FailedMessiah.com

Jerusalem Grows More Orthodox, Less Secular

Increasing numbers of secular Jews are fleeing Jerusalem as the city becomes more heavily populated by Orthodox and haredim. But the high housing prices in Israel's capital are also driving out haredim as Jerusalem gentrifies.

Jewish By Jewish Law, But Not By The State Of Israel

For the Interior Ministry, Weizman is a Christian, because her maternal grandmother converted to Christianity during World War II. She will only be registered as Jewish on her identity card if she converts, the Interior Ministry told her. Even ultra-Orthodox rabbis have not made such a demand. Weizman has two brothers in Hungary who want to move to Israel. One is ultra-Orthodox and is about to be ordained a rabbi. Like her, her two brothers are recognized as Jews by rabbis, but not by the Interior Ministry.

Brooklyn Hasidim Consider I.D. Cards For All Kids

"Last week's incident was 9/11 for the Jewish community. It changed the way we have to think about strangers."

Levi Aron Indictment May Come Today; DA Refuses To Say If There Were Other Victims

The formal criminal indictment against confessed child murderer Levi Aron may be filed today, prosecutors say, now the the medical examiner's report fixing time of death and cause of death is complete. And today is the last day of shiva for the family of little Leiby Kletzky, Aron's 8-year-old victim.

Israelis Don't Trust Cops

Only 24% of Israelis withing the Green Line trust police. Settlers in the West Bank and ultra-Orthodox Jews have even lower levels of trust for police and secular courts.

Are Cops, Shomrim, And The D.A. Covering Up The Truth About The Leiby Kletzky Murder?

NYPD officials close to the Leiby Kletzky kidnapping-murder investigation are disturbed by Shomrim's "cowboy" tactics and by police commissioner Ray Kelly's refusal to call out Shomrim, despite the evidence against it. Does the evidence show Shomrim's tactics contributed to Kletzky's murder?

Video: The Amateur Detective Who "Cracked" The Kletzky Case

New video footage of Yaakov German explaining how he found the secuity tapes that led to Leiby Kletzky's killer. German was working alone. He wasn't a Shomrim member.

Obama Makes Shiva Phone Call To Kletzky Family, Report Says

Israeli reports say US President Barack Obama called the family of the murdered 8-year-old hasidic boy, Leiby Kletzky, who was abducted, murdered and dismembered last week by confessed child killer Levi Aron.

IDF Turns To 101-Year-Old Haredi Leader For Help

Right-wing ultra-Zionist Orthodox settlers threaten, harass army officers and violate security rules at will. "There is a halakhic prohibition to enter [Joseph's] tomb in Nablus without first coordinating the visit with security forces because it constitutes real danger to the lives of both the worshipers and the IDF soldiers," Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv told the IDF's senior West Bank commander.

Have Rachmanis On Levi Aron’s Family, Defense Lawyer Says

Levi Aron's family is "distraught," just like the family of Levi Kletzky, Pierre Bazile says.

DA Vows Swift Justice, Dismisses Insanity Defense

"Sometimes I wonder about what goes through defense lawyers' minds," DA  Charles Hynes said after his shiva call to Kletzky's parents in Borough Park.

Haredi Riots Fundraising Trick, Opponents Say

This past weekend, following intense pressure, the Toldos Aharon Rebbe decided to lead the protestors for several minutes, and this prompted hundreds of his followers to join the demonstration. "They nagged him constantly…and he agreed to go out and protest so as not to humiliate Rabbi [Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss [, the head rabbi of Edah Charedit]." Those opposing the protests say the organizers are driven by ulterior motives, such as the desire to impress and please the Eda Haredit's potential donors abroad, or simply young people's boredom during the summer months and long Shabbat, which makes them to look for "action" on the streets.

