FailedMessiah.com

Live: The Man Who Turned In Florida's Madoff

Tonight, Alan Sakowitz, whistleblower of the ponzi scheme masterminded by Scott Rothstein, tells the story of his decision to turn in Rothstein – a decision made only after getting permission from Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky.

Crown Heights Man Arrested For Allegedly Raping Female Family Member

The Chabad hasid is being arraigned in the next two hours in Brooklyn and may be be released on bond.

The Problems With Kosher Slaughter Explained By The World's Foremost Expert

"Kosher slaughter of cattle requires special care. While some kosher plants have done well, and many others are improving, too often kosher plants have been very badly managed compared to many of the big conventional plants."

Racist Rabbi Wins Award

Shmuel Eliyahu, the Orthodox rabbi who told Jews not to rent or sell property to all non-Jews, especially Israeli Arabs, has won an award.

19% Of Haredi High School Age Kids Are Not In School

Haredim have one of the highest high school drop-out rates, at 10.9 percent. Additionally, 8% of haredi youth are not enrolled in any kind of educational framework at all – meaning approximately 19% of haredi teenagers are not in school.

Indictment Against Rabbi Samuel Kellner

Kellner allegedly tried to extort $400,000 from convicted sex offender Rabbi Baruch Lebovits' family and bribed witnesses against Lebovits.

Shechita Delusions And Jewish Communal Lies

"The law singles out two religions, Judaism and Islam, for specific and sole attack, requiring labeling only for animals killed by ritual slaughter. Yet for every animal expert arguing that they use uniquely cruel methods there are any number of others arguing the very opposite."

Public Hearing On NY Child Sexual Abuse Bill Friday Morning

“Childhood sexual abuse has a horrendous personal impact on victims and their families. We hope to better understand how all of society is affected by these crimes by hearing from experts about the services and support that are provided by government agencies and non-profit organizations.”

Solomon Dwek Sentencing Delayed Until March 2012

More indictments to come? Solomon Dwek, the failed real estate developer who became the central figure in a huge New Jersey corruption scandal, will not be sentenced until March 5, 2012, U.S. Judge Jose L. Linares of the District of New Jersey ruled on Wednesday.

Government Does End Run Around Courts, Exempts Thousands More Haredim From Army

Non-haredi Israelis who carry the burden, serving in the army and sacrificing their lives to defend Israel, understand that the government is spitting in their faces.

First "Kosher" Yiddish-Language Smartphone Unveiled

An Israeli telecom company is offering haredi clients a kosher smartphone with Hassidic folk music ringtones and a menu in Yiddish, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Conversion Conference Held

Try to imagine non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union as close kin, who should be helped to return to the Jewish people. “If I had a cousin who came from there who needed to convert – wouldn’t I do anything in my power to help her? They are all our cousins,” Rabbi Chaim Druckman said.

Chabad Messianists On Parade

Picture of the week: Chabad messianists parade through Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York on the seventh day of Passover.

Reform Jews Board 'Haredi' Buses To Protest Illegal Separation Of The Sexes

15 activists of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and the Israel Religious Action Center last week got on "kosher" buses in haredi neighborhoods, dressed in white, and handed out leaflets explaining the High Court ruling on the matter. The leaflets were worded like pashkevils – posters hung on public walls in haredi locations – and included phrases and expressions like "a crime raging in our camp" and "a serious warning."

Haredim Stone Arab Trash Pickers

Police arrested two haredim from Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood who are suspected of stoning two young Arab men who came to collect aluminum foil thrown away by haredim in public trash cans.

Jewish Cemetery And Funeral Homes Accused Of Double-Selling Plots

"The black market in these graves is tremendous," a government source said. "It never stops."

Right Wing Group Calls For Boycott Of Jewish-Owned Stores That Employ Arabs

"Do you want your grandson to be named Ahmed ben Sarah?" a street poster slapped on the walls of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods inquires, in a not-so-subtle dig at the Yesh retail chain. The problem the authors of the broadside (pashkevil, in Hebrew) have is that Yesh, the Haredi arm of the Super-Sol supermarket chain, allows Arab men to work alongside Jewish women.

Two Monsey Rabbis Say They Gave Rabbi Samuel Kellner Permission To Turn In Rabbi Baruch Lebovits

The rabbis, Chaim Avrohom Dovber Flohr and Elimelech Yechezkel Shraga Gold, say Kellner acted correctly and righteously, and that it is forbidden to hurt him or trouble him or, even more so, to inform on him.

