FailedMessiah.com

Suffering In Silence: Child Sexual Abuse In Kiryas Joel

Shlomo Weiss grew up in Kiryas Joel, a rural Orthodox-Jewish town, and says that he was sexually abused starting at the age of 7, adding that the abuse was regularly covered up by others in the close-knit community.

Hasidic Electronics Store Sued By Female Employees For Wage And Employment Discrimination

 B & H Photo was sued in 2007 by Hispanic employees who work in the warehouse and were paid less than their Jewish co-workers. The company settled without admitting any wrongdoing, paid out $4.3 million and agreed to regular monitoring by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Currently, seven women are accusing the company of paying female staffers less than their male counterparts -- and reserving the coveted sales positions almost exclusively for men.

Police Investigating Unauthorized Police Lights And License Plates On Haredi Man's Car

He told officers the plates stood for "New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner," and that he had permission from Dr. Hirsch of the New York City Medical Examiner's Office to have them. The Medical Examiner denied knowing Berger of giving him permission to use the plates.

Orthodox Inmate Loses Challenge Over Facial Hair

A federal judge has ruled that inmates have no First Amendment rights to grow a beard, rejecting the claim of an orthodox Jew who claimed prison policy banning facial hair longer than a quarter-inch violated his constitutional rights.

Mea Shearim In America? Kiryas Joel Posts Modesty Warning Signs

A large new sign greets visitors as they cross over Route 17 on Forest Avenue and enter a world where the skirts and shirt sleeves are always long, regardless of the season. "Welcome to Kiryas Joel," it reads. "In keeping with our traditions and religious customs, we kindly ask that you dress and behave in a modest way while visiting our community."

Chabad Lobbies For Rubashkin

Boca Raton Shluchim Zalman Bukiet, Moshe Denburg and Ruvi New met on Monday with Congressman Ron Klein to discuss the Rubashkin case.

A School Of 290 Students – 289 Of Them Black

Dozens of parents of Ethiopian origin have been blocked by the Petah Tikva municipality from moving their children from the majority-Ethiopian religious Ner Etzion elementary school to other schools in the city.

Letter from Israel: New Conversion Bill Will Make Conversion Annulments Easier Than Ever

Knesset's Constitutional Law Committee approved first reading of law that would allow conversions to be performed by chief rabbis of cities. But there’s a hitch here: The High Rabbinic Court can easily bring about the annulment of those conversions.
 

Chief Rabbis To Appoint Special Marriage Registrars To Deal With 'Questionable' Conversions

The Itim Jewish Life Information Center, which petitioned the High Court over municipal rabbis' refusal to register marriages on claims that one of the partners was not properly converted to Judaism, told the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, "Any solution that does not recognize the full rights of every convert to live 100% as a Jew is not acceptable to us."

Video: Shomrim Helps Catch A Bank Robber In Borough Park

The robber held a gun to a woman's head and Shomrim was forced to act.

Nahal Haredi Soldiers Charged With Abuse

Four troops indicted after photos of them posing with bound, blindfolded Palestinian were found on their mobile phones.

Rabbi David Orlofsky Strikes Again

The buffoon from Ohr Somayach says even thinking that haredi gedolim have been manipulated or simply erred is heresy.

Haredi 'Gadol' Does Not Know What A Music CD Is

Not only that, Rabbi Shteinman doesn't seem to know what the Internet is, either.

Letter from Tel Aviv: Peace Talks And The Battle For Israel's Soul

Although religious settlers often describe themselves as heirs of the early Zionist pioneers, they are anything but. Herzl’s vision was about liberating people, while theirs is about achieving a mystical reunion between the people of Israel and the land of Israel. Herzl’s view stemmed from the ideals of the Enlightenment and the tradition of democratic national liberation movements, dating back to the American and French Revolutions; religious settlers are steeped in blood-and-soil nationalism. Herzl never doubted that Israeli Arabs should have full and equal rights. For religious settlers, Arabs are an alien element in the organic unity of Jews and their land.

Getzel Rubashkin Leaves Postville

The eldest son of and frequent spokesman for Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin has left Postville behind.

Chief Rabbinate Tries To Do An End Around On The Conversion Problem

"[The Rabbinate's] response empowers those fundamentalist rabbis who refuse to recognize the conversions of the state, and ultimately discriminates against converts who have made great sacrifices to join the Jewish people. I know Rabbi Amar seeks to avoid offending haredim, but in this case, appeasing the zealots at the expense of the converts goes against the thrust of the halakhic mandate to protect converts.”

