FailedMessiah.com

Blog Schedule

Passover begins tonight…

A Haredi Dayenu For Our Times

If haredim had only supported the convicted head of Agriprocessors, but did not also operate an underground organ trafficking operation, dayenu! It would have been enough!

How Big Is A Kezayit?

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin is known as the father of the yeshiva world. Less known is his view as to the size of the matzoh that one is obligated to eat. R. Chaim was of the view that a kezayit of matzoh is actually the size of an olive – around three or four cubic centimeters. This results in a piece of matzoh about half the size of a credit card.

Passover Seder Customs From Around The World

Some scholars have suggested that many of the basic customs of the Seder that appear in the Talmud were influenced by Greek and Roman festive banquets, in which they would recline on their left sides, begin with an appetizer known as karpas, and end with drunken sexual celebrations, known as epikyomin, in Greek.

Converts Petition High Court Over Haredi Rabbis' Refusal To Register Marriage

The converts are joined in the petition by the Itim Center, a Modern Orthodox organization for converts headed by Rabbi Seth Farber.

Soldier Gets Jewish Burial Even Though Conversion Not Completed

"There are religious authorities that believe that once the conversion process begins the status begins to change, and in light of this he can be buried as a Jew."

Chabad Front Organization: Bacteria Used In Food Production Must Be Kosher

One should not rely on the list of components provided with each product in order to determine whether it's kosher or not, as general definitions like "flavorings" and "stabilizing materials" often conceal components which are "completely unfit for eating" according to Jewish Law.

Convicted Molester Rabbi Baruch Lebovits Sentencing Delayed 2 Weeks

Sentencing was to have taken place tomorrow.

US Senator Al Franken Hunts For Deli, Finds Jews

A US Senator has an unexpected kosher Shabbat lunch with Orthodox Jews.

The Catholic Church, Haredim And Child Sexual Abuse

Secrecy, fear of public scandal and a closed hierarchal structure are the main factors that allow child sex abuse to occur both in the Catholic Church and the much smaller Orthodox Jewish world.

Passover Profiteering: $5 Jelly, $24 Matzoh, 100% Rip Off?

Last week I saw a can of tuna for $16.99, a $5 jar of jelly, and a $6 box of cereal. I felt like I was in a foreign country with rampant hyperinflation

Ahead Of Sentencing, Orthodox Leaders Speak Out On Rubashkin Case

Heads of Young Israel and Agudath Israel press for former Agriprocessors VP Sholom Rubashkin's release.

Haredi Baby Killer's Wife: "Someone Like That Should Never Marry"

The family's allegations reveal what is apparently a common pattern in the haredi community–concealing mental illness from the prospective spouse so as not to spoil one's marital prospects.

"Miracle Rabbi's" Nonprofit Allegedly Plundered By Rabbi's Handlers

The registrar of association's initial findings were so grave the non-profit's license was immediately suspended.

Haredi Supermarket Execs Get Death Threats – From Fellow Haredim

The fight between ultra-Orthodox groups and the Shefa Shuk supermarket chain - which caters to that population - is threatening to become violent.

Letter from Jerusalem: Rabbi Litzman's Failure

Never has someone as out of touch as Litzman been installed at the Health Ministry’s helm.

A Haredi Mah Nishtana For Child Sexual Abuse

Why is the sexual abuse of haredi children treated differently than all other communal issues?

Streit's Machine Matzoh Easily Beats Chabad Shmurah Matzoh In Taste Test

"The more kosher it is, the worse it tastes!"

Haredi Rabbis Oppose Audio-Visual System Meant To Help Visually Impaired Bus Passengers

The rabbis who object to the system, stipulated by the law for Equality for Persons with Disabilities, say the screens could be used for immodest purposes.

Brotherly Love: The Nikolsberg Rebbe And His Convicted Child Abuser Brother

“Child abuse thrives in darkness. A 53-year-old convicted child molester like Baruch Lebovits wasn’t made overnight. What’s been happening all these years?” 

NYC's Worst Landlords, Part 2

Village Voice list adds another haredi landlord to its list of shame.

Who Bakes The Best Tasting Hand Shmurah Matzoh In Brooklyn?

Your taste buds – and your digestive tract – want to know.

Rubashkin Daughter And Husband Still Represent Themselves As Chabad

And Roza Rubashkin continues to maintain her husband's innocence despite his admission of child endangerment – i.e., sexual abuse – and does so under Chabad's name.

Uri L'Tzedek 'Mission' To Guatemala

Empty promises to a poor Guatemalan peasant from Uri L'tzedek founder Shmuly Yanklowitz.

Relocation Of Emergency Room Demanded By Haredim Will "Kill Patients," Doctors Say

"You've been discussing graves for the past two hours. Patients will die as a result of this decision and you are talking about (graves)."

Haredi Couple Admit To Stealing Welfare Money From Government

Nathan and Mindy Myski pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree grand larceny and full restitution as part of a plea agreement with Rockland County.

Satmar Yeshiva Student Gets 6 Years For Drug Smuggling

Another Satmar yeshiva student was sentenced yesterday in the Japan ecstasy smuggling case.

