FailedMessiah.com

Bone Marrow Donor Needed For 1-Year-Old Girl

"Sadly, we just learned that Ayelet Yakira Galena, our lovable one year old daughter, was recently diagnosed with a rare bone marrow failure disorder and will need a bone marrow transplant. We're searching for a perfect match and need your help.…"

Alleged Orthodox Diamond Thief Ruled Extraditable

The Jerusalem District Court ruled that Felix Prakopetz, and Israeli citizen who was accused in Switzerland of stealing $2.3 million worth of diamonds, is extraditable.

Threat Of Government Shutdown Of Its Kosher Seal Forced Haredim To Compromise

One of the reasons the Eda Haredit agreed to the compromise agreement about IDF conversions was economic pressure from the Chief Rabbinate.

Pay Students, Not Yeshivas, To Cut Down Fraud, Litzman Says

Israel's haredi Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has proposed a new nonsensical arrangement to prevent yeshiva fraud: give subsidies directly to yeshiva students, rather than to yeshiva principals.

Kabbalah Center Rabbi Explains His View On Teaching Kabbalah To Gentiles

He has Madonna, Mick Jagger and Donna Karan on his speed dial. When Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore decided to get married, they asked him to perform the ceremony. As he visits Israel to promote his new book, Rabbi Yehuda Berg explains why Judaism should be shared with non-Jews too.

How Did They Become Jews?

In 1952, Shin Bet agents were sent undercover to spy inside Palestinian villages. Keeping their real identities secret, they married Arab women, with whom they had children. Those children were later accepted as Jews by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who would later be Chief Rabbi of Israel.

New Deal On IDF Conversions "Immoral And Against The Explicit Halakha"

Rabbi Seth Farber, the Modern Orthodox head of ITIM: The Jewish-Life Information Center, who set the military conversion dispute into motion when he filed a High Court of Justice petition against haredi marriage registrars who do not recognize military conversions, called the deal between Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Ashkenazi haredi leaders “a cynical use of people’s lives to make political deals, immoral and against the explicit Halacha to not deceive converts."

Haredi Rabbi: Cop Killed In Carmel Wildfire Because He Was Anti-Haredi

Rabbi Rafael Buvlil of Hadera allegedly claims that Asst.-Cmdr. Lior Boker died from divine punishment because he led an investigation several years ago that found that haredi yeshiva students set fire to a synagogue in order to blame Hadera’s secular residents.

Where Is Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany?

Convicted of bribery and extortion and then sent immediately to prison Friday after being sentenced to four years in prision, where is Balkany?

Green Or Haredi?

Environmental groups are fighting several plans to expand or build new ultra-Orthodox towns and employment centers, saying they will encroach on sensitive open lands.

Haredi Women Can Be Great Engineers, CEO Says

"Giving the haredim respectable, appropriate jobs will help close social gaps and break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness, but current plans create only the appearance of such processes."

New Cholev Yisroel Milk Produced At Plant With A History Of A Major Food Safety Recall

The new milk, with the brand name of Rimon Farms, boasts two kosher supervisions: New Square and Crown Heights Beis Din (Chabad).

After Threats Of Massive Haredi Street Demonstrations And Possible Riots Against Him, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Backs Down

Converts are in for much greater difficulties following Rabbi Yosef's modification of his legal ruling. Ashkenazi haredi marriage registrars are expected to give converts a hard time, trying to prove in any way possible that at the time of their conversion – which could have been many years previous – converts did not really intend to follow Jewish law, therefore voiding their conversions.

Why Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Was Right About Abortion Law – And Why Pro-Life Activists Are Wrong

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the leading rabbinic adjudicator of Jewish law during the latter half of the 20th century, strongly opposed abortion on demand. But he also opposed laws limiting abortion. Here's why.

G.O.P. Gutting Food Assistance For The Most Vulnerable Americans–A Program With A Close Chabad Connection

According to Chabad, the seed for creating the W.I.C. program and expanding the food stamps program came from the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Now the Republicans are trying to gut both programs, and Chabad is silent. Why?

Did The Director Of The Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Assault Women?

During the rally it has been reported that Steve Zackheim (AKA: Shlomo Zakheim) and his brother Moshe Zackheim started shouting at the women and allegedly grabbing their posters and both physically and sexually assaulted them.  A video of the rally and attack can be seen on youtube.  Moshe Zakheim is an executive board member of Ohel Family Services and also the director of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation.