Shul Asks Chabad Security Consultant Accused Of Pedophilia To Step Down

Several former students of Yeshivah College have lodged statements to police alleging they were molested by David Cyprys, a security guard who also taught karate. The Elwood Talmud Torah Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue, has asked Mr Cyprys to stand down from his role as a committee member on the board of management. Cyrus's crimes against children were allegedly covered up by the head of Chabad in Australia.

Insane?

Attorneys said to be preparing insanity defense for confessed child butcher Levi Aron.

Israel Weingarten Changes Attorneys – Again

The Satmar hasid convicted of raping his daughter over a many year period and transporting her internationally to do so is due to be re-sentenced in September because one count of his conviction was thrown out by the appeals court on a technicality. He is currently serving a 32 year prison sentence. His new attorneys, Jill R. Shellow and Donna R. Newman, are linked to terrorists.

Mayor, Commish Pay Shiva Call To Kletzky Family; Commish Says Investigation Going "Slowly"

New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg and its police commissioner Ray Kelly paid a 15 minute shiva (condolence) call to the family of the murdered and dismembered 8-year-old hasidic boy, Leiby Kletzky last night.

Video: Skvere Rebbe Asks Court To Throw Out Lawsuit Against Him

Grand Rabbi David Twersky today asked a state judge to throw out a civil lawsuit implicating him in the arson attack that seriously burned a dissident member. Twersky's lawyer argued Aron Rottenberg provided no "factual basis" to implicate the Skver Hasidic Jewish leader of any role on the attack or the community protests before the May 22 arson try.

Christian Missionaries Exploit Leiby Kletzky Murder

In what is clearly the most exploitative move in the wake of the Leiby Kletzky murder, a Christian missionary group dressed in white shirts and black pants yesterday went door to door in the neighborhood of Borough Park and handed out pamphlets titled, "How not to lose faith in the wake of Klezky tragedy."

Video: Lawyers Meet With Levi Aron, Third Neighbor Says Aron Tried To Lure Boy Into Car

A neighbor says that about 6 months ago, confessed child murderer Levi Aron tried to lure his son into the same gold car Aron used to drive Leiby Kletzky. The man – a hasid – did not make a police or Shomrim report because he wasn't sure if his young son was exaggerating and because he did not have the license plate number.

Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi, Wife, Busted For Kidnapping And Extortion Plot

A New Jersey rabbi and his wife surrendered to authorities on Monday on charges of kidnapping an Israeli man (pictured at right) and threatening to bury him alive if he did not agree to a traditional Jewish divorce.

Shereshevsky Sentenced To 21 Years In Federal Prison

WexTrust Capital LLC co-founder Joseph Shereshevsky was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding victims of at least $9.2 million as part of a Ponzi scheme. Shereshevsky was considered to be a pillar of the ultra-Orthodox community.

Orthodox Man Charged With Child Sexual Abuse

The Chicago-area man allegedly sexually abused his son's friend over a four year period.

Lakewood Couple Charged In Kidnapping, Coercion Plot

David and Judy Wax kidnapped, beat and extorted an Israeli man who refused to give his wife a get, a Jewish religious divorce, and may face life in prison.

Investigators Search Tennessee, Arkansas And Florida For More Victims Of Levi Aron

Authorities were busy not only at Aron’s home, allegedly where the murder happened, but in other places in the country. Using Aron’s DNA, police were  investigating whether he may be connected to any other cases of child abuse – or worse. Investigators are fanning out to Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida. In all those places he either married or was engaged to single Jewish women.

Kosher Spy Busted

A yearlong probe of a commercial espionage ring that allegedly targeted a kosher Long Island supermarket has led to the arrest of a Brooklyn private eye.

Another Look At The Leiby Kletzky Surveillance Video

Yakov German narrates the Leiby Kletzky surveillance video. His story seems to vary slightly from Hatzolah's story, which itself seems to vary slightly from the NYPD's story, and many people think the video doesn't support any of the versions.