Once Upon A Life: Leaving A Hasidic Community

Because I read books in English I knew I was a bad girl. In a black-and-white world you can either be bad or good. A Jew or not a Jew. There is no in-between. Maybe I didn't wear red nail polish like a shiksa gentile, but I was peeking into an evil world, living vicariously in it through fictional characters. Break a rule and you're automatically on God's blacklist. My grandfather used to say English was an impure language and to employ it in any way would mean employing Satan himself as commander of my heart.

Black And Jewish

In yeshivas, they are sometimes taunted as “monkeys” or with the Yiddish epithet for blacks. At synagogues and kosher restaurants, they engender blank stares. And dating can be awkward: their numbers are so small, friends will often share at least some romantic history with the same man or woman, and matchmakers always pair them with people with whom they have little in common beyond skin color.

Video: The Porcelain Unicorn

Hitler Youth and a hidden Jewish child.

Neturei Karta Zealots Shred Chabad Pamphlets

A group of Neturei Kata zealots also known as 'Sikrikim' (Sicarii) went around to synagogues in the Mea Sherim neighborhood of Jerusalem collecting pamphlets distributed by the local Chabad representative and, after shredding them, littered them on city streets, apparently upset by Chabad's move into Mea Shearim.

$3 Million XXX Extortion

But Pollac ignored Stern's orders to keep cameras out of the office -- and instead kept a stream of XXX-rated videos showing Stern's office sex romps, according to prosecutors.

Italian Hotels Shocked By Behavior Of Israeli Tourists

Israeli travel agents have been receiving a slew of complaints in recent weeks from hotel and villa managers in Italy about the behavior of Israeli tourists. 

Janitor Arrested For Allegedly Molesting Children At A Jerusalem Synagogue

Police not called until janitor returned to synagogue weeks after being caught by a visitor.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Says Palestinians Are "Evil People" Who Should "Perish From This World"

"Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world. God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."

Letter from Israel: Any Bastard Can Be A Rabbi

Some 30 years ago, the Hebrew slogan was coined: "Medinat halakha - halkha hamedina," which means more or less that if Israel becomes a state governed by Jewish law, that will be the end of the state. Is the end near? It is coming.

Rabbinic Court Gives "Sinning" Singer 39 Lashes

Punishment for performance in front of "mixed audience."

Haredim Try To Block Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Course

Training courses for strictly Orthodox nursery school teachers have come under renewed attack because of material relating to child abuse.

Eliyahu Weinstein Free On $10 Million Bail

Eliyahu Weinstein, a New Jersey man charged with leading a $200 million Ponzi scheme that targeted fellow Orthodox Jews, was granted $10 million bail today by a U.S. judge

What Is The OU's Real Position On Reporting Child Sexual Abuse?

Why won't the OU publicly answer the following question: When a child has been sexually abused, should police be called? Or should parents and victims first bring their cases to a beit din?

Video: Actor Justin Long Talks Kosher Food And Nude Sex Scenes Filmed On An Orthodox Family's Dining Room Table

I wonder how Sabbos dinner will go for the family once they see this video.

Chabad's Mezuzah Patrol

Almost two thirds of the mezuzahs on Israeli doors are blemished—says Chabad's mezuzah patrol. This is their story.

Woman Paid To "Lure" Rabbi

Police are investigating suspicions that a woman equipped with recording equipment was paid to attempt to lure Rabbi Yaakov Ifergan of Netivot, also known as the "x-ray,"  into carrying out immodest acts, as part of an attempt to damage his reputation.

Audio: Interview With Murdered Ger Tzedek Yosef Robinson

Former hip hop executive turned Orthodox Jew was murdered last week when when he tried to stop an armed robber. This was his last interview.

Letter from Tel Aviv: Let The Haredim Walk

Once every few rides I am asked to move my seat for an ultra-Orthodox woman (lest she be forced to sit beside a man ) or an ultra-Orthodox man (since my insistence on sitting in a window seat could, heaven forfend, force him to sit next to me, someone who appears to be in a chronic state of ritual impurity ).

When An Unmarried Religious Woman's Biological Clock Ticks Loudly, Is Sex With A Stranger For The Sake Of Procreation Allowed?