The Continued Harassment Of Converts By Israel's Haredi-Controlled State Rabbinic Courts

If the High Court of Justice does not have its say in the matter, the current situation will continue. The marriage registrars will continue to refuse to register converts who don’t look religious, or all converts, for marriage; the rabbinic courts will continue to nullify conversions; people who went through conversion years ago will continue to be swept onto the list of those ineligible to marry; converts will continue to be tormented and their families will continue to suffer.

Iconic Manhattan Bagel-Maker's Company Files For Bankruptcy Protection

Helmer Toro, who founded New York's H&H Bagels in 1972, blamed the economy, litigation and a recent loss of rental income for prompting the manufacturer's bankruptcy filing.

How Brain Stem Death Works

To understand why Rabbi Moshe Tendler and dozens of other rabbis rule that brain stem death is death according to halakha, Jewish law, watch this video.

NYPD Refuses To Investigate Assault Complaints Against Haredi Fixers, Alleged Victims Say

NYPD refuses to investigate assault complaint filed against haredi community activists Steve and Moshe Zakheim on February 16, 2011 for assaulting women at a protest against the Brooklyn DA's Jewish liaison, Henna White, on February 15, 2011, haredi women say.

Balkany Gets Four Years

Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany, Aaron Rubashkin's son-in-law and the brother-in-law of convicted Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin, was sentenced to four years in prison for trying to extort $4 million from Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP.

NY State Disabilities Chaplain Pleads For Mercy For Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany–On Official Stationary

On official stationary bearing the governor's name, the chaplain of the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, Rabbi Moshe Wulliger, calls on judge to show "mercy" when sentencing convicted blackmailer and extortionist Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany – a man who was caught several years ago embezzling $700,000 in federal grant money meant to build classrooms for disabled children.

Airline's Kosher Meal Option: Ham Melt

EasyJet expands the rules of kosher a bit too far.

Why Liberal Judaism Is In Free Fall

The real enemy confronting the Reform and Conservative movements, both in Israel and America and other countries around the world, is apathy.

African Refugees Brutalized En Route To Israel

Refugees describe horrific ordeals including systematic rape, gang rape and torture at hands of Beduin smugglers.

Number Of Haredim Joining Army Sharply Decreases

Following several years of sharply increasing numbers of haredim being conscripted into the ranks of the IDF or serving civilian national service, this increase slowed down significantly last year.

Chief Rabbis Issue Warning To Haredim Over Kosher

The battle over the halachic validity of military conversions appears to be approaching the kashrut industry, with the Chief Rabbinate warning the Badatz Eda Haredit’s kashrut division recently of the consequences it would face if it did not swiftly resolve irregularities found in a few of its slaughterhouses.

As Price Of Food, Energy And Water Soar, Israelis Begin To Follow Egptians Lead

During this winter of Middle East political discontent, even Israelis are demanding reforms from their government officials. In contrast to the protesters in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the region, whose main concerns are an end to oppression, Israelis' gripes are focused solely on the sky-high price of food, gasoline, water and many other necessities.

Government Asks Judge To Sentence Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany To 9 Years In Prison

Balkany, 64, was found guilty in November of criminal counts – extortion, blackmail, making false statements and wire fraud – after a seven-day trial in federal court in New York. He is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow.

Crimes and Misdemeanors

The OCD Rebbe Of Satmar

The viciously anti-Zionist extremist rabbi, Yoel Teitelbaum, who founded and led the Satmar hasidic movement may have had mental illnesses that contributed to his bizarre behavior, a scholar writes.

Japan Reported To Be Furious At Yeshiva Student Pardon

Yosef Bondo was tried, convicted and sentenced in Japan for drug smuggling but, because he was a minor, Bondo was transferred to Israel to serve his sentence. Israel recently pardoned Bondo one year before he would have finished serving it, in apparent violation of its agreement with Japan.

"Holy" Dove Drives Haredi Yeshiva Wild

"It's a real wonder," one of the students at the haredi Kamenitz Yeshiva says about his new classmate – a white dove.

Haredi Cheating Leads Government To Order Haredim To Punch In

In an attempt to crack down on haredim who don’t fill their weekly quota of volunteering [required] as a substitute for military service, Sar-Shalom Jerbi, head of the Civilian and National Service Authority, recently ordered the installation of attendance clocks in all institutions served by haredi volunteers.

Fighting For The Right To Steal

Instead of embracing reforms meant to cut down on fraud at yeshivas, rabbis are battling it.