Cops Think Levi Aron Had Bizarre "Fondness" For Kids

Although Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said it doesn't appear that Leiby was molested before he was killed and carved up, DNA evidence could help clarify the circumstances surrounding the boy's death, sources said. Cops believe that the twice-married Aron was "simple-minded" and appeared to have acted on just a bizarre "fondness" for kids, freaking out after snatching the boy, a source familiar with the investigation said.

Right Wing Group Warns Jewish Women About Arabs

The Organization for Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land (Lehava) has decided to start "defending the daughters of Israel" on the country's beaches. According to the organization, many Arab men are posing as Jews, courting and harassing the beautiful women. In response, a "coast guard" aimed at fighting the alleged phenomenon has been set up.

Racist Rabbi's Yeshiva Should Be Closed Because It Is A "Source Of Terrorism," Senior IDF Officer Says

GOC Central Command Avi Mizrahi said Saturday that the yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar must be shut down since it functions as a source of terror that must be dealt with. Mizrahi stated that several of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva leaders hold views that are not “consistent with democracy,” although they represent only a small minority of the overall settler community. Mizrahi went on to characterize settler attacks on Palestinian residents of the West Bank as “Jewish terror,” and implored the courts to do more in order to support security forces in deterring such events from occurring.

Israel Asks Imprisoned Former Govt Minister To Mentor Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav

Former Minister and current prison inmate Rabbi Shlomo Benizri has been asked by senior Israel Prisons Service officials to help former President Moshe Katsav to become accustomed to life in jail. Benizri, who was jailed in 2009 for four years for bribery and other offenses, and is serving his time in the wing for Orthodox prisoners at Ma’asiyahu Prison, was approached a few weeks ago about assisting Katsav, who officials fear might try to kill himself.

A Black and White Issue: Ethiopian Jews Struggle To Integrate Schools

Only 1 of the 294 pupils at the Ner Etzion Elementary School in Petah Tikva is not of Ethiopian origin. As a result, the school has become a symbol of the difficulties involved in integrating the Ethiopian community in the city - and now the struggle has become even more acute.

Near-Drowning In Catskills

Catskill Hatzolah is on the scene of a near-drowning of a child in Ulster County. Paramedics on Sportsman Road, near Route 55A. The child was reportedly pulled from the water, and is unconscious – but is breathing.

Rabbi During The Leiby Kletzky Search: Call Rabbis, Not Police, To Report Child Abuse

Speaking Tuesday night in Flatbush in the Bostoner beit midrash at the Irgun Shiurei Torah conference as the search for Leiby Kletzky was in full frantic swing, the vice-president of Agudath Israel of America's Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah, Supreme Council of Rabbinic Sages, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky says child sexual abuse must be reported to rabbis, not police.

Danger In A Chabad Camp?

"I write to you because I recently got word of a Gan Yisroel camp in [the] Detroit [area] that apparently doesn't have an EMT on site. Last week [the first week of July] a kid went into respiratory distress and didn't receive any help until 27 minutes later. The woman who runs the infirmary didn't know how to use a nebulizer or how to administer meds to this kid…"

The Shabbos Must Go On

A woman, who wouldn't give her name because it would violate the Sabbath tradition, said, "There were no tears in his eyes. On the Sabbath, we concentrate on God and don't show our grief."

Orthodox Rules Shield "Fiends" From Cops

The close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community insists that rabbis, not the NYPD, get the first phone call about a suspected child abuser.

A Post About Evolution And Religion

An Austrian court granted an atheist the right to declare himself a "pastafarian" who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and have his drivers license photo taken while wearing a pasta strainer on head. The story, and a video explaining the proofs for evolution, after the jump…

Flap Over Ferries Enrages Hasids

“What is 25 vests in a community like this? Five mothers? God forbid something happens, which parents are going to fight for which vest?"

Audio: Shomrim And Misaskim Speak About The Search For Leiby Kletzky

The leader of Borough Park's Shomrim and the leader of Misaskim speak about the search for Leiby Kletzky, the confessed murderer Levi Aron, and the murder.

