Willig, etc., the mourning of Ethiopian Remembrance Day is that more didn't die in the desert or stay behind in Ethiopia so fewer would have survived to 'pollute' Israel.

That Rabbi's Moshe Feinstein, JB Soleveitchik, Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, Ovadia Yosef, the Hildesheimer and almost any rabbi of true greatness in the last generations endorsed and indeed demanded rescue does not matter.

To the midgets of today's Orthodoxy and their cult-like followers, a schvartze is a schvartze is a schvartze.

Praying To The Dead, #3: Writing A Letter To The Dead? Receiving Blessings From The Dead? It's Official Chabad Theology

From the New Jersey Jewish News:

“We’re calling it ‘A Spiritual Day in Brooklyn,’” said Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky, religious leader of the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe Township, a division of Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Mercer County, as the crowded bus made its lumbering way to New York. “The main thing is to have people have the experience of praying at the gravesite of a tzadik. They write a letter to the rebbe, give charity, meditate, read the note, tear it up, request a blessing.

“I’m hoping they appreciate the experience of being able to pray at the graveside of a spiritual giant,” the rabbi said. “I want people to have that experience, to bring them closer to God and the Jewish community, and to leave a little bit more inspired.

“It’s a spiritual type of experience, on the one hand,” he added. “On the other hand, there’s a lot of nostalgia in Crown Heights. They’ll see what it’s like in a Chabad community. There’s a lot of mystique involved. It’ll be a nice day of nostalgia and inspiration.”

The sad thing is Zaklikovsky is not a messianist and is very close to the head of Chabad, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky. ( Note Zaklikovsky calls 770 "Beis Agudas Chasidei Chabad.")

Writing a letter to a dead rabbi and asking for the dead rabbi's blessing is official Chabad theology.

Hat tip: 'Minnesota Twin'.

Agudath Israel Rabbi Who Called PETA Nazis To Represent US In Antisemitism Conference

The Jerusalem Post writes:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, on Wednesday to lead the United States delegation to the June 8-9, 2005 conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance, sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Cordoba, Spain.

Governor Pataki was asked to represent the United States in recognition of his leadership role as governor of ethnically-diverse New York.

In addition to Governor Pataki, the United States delegation will include: …

• Rabbi David Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs at Agudath Israel of America.

Apparently heading an organization that has repeatedly compared PETA to the Nazis qualifies one to sit as a delegate at the Conference.

Meanwhile, the USDA has still not issued the results of its investigation against Rubashkin – an investigation that was concluded almost 6 months ago.

Now, why would a government agency sit on that report? And why would the Bush Administration continue to honor the rabbis implicated by it? Might the answer have something to do with block voting and bundled campaign contributions?

Ethiopian Jews, Higher Education And Employment

Good news:

Some 120 Ethiopian-Israeli students are enrolled in law schools throughout the country…

More than 3,000 of the 95,000 Ethiopian-Israelis have academic degrees, while some 2,000 attend post-high school institutions.

Bad news:

However, job market figures remain gloomy. A Central Bureau of Statistics 2003 survey found 26 percent unemployment among Ethiopian immigrants, compared to 11 percent for the entire country. More than 90 percent of those working had blue-collar jobs.…

CBS has no data on the employment of Ethiopians with higher education, but recent studies have shown that most suitable job offers have come through affirmative action efforts. Director of the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews, Batia Eyob, says that graduates have been employed in part-time jobs at low wages. The 1997 government decision that the Civil Service Commission would hire 17 Ethiopian graduates each year has not been implemented until now.

Nepotism:

Attorney Eyal Rozovsky of Haim Tzadok & Co. is among the only law offices trying to make that connection happen. Rozovsky thus far has trained six articled clerks. The latest one, Amira Amara, will start working there next week as a licensed lawyer.

Rozovsky believes the main thing keeping Ethiopians out of law firms is their lack of networking ability, since many veteran Israelis find work while still in law school due to their connections.

"The Ethiopians don't have a daddy who can pick up the phone to his buddy, a lawyer, and arrange an articled clerkship for him," he says.

Read it all here.

How Putin Targets Jews – And How Chabad Gives Him Cover

From today's Jerusalem Post:

… Still, it is undeniable that almost all those targeted by Putin's regime have been Jewish. With anti-Semitism increasing and becoming more open in Russia, one would expect the organized Jewish community there to insist that the government address that aspect of the anti-oligarch campaign. Yet it hasn't.

This is likely a consequence, at least in part, of the fact that the organized Jewish community in Russia (as much as it can be called organized) is run by Chabad.

… Russia's own chief rabbi, Chabad emissary Berel Lazar, is essentially a Kremlin appointee who has been made to neutralize the more outspoken and politically active leaders of rival Jewish organizations.…

In March, [oligarch Leonid] Nevzlin told the Post that Putin had gathered Russia's tycoons several years ago to tell them that, if they wanted to keep their money, they would have to keep their money out of politics. Many ignored that threat.

… American officials such as Senator Joseph Lieberman and Congressman Tom Lantos (both Jewish) have even begun to suggest punishing Russia diplomatically for its march toward centralized, antidemocratic rule. Hopeful activists inside Russia have openly wondered whether a popular revolt could soon topple Putin and his allies.…

God willing, if Putin is toppled Lazar will fall with him.

Putin Gives Lazar Medal In Quid Pro Quo – Payback For Notorious Auschwitz Medal Ceremony?