For Keeper Of Israel's Crypts, Barzilai Hospital Fight Is Part Of Long Struggle

Rabbi David Shmidel, 76, has been at the forefront of the Haredi fight against construction at ancient grave sites since the 1950s.

Dov Hikind's Candidate Trounced In NYC City Council Election

David Greenfield 58%, Joe Lazar 40%.

Letter Authentic: Haredi Gedolim Defend Accused Horrific Child Abuser Rabbi Elior Chen

"On a letter that my rabbis are signed on to, I also sign." – Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.

Chabad Insider Speaks Out Against Rabbi, Secrecy, In Massive Miami Ponzi Scheme

"It's like dealing with the Pope, everything is a secret. Why does the Catholic Church cover up child molestation? It's the same story [with Chabad], only on this end, it's all about the money."

Former Haredi MK Slams Secular "Blood Libel" As Center Against "Harediophobia" Opens

The haredi community is outraged over media coverage of the Barzilai Medical Center emergency room's relocation due to the discovery of ancient graves, a former Knesset member told Ynet Monday.

Yeshivas Abandon Joe Lazar's Candidacy Over Endorsement Of Teachers Unions

Community leaders are questioning how Lazar could accept the endorsement of an organization that is based on an anti-yeshiva and anti-tuition-paying parents platform. The Teachers Unions, led by the UFT, are public enemy number one of yeshiva parents in New York.

Petition Calls On Judge To Set Rubashkin Free For Passover

"If anyone is deserving of sympathy, support and maximum leniency, it is Sholom Rubashkin, because is truth he is an exemplar of ethical behavior and upstanding character traits."

Rabbis' Secrecy Kept Police From Charging Rabbi Mordechai Elon

 "The police were dependent on us but we could do nothing," one rabbi said.

Widow Of Chabad Mumbai Massacre Victim May Be Deported From US

Frumet Teitelbaum, 37, an Israeli citizen, was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection agents at Kennedy Airport. Since her husband's murder she had been regularly traveling without problems from her home in Israel to the US to visit her children, who are staying with her husband's family in Brooklyn.

Chabad Preying On Children In Ramat Aviv

Without parental permission, Chabad offers candy to secular children it meets in the park, if those children will recite Biblical verses chosen by Chabad's late rebbe.

More Women Join Suit Against B&H Photo

3 women joined a lawsuit filed last November in State Supreme Court alleging that they were denied sales positions because they are women. That raises the total number of plaintiffs in the case to 7.

Top Professional At Health Ministry Resigns As Government Caves In To Haredi Demands

Building the emergency room elsewhere in the hospital complex will cost an extra NIS 120 million and delay completion by two years. Dr. Eitan Hai-Am, director general of the Health Ministry, resigned, saying that the decision "is likely to place lives at risk."

NYC Haredi Gender Segregated Bus Route May Be Forced To Run On Shabbat

Hasidim fear a gentile company could take over the line and might run routes on Saturdays, fail to separate men and women riders, and stop giving discounts to yeshiva students.

Police To Close Case Against Rabbi Mordechai Elon

Sexual relationships between Elon and some of his students were consensual, cops say.

Rabbis: Cellular Internet Must Be Filtered

Religious Zionism leaders - including Rabbis Drukman, Stav and Yehoshua Shapira - call upon public not to connect to internet without filtering service.

The "Invisible Hand" That Dominates Israel

His face is unfamiliar to most Israelis, and he doesn't appear often before the ultra-Orthodox. He hardly ever participates in conferences or has his picture taken, and he has never given an interview. He hasn't written any books, even in the field of expertise that has earned him the title of "the posek [halakhic arbiter] of the generation."

In Response To Attacks On Dov Hikind, Anti-Greenfield Posters Litter Borough Park

Who is going to church this Sunday?

Haredi Autopsy Taboo Prevents Police From Learning Cause Of Death Of Young Haredi Woman Who Died Mysteriously In Abandoned Jerusalem House

Paramedics found the body of a 25-year-old woman who was clean and well dressed. "There were no needle marks or other marks that you find on addicts," paramedic Shalom Galil said. So what was the cause of her death?

Jorge Puello Arrested

The self-proclaimed "lawyer" for 10 Americans arrested in Haiti has been arrested himself in the Dominican Republic, and he is expected to come to the United States to face justice.

Haredim Choose Death Over Life – Again

Plans to build a rocket- and missile-proof new emergency room at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center were dealt a blow on Thursday when Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the top rabbinic authority for the Lithuanian haredi community, told Deputy Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman not to be complicit in moving graves to make room for the structure.

Shas: Obama Is A "Stone Throwing Palestinian," Not A Strategic Leader

The Sefardi haredi political party also called Obama an "Islamic extremist." 

Haredi Lobby Pressures Israel Into Scrapping Fur Ban

The leader of Israel's anti-fur lobby, an immigrant from France, reacted by saying that by scrapping the bill - which would have made Israel the first nation to outlaw the fur industry - Jerusalem "missed a chance" to win liberal minds in the West.

Haredi "Intifada" Rocks Jerusalem

Hours of violent inter-haredi rioting rocks Mea Shearim.