Israel's Sefardic Mimouna Festival Will Be A "Protest Against Extreme Orthodoxy

“We will be stressing the divine commandment– which appears in the Bible 45 times in different variations – to love, draw near, help and embrace the convert who wishes to join our people. This stands in contrast to the fact that only once are we commanded to love God. This shows the importance of the command [to love converts] for God’s sake.”

Writing On The Wall: The Surprising Origin Of The Pashkvil

According to local legend in Jerusalem, the walls of the old houses in its ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods would have collapsed long ago were it not for the pashkvilim - the posters plastered upon them. The word pashkevil (in the singular form ), long ago become part and parcel of the Yiddish and Hebrew languages, but its origin is…

The Scandal Of Hasidic Education

In the hasidic and ultra-Orthodox communities, there is a lack of secular education, which negatively impacts those who choose to enter mainstream America. They face cultural disorientation and isolation, coupled with a lack of practical and marketable skills. In hasidic schools, many English studies teachers can barely string together a grammatically correct sentence of English. When government tests aretaken, the teachers read the questions and answer options out loud, reading the correct choice in a louder tone so that students would pass the tests.

Guest Post: Humrot Are Destroying Authentic Tradition

As we plough through yet another year of Ashkenazi humrot and the self-denial of not touching corn, rice, pulses and apparently, now also quinoa, it is worth reflecting that not all humrot are accomplished in the doing. Some are even achieved by abstaining from a mitzvah – and some even have ancoent Ashkenazim and Ashkenazic traditions as their target.

Seders For Survivors Of Sexual Abuse Reported To Be A Success

Hundreds of survivors are said to have attended.

European Parliament Committee Backs Labeling Kosher And Halal Meat As Killed Without Stunning

"I think it has been a breakthrough vote once again for people who consider animal welfare as a very high priority, and this is why we put these amendments down in a food information regulation. It is essential the public knows what they are buying. And if they are buying meat from animals that has been slaughtered by the halal or shechita method then they should know that. They have a right to know and see on the label that the animal was not pre-stunned before slaughter.”

Picture: Rabbi Baruch Lebovits Free On Bail

The so-called Karmarna Rebbe, free on bail for up to four months as his appeals process continues, is photographed last night after the end of the first two days of the Passover holiday. Lebovits child sex abuse conviction may have been tainted after allegations that Rabbi Samuel Kellner bribed people to file charges against Lebovits led to Kellner's arrest.

Sholom Rubashkin's Reply To The Government's Motion Against His Appeal Contains A Small Surprise

Rubashkin's brief was filed with the court on Monday, April 18, and made public during the first two days of Passover – and it contains a small surprise.

Again: Hasidic Village Kiryas Joel Poorest Place In US

The poorest place in the United States is not a dusty Texas border town, a hollow in Appalachia, a remote Indian reservation or a blighted urban neighborhood. It has no slums or homeless people. No one who lives there is shabbily dressed or has to go hungry.

Passover Blog Schedule

Passover begins tonight at sundown, and the first two days of the holiday end Wednesday night about an hour after sundown. The blog will not be updated until Wednesday night at the earliest. Have a happy Passover! Chag kasher v'samayach!

Rabbi Baruch Lebovits' Bail

Anti-sex abuse advocates continue to say that Rabbi Baruch Lebovits – the convicted sex offender whose family was allegedly extorted by Rabbi Samuel Kellner, who bribed witnesses against Lebovits – was not granted bail and will not be released. They are mistaken. Here is the proof.

Rubashkin Hopes To Be Free Soon So He Can "Serve God All Of The Time!"

Rabbi Sholom Rubashkin, currently serving 27 years in federal prison for for bank, wire and mail fraud along with related crimes, meets with his attorneys and then immediately emails his daughter saying, "Baruch Hashem [thank God] it will be a good keli [vessel] for the goal, which is to vacate and throw out the conviction and I will be free to serve Hashem [God] all of the time!"

The Business Of Kosher Supervision

Then there's the question of how far to push the kosher brand. Rabbi Fogelman of OK says his agency has been asked to certify paper bags as kosher; OK is working on it. OK certifies a dog treat as kosher. Exclusively Pet Inc., in Milwaukee, manufactures dog cookies that carry the little K seal.

Convicted Sex Offender Rabbi Baruch Lanner May Be In Baltimore Over Passover

The former NCSY head may be visiting his son in Baltimore for Passover.

Chabad Rabbi Named Most Influential In America

The Daily Beast and Newsweek have released their annual list of the 50 most influential rabbis in the United States.

Exclusive: Another New Haredi Ban

This time haredim have banned a haredi magazine published in Yiddish for allegedly causing Jews to go after the ways of non-Jews.