Russia's president Vladamir Putin has given his hand-picked 'chief rabbi' Berel Lazar a medal:

MOSCOW, Russia – Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar has been honored with the Medal "60 Years of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945". He received the medal during the 19th session of the Russian 'Pobeda' (Victory) Organizational Committee.

The diploma, which is attached to this medal and signed by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, reads "this medal is being awarded for having taken an active role in the patriotic education of citizens, as well as making a great contribution in preparing for the Victory Anniversary celebrations".

Founded in 2000 and headed by President Vladimir Putin, the Russian 'Pobeda' Organizational Committee involves prominent politicians, scholars, military leaders, as well as public and religious figures of the Russian Federation. This united body's activity is aimed at commemorating the 'Defenders of the Fatherland' – those who have fought for one's country. In addition to presenting this award, this Committee's latest session involved a discussion of the body's future activity.

The "great contribution in preparing for the Victory Anniversary celebrations" clearly referrs to the notorious Auschwitz medal ceremony where Lazar 'awarded' Putin with a medal while standing over the ashes of millions of murdered Jews.

Chabad, have you no shame?

Jewish Week Editor Downgrades Ukraine's Long-Serving Chief Rabbi

The Jewish Week's editor, Gary Rosenblatt writes:

Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a leading chasidic rabbi in Kiev, told the visiting Americans that the Jewish community of Ukraine, estimated at between 350,000 and 400,000, was “at a crossroads. Will we make it or break it?” he asked, adding that “this community is not looking for handouts but for partners. Reach out and challenge us,” Rabbi Bleich urged.

But then, in a separate article written as a paean to Chabad, Rosenblatt writes:

As [Chabad's] Shmuel Kaminezki, the chief rabbi of Ukraine, explained in an interview in Kiev last week, “When our rabbis come to a community, the first thing they do is buy a cemetery plot. They are there to stay.”

Rabbi Bleich has been Ukraine's Chief Rabbi for more than 10 years. Chabad recently tried to supplant him by bringing in its own 'chief rabbi.' It looks like the Jewish Week has picked sides in this dispute.
Why would that be, Gary? What's that matter, grease got your tongue?

The Legacy Of Rabbi Moshe Rubashkin

… Regardless of how it is funded, administration officials, led by Eric D. Weiss, the director of building standards and safety, argued that there is an immediate need to demolish the building.

The 41/2-story, shuttered textile factory was gutted in an April 19 blaze that took city firefighters two days to extinguish. The fire was determined to be an arson.

The building's owner, Skyline Industries of Brooklyn, N.Y., has mostly ignored a raze or repair order that was sent registered mail, Weiss said. Skyline did have the building's boiler removed and sold through a local contractor, he said.

''They're picking the carcass clean rather than taking their responsibility,'' Weiss told council's Community and Economic Development Committee.

''I don't feel good about this. I feel like I'm asking for the last $400,000 in the budget. But it's a dangerous situation. Someone will be killed.''

The building sits at the edge of a residential neighborhood and is less than four blocks from Jefferson Elementary School, making it an attractive ''playground'' for children, Weiss said. A temporary fence erected around the decrepit hulk has been broken through several times.

Adding to the urgency, Weiss said, is the impending summer vacation for Allentown schoolchildren.…

A felon. A thief. A rabbi. The elected president of the Chabad-controlled Crown Heights Community Council. Need we say more?

Ambassador Rudy Boschwitz Praised

I can think of no political leader who deserves these kind words more than Rudy Boschwitz.

Chabad Journalist Gershon Jacobson – Even After Death, The Spin Continues

The New York Times has an obituary for Gershon Jacobson, the founder and publisher of the Algemeiner Journal:

Although Der Algemeiner Journal is widely read by Hasidic Jews, for whom Yiddish is the language of everyday affairs, Gershon Jacobson himself defied easy categorization. Describing himself as an observant Jew, he lived near the Lubavitcher community in Crown Heights, but was not formally affiliated with any Hasidic sect. His paper, at times a lightning rod in the Orthodox Jewish world, reported freely on tensions between rival Hasidic sects, notably the Lubavitch and the Satmar.

A few facts:

1. Gershon Jacobson was a Chabad-Lubavitch hasid and an ardent follower of the late rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
2. He lived in Crown Heights, in the Chabad neighborhood, not "near" it.
3. All his children are Chabad rabbis.
4. Gershon Jacobson used the Algemeiner Journal as a PR organ for Chabad – and as a club with which to pummel Chabad's opponents.

Even after death, Gershon Jacobson's spin continues – this time courtesy of the New York Times.

Rabbis Rule Non-Jewish Tehina Treife

Itim is reporting that former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and other non-haredi rabbis have ruled that non-Jewish produced tehina is not kosher:

The problem cropped up during a visit by Rabbi David Lahiani of Safed to Arab-owned tehina factories in the Wadi Ara area. "I suddenly realized that the system for toasting tehina is operated by non-Jews," Lahiani said. "I also discovered that the root that is cooked in the production of halva and is essential to it is also cooked by non-Jews," Lahiani said.

Lahiani submitted a query on the matter to Eliyahu, who responded that both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews are forbidden to eat tehina and halva cooked by non-Jews. Several other rabbis have joined the prohibition declared by Eliyahu, whose opinion is respected among large numbers of Jews in Israel and abroad. "We are now looking at the possibility of special supervision of all products containing sesame seeds," Lahiani said.

What appears to have happened is that Rabbi Eliyahu has defined ohleh al shulkhan melakhim so broadly that even tehina is included. This means the national fast food of Israel, felafel with hummus and tehina, has been elevated to the status of caviar and standing rib roast.

Pathetic.

As always, follow the money.