She looked for a dance club in the city and went out there once or twice, until she met a good-looking secular man. She waited seven clean days, went to the mikva, and got pregnant once or twice later. When the man accused her of deceiving him, she admitted that she simply wanted a child. Today that child is married with children and is a prominent figure in the National Religious community.

National Jewish Child Abuse Prevention Week

For the first time ever in American Jewish history, a long list of national community organizations are coming together to fight child abuse and create safety and protection for children. Cosponsoring the National Week are Jewish Board of Child Advocates (JBAC), Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), Union of Orthodox Congregations (OU) , Rabbinical Alliance of America (Iggud Harrabanim),and The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse-Free Environment (JSafe).

Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky Blames Bloggers For Causing His Anti-Modern Orthodox Remarks

"When the Slifkin debacle was taking place, I was being sent on a daily basis entry after entry attacking gedolei Torah.…terrible attacks on gedolei Torah being perpetrated by the “bloggers”…These people had always existed of course, but they were usually relegated to the back of the shul or the mikva, where they would share their witticisms and attacks on Torah among themselves."

A New Provider Of Kosher Free Range Chickens

Hanau said his chickens, which are raised by carefully selected farmers in the Northeast, spend most of their lives outdoors. They live in movable pens, so they can enjoy fresh grass every day — scratching, eating and poking around for bugs.

Chief Rabbi Attacked By Neturei Karta, Palestinians

Metzger escaped after being chased by dozens of Neutrei Karta members at a bookstore in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, where books are sold in English by a woman.

OU's Rabbinic Authority Says Do Not Call Law Enforcement On Child Sexual Abusers

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky says calling police or the D.A. to report child sexual abuse is wrong. Victims' families must bring their evidence to a beit din whose rabbis will decide if police and secular courts should be informed.

State Prosecutor Asked To Cite Haredi Rabbi For Incitement

Rabbi Avraham Yosef said: "The judge himself, even if he knows how to pray really well and do everything really well - from the moment he is appointed as a judge, he has ruled himself out from the minyan... Even if he promises that all his verdicts are given according tothe Shulchan Aruch, he is still 'One who raises his hand against the Torah of Moses' and is unworthy of joining anything of holiness."

Orthodox Mom Arrested For Series Of Armed Robberies

Jodi Mendelowitz, 48, of Kew Gardens, was arrested Monday -- hours after robbing both a bank and liquor store just 15 minutes apart.

Prosecutors: Rubashkin Judge Did Not Know Agriprocessors Was Raid Target

The judge who presided over Sholom Rubashkin’s fraud trial did nothing improper when she met with federal agents prior to the massive 2008 immigration raid at Agriprocessors, Inc., prosecutors say.

First Haredi Pre-Army Prep Course Opens

The course, named Nerot Le'Ha'ir, kicked off its first school year on Sunday. The participants will all enlist to the Nahal Haredi Brigade in another year and a half. Their curriculum includes workout sessions, kung-fu, survival training, membership to a country club (during gender-segregated swimming hours, of course), and a rappelling course. In addition, the students will regularly attend lessons in hasidism and will be taught daily lessons from a hasidic teacher.

Haredim Stone Hospital Construction Workers

Protesters are continuing their efforts to disrupt the construction of a new emergency room at Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital. Tuesday morning, about 30 protesters hurled stones at construction workers at the site. Police forces were called to the scene and dispersed the rioters.

Brooklyn Man Gets 18 Months For Helping Rabbi Launder Money

Schmuel Cohen admitted illegally supplying hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, who has since pleaded guilty to using religious charities to launder $1.5 million for Solomon Dwek.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's Nephew Arrested On Arms-Related Charges

Efraim E. Diveroli, the brash young Miami Beach arms dealer who landed a $300 million contract with the Pentagon to buy and ship munitions to Afghanistan only to have it unravel in a sprawling criminal case, was in custody again in Florida on Monday, facing new federal charges.

Government Files Response To Rubashkin Motion For New Trial

 Details:

Dispute Over "Unauthorized" Weddings Spurs Satmar Hasidim To Dump Garbage On The Streets Of Kiryas Joel

The garbage-dumping that nearly blocked a main road in Kiryas Joel and led to disorderly conduct tickets for four men over the weekend stemmed from an ongoing fight over a wedding hall just outside the village where dissident community members have held services since January.

Rubashkin Equals Pollard Equals Shalit, Rabbis Say

Community-wide "pidyon shevuyim" rally equates Rubashkin with Jonathan Pollard and captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.