Conservative Jews Stoned By Orthodox Youth After Shul

Masorti (Conservative) worshipers exiting their synagogue in Netanya on Friday night were stoned, just a few days after a Reform synagogue in Ra'anana was vandalized by unidentified assailants.

Exclusive: Another Haredi Ban

An unsigned wall poster in Brooklyn bans visiting the haredi founded and run Living Torah Museum in Borough Park because men and women wait in line together.

Jailhouse Bar Mitzvah Bash That Cost Rabbi His Job Also Cost The City Thousands Of Dollars, Report Finds

The city also paid an extra $1,650 for inmate Tuvia Stern, 48, to linger in custody at the downtown lockup The Tombs when he should have been transferred to a state prison 11 days earlier, after Rabbi Leib Glanz intervened.

The Passover Cleaning Frenzy

"There is no end to it. For two weeks in ultra-Orthodox homes there are no toys, because it's already kosher for Passover. They go crazy and cause traumas for the children. Don't walk there, don't eat here. Hametz! They eat in a small corridor, on a rickety table, because the table is already kosher for Passover. What's the logic? Is it permissible to yell at the children, not to smile at the children? Is it permissible to kill yourself and on seder night to cry because you are so tired? This is absurd."

Former NY State Comptroller Jailed

Alan Hevesi, who pled guilty last October to a felony for his involvement in a pay-to-play kickback scheme while running the comptroller’s office, was sentenced Friday to one to four years in state prison.

Rights Report Finds Problems With How Israel Treats Refugees, Non-Orthodox Jews

The United States Department of State's annual report on Human Rights finds problems with how Israel treats its Arab citizens, how it treats West Bank Palestinians, how it seems to ignore or respond slowly to settler violence against Palestinians – and how it treats non-Jewish refugees and non-Orthodox Jews.

Judge Denies Rabbi's Request To Change Election Hours Because Of Passover

A federal judge has denied the request of a D.C. Orthodox rabbi to force the city's elections board to extend voting hours or change the date of an upcoming special election.

Orthodox School Board Head Resigns After Being Charged With Mail Fraud

East Ramapo School Board President Nathan Rothschild appeared in Federal Court in White Plains earlier today, pleading not guilty to the felony charge

An Animal Doesn't Care About His Killer's Religion

In the Netherlands, a parliamentary majority is putting the final strokes to a bill proposing to ban ritual slaughter in the Netherlands. Constant references to legal practices or questionable findings in the past are not conducive to producing a well-balanced debate. It is no longer possible or permissible to continue with ritual slaughter given that all independent researchers conclude that anaesthetising animals leads to less pain. These findings have been backed up by veterinary experts.

Government Funded Crown Heights Jewish Community Council Illegally Bars Women From Voting, Attorney Says

“Women, especially widows and divorcees, are gravely impacted by decisions regarding the distribution of food stamps, housing subsidies and other vital social services” that the council handles, Mr. Federman, 26, wrote in an April 7 letter to the council and the local rabbinical court. “It should hurt us to see religion being misapplied to wrongfully subjugate women in a context that has no basis under Jewish law and is probably unconstitutional.”

Home Matzoh Baking In Borough Park

"My father used to make matzo in our home," Brauner said, recalling his childhood in rural Hungary. "So let me do what my father used to do."

Chabad Rabbi And Catholic Priest Organize Jews Versus Catholics Basketball Game For Outreach

The team uniforms will contain an acknowledgment of what Catholics and Jews have in common and what separates them. “The back, for the Catholics and Jews, is the exact same. The front has a Star of David over the left breast, for all players. But the Catholics have a Cross inside the Star of David, almost as if to say: 'Jesus Christ fulfills all of the Hebrew Scriptures.'”

Chabad School To Honor Leah Rubashkin

Cheder Chabad of Monsey is honoring Leah Rubashkin, the wife of convicted felon Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, as the "essential aishes chayil," woman of valor.

Rabbi Asks Imam To Tell Arabs Not To Sell Chametz To Jews

Akko's Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar has asked the imam of the al-Jazar Mosque, Sheikh Samir Asi, to instruct Arab business owners in Akko's Old City to avoid selling chametz (leavened food) to Jews during the Passover holiday. The sheikh has agreed to do so.

Biting The Hand That Feeds You

A Satmar hasid calls Rush Limbaugh's radio show to defend Republican budget cuts.

Hillel Israel Holds Seder For Children Of Migrant Workers

"As an organization involved in the fields of social action and justice, we view the connection and joint activities with the children of migrant workers as another channel for providing up-to-date meaning of the holiday's content and issues of communal responsibility in Judaism for young Israelis."