60 Minutes Reporter Sexually Assaulted In Cairo By Mob Yelling "Jew, Jew"

"60 Minutes" correspondent Lara Logan was repeatedly sexually assaulted by thugs yelling, "Jew! Jew!" as she covered the chaotic fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo's main square Friday, CBS and sources said yesterday.

Runge Pleads Guilty

In a surprise move, Minnesota filmmaker Wendy Weiner Runge pleaded guilty late Wednesday to a felony charge just as attorneys on both sides of her case had rested.

Battle For Agriprocessors' Assets Continues As Trustee Tries To Recover Questionable And Illegal Payments Made To Charities And Kosher Supervisors

The Agriprocessors bankruptcy case could drag on for another two years because missing business records required a massive effort to search for fraudulent payments and equalize payments among creditors. Kosher supervisor United Mehadrin Kosher of St. Paul, Minnesota, led by Chabad Rabbi Asher Zeilingold, was asked to repay $2.8 million. Various charities have also been told they need to repay money "donated" by Agriprocessors at the direction of the Rubashkin family. "There are some very worthy priority claims [to Agriprocessors money],” the trustee said, including workers who were owed money, and claimis for doctor bills for employees and their families that weren’t paid.

Haredi And Orthodox MKs Propose Bill Providing Legal Immunity For Rabbis Who Incite Racism

Lawmakers from Shas, National Union and the United Torah Judaism proposed a bill, dubbed the Rabbi Dov Lior Law, on Wednesday that would give rabbis immunity against legal responsibility for comments or opinions voiced about the Torah, books and religious rulings. Lior endorsed a book condoning the intentional murder of Arab civilians – including babies – during wartime.

The Sounds Of Violence

Ultimately, Hush will probably not be read by the Ultra-Orthodox themselves.  This is a pity, because… tall walls do not protect against the enemy from within. Critics may argue “What about the Catholic Priests?  What about Muslim honor killings?” Bad behavior from without does not justify bad behavior from within. The antidote to [the story] Hush [skillfully tells] is to make a lot of noise about Jewish child abuse.

When Rabbi Moshe Tendler Thinks You're Wrong, He's Not Afraid To Say So

“You say a thing, I believe you're ignorant on this topic. That's not an insult. It's a fact.”

Breslov Hasidim Run Red Lights, Speed 90 MPH in 55 MPH Zone, In Hot Pursuit Of…Their Rabbi

Nighttime drivers in the north in recent weeks have encountered dozens of cars traveling at high speeds in total disregard of traffic lights and highway signs. In three instances, the cars have either hit one another or were damaged going off the side of the road, witnesses said.

Human Rights Lawyers Call Planned Haredi City "Unconstitutional"

The planned city, located near Pardes Hanna, is set to eventually provide homes for an estimated tens of thousands of families.

Rabbi Elyashiv: Protest IDF Conversions

Ashkenazi haredi leader calls on haredim to attend a mass rally against Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's legitimization of army conversions.

Haredi Women Protest Against Brooklyn DA's Jewish Liason And OHEL

The haredi women warned attendees at a Brooklyn haredi charity's fundraising event that they should not go to the Brooklyn DA's Jewish liaison – a Chabad follower named Henna White – or to OHEL to report child sexual abuse, spousal abuse or other related crimes, because White and OHEL often conspire to cover up the crimes.

Inspectors Again Find Evidence of Illegally Occupied Apartments At Haredi Yeshiva Complex

Ramapo building and fire inspectors have found evidence of 22 apartments being occupied in violation of a state judge's order and town regulations at Mosdos Chofetz Chaim's adult student housing project off Grandview Road outside New Hempstead.

Why Shoot The Messenger?

A response from the head of the Metropolitain Council on Jewish Poverty to my recent post on Jewish homelessness.

Modern Orthodox Convert Blocked From Making Aliya By Israel's Chief Rabbinate

Rabbi Shlomo Amar rejected the Canadian man's conversion because it was done by Modern Orthodox rabbis associated with Rabbi Avi Weiss.

State Conversion Rabbi Slams Haredim As Selfish

Rabbi Haim Druckman also says Ashkenazi haredim "won't let the facts confuse them."

Chabad Jazz Musician Daniel Zamir Profiled

Saxophonist Daniel Zamir, once a far leftist, now takes stage as a haredi Jew, speaks fluent Yiddish and plays with top musicians at secular clubs. With no intention of giving up his love of music, he sees it as his life's mission: 'God wants me to do this'