Despite Promises Of A Peaceful Protest, Hundreds Of Haredim Block Main Road And Riot

Police arrived on horseback to disperse the ultra-Orthodox crowd on the central Neviim Street, using a water-spraying vehicle to push the ultra-Orthodox protesters back toward the curb and allow traffic to resume. Protesters yelled out "Shabbos" and "Nazis" and threw objects as police remained in the vicinity to keep the peace.

Councilman David Greenfield Says The Holocaust Is Why Hasidim Don't Report Crimes To Police

On NPR, Greenfield blames the Holocaust but never mentions the Jewish law of mesira, the prohibition against informing on another Orthodox Jew, and the rabbis who enforce it, that is the major reason most crimes are not reported to police. And he also says Jews had it good in Poland until the Holocaust suddenly happened.

Confessed Child Murderer's Confession So Bizarre It Leaves Experts Confused

Confessed child butcher Levi Aron's crime was so barbaric and his confession so bizarre that it has even left experts baffled.

Did Levi Aron Really Take Leiby Kletzky To A Wedding In New Square?

Guests at Monday's wedding of Yakov Morsel and Dina Munk in New Square already knew that an 8-year-old Hasidic boy had vanished earlier in the day in Brooklyn. What they didn't know was that the man who would be accused of the boy's gruesome killing was in their midst — and that he may have locked the child in his car in the catering hall's parking lot off Route 45.

Levi Aron Not Insane, First Wife Says

"His soul is doomed forever. He will have Yom Kippur forever in his life! Trust me, this man is sane!" Raised by overly strict parents who became religious later in life, Aron "was very lonely because he was rejected by his own community." He was ostracized because he wasn't born into religious life, and "because he was slow, low-income," he was not considered a "prospective future son-in-law." The community was "prejudiced to people like Levi and all others with mental problems, without trying to help them."

Neighbor: Levi Aron Tried To Kidnap My Son, Too!

A woman who lives three doors down from "the Butcher of Brooklyn" said yesterday that Levi Aron had tried to kidnap her young son right off their block, but that she scared him away with her screams. A Facebook "friend" told the iPad news publication The Daily that Aron had written on the site that "he likes Brooklyn more than Tennessee because there are more boys here."

Did Shomrim Really Call Police?

Mrs. Kletzky contacted the Brooklyn South Shomrim Safety Patrol at 6:14 p.m. Monday, and they began searching for her son, Leiby. Eventually, the Brooklyn South Shomrim called for assistance—from the Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol. Jacob Daskal, coordinator for the Brooklyn South Shomrim, said the group reported Leiby's disappearance to the NYPD around 8:30 p.m. on Monday. Police officials could not confirm that account but said the first 911 call about the missing boy was from his father, at 8:30 pm.

Shomrim Was Warned Levi Aron Was Stalking A Boy 2 Weeks Before Murder

Leiby Kletzky may not be the first boy targeted for harm by accused child killer Levi Aron in a tight-knit Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, N.Y.  A source close to the shomrim, a neighborhood watch group in the Jewish community, said the patrol had been warned about Aron after he allegedly stalked an 11-year-old boy in the past two weeks.

Statement From Kletzky Family

The family of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky issue a statement on the horrific murder of their son and the search that tried to prevent it.

Levi Aron Gets Pych Exam, CSI Back At Aron House, Video Of Aron In Court

Crime scene investigators went back on Friday to the home of a 35-year-old hardware store clerk accused of abducting an 8-year-old Brooklyn boy off the street and killing him. Officials say they recovered the towel allegedly used to suffocate the boy, as well as the knives used to dismember his body.

Yeshiva Students Found Murder's Car

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelley publicly credited Shomrim for locating the gold car that was used to lure Leibby Kletzky to his death, but according to Yiddish weekly newspaper Der Yid, it was a pair of Flatbush yeshiva bochurim who spotted the car and provided Shomrim with the license plate number.