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Yad Vashem, Politicians Condemn Haredi Misuse Of Holocaust

More than 1000 haredim protested tonight in Mea Shearim, many wearing yellow stars and Nazi death camp uniforms. They accused the media and the State of Israel of persecuting haredim and compared them to Nazis, claiming that the upraor in Israeli society over haredi violence against women and children they deem to be "immodestly" dressed or against women who refuse to move to the back of public buses, is nothing more than persecution of haredi culture.

Pictures: Haredim Wear Yellow Stars, Hold Mass Protest Against Secular Jews, Media, State

Haredim held a huge protest tonight in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem against the "persecution" they claim to suffer at the hands of the state, the media and secular Jews. At the heart of the protest is haredi leaders claim that anger over the physical and verbal attacks by haredim against women and children in Beit Shemesh and on buses nationwide is unfairly being directed at them – even though none of them have condemned that violence or done anything to stop it.

17-Year-Old Skvere Hasid Busted For Attempted Sexual Assault And Robbery

A 17-year-old hasid from New Square has been arrested by Ramapo police. The boy allegedly lured non-Jewish Hispanic women who worked in or near New Square as domestics and cleaning ladies into his car where he then stole their money and other valuables and tried to sexually assault them.

Terror In Beit Shemesh: Wheelchair Bound Orthodox Kids Harassed By Haredim

Girl in wheelchair says she was chased down the street and screamed at, by haredi kids who think her wheelchair violates Shabbat. An Orthodox boy in wheelchair has the same experience and adds that one of the haredi children tried to hurt him Another Modern Orthodox girl reports she was spit on and harassed because she wasn't dressed "modestly" according to the haredim. And her family was threatened, receiving a letter from haredi neighbors stating that "as a result of the complaints regarding your daughters' dressing habits, the rabbis of the neighborhod have decided that your family should leave this neighborhood within 2 months time."

Haredi Supreme Leader Bans Mishpacha Magazine

In a letter pubished today on the front page of the Israeli Yated Ne'eman newspaper he controls, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv banned reading Mishpacha Magazine or helping it in any way. He says Mishpacha "distorts and obscures" the Torah. At the same time, rabbis in Williamsburg, Brooklyn banned Mishpacha along with Hamodia and Bina.

The Matisyahu Teaching Moment For Hasidic Community Leaders

When a high-profile individual publicly departs from a community, it should be used as an opportunity for introspection on behalf of community leaders and members. The first question such leaders should ask themselves is why they need to attach such massive importance to externalities and communal rules.

Is There No Stopping The Flood?

There may be another explanation behind ultra-Orthodox rabbis' exhortations forbidding secular education and integration with wider the Israeli society. Are these rabbis - and the violent haredi Sicarii gang - reacting to internal changes within ultra-Orthodox society, the desire of an increasing number of ultra-Orthodox Israelis to participate in wider Israeli society?

Will Sanity Win Out Over Extremism, Denial, And Censorship?

When she sat down last week in the front of a gender-segregated bus on its way from to Ashdod to Jerusalem, the sole haredi woman amid men, Yocheved Horowitz did not imagine that her actions would prompt such contradictory responses. In haredi society, it is not customary to protest radicalization, and it certainly is not customary for women to do so. Phone calls started coming in. Some condemned not only her protest, but primarily the fact that she had cooperated with a secular newspaper. She responded to all: "Let me say these things in a haredi newspaper."

Hundreds Of Haredim Riot In Beit Shemesh

Police dispersed hundreds of haredim throwing stones, blocking traffic and burning trash cans in Beit Shemesh.

Felony Indictment For Haredi Who Harassed Female Soldier On Bus

"I told him that just as he doesn't want to see my face, I don't want to see his, and that's when he called me a 'slut, shiksa (a disrespectful term in Yiddish for a non-Jewish woman).'" Matalon added that Fuchs yelled: "Slut, slut, slut. You have no respect. You're standing among yeshiva students and it's shameful."

MKs Break Bus Gender Segregation

"The behavior here [by haredim] was (an act). The amazing thing is that once we got off the bus all the men moved to the front. We mustn't remain silent in the face of this process, which is basically a detachment from the State."

Haredi Man Who Screamed “Whore!” At A Female Soldier Gets House Arrest That Includes Yeshiva

Yesterday Shlomo Fox asked a female soldier, Doron Matalon, to move to the back of the bus the two were riding. When the Matalon refused, Fox allegedly began harassing her. And then he allegedly called her a whore.

Government Defers To Haredi Chief Rabbi On Burial Practice Excluding Women

"It is unthinkable that a halakhic ruling" - a rabbinic ruling on a point of Jewish law - "should dictate a government ministry's decision," said Culture Minister Limor Livnat, head of the interministerial task force set up to deal with a recent spate of ultra-Orthodox violence and discrimination against women. "I will not allow it."

Romney Denounced By More Than "850" Rabbis As A "Dangerous Homosexualist"

Rabbi Yehuda Levin and a handful of fellow travellers claim "850 plus rabbis" at a Hanukkah "conclave" – which was attended by a handful of rabbis, not dozens or hundreds – denounced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a "dangerous homosexualist." Levin, who is the spokesperson for the failing haredi Rabbinical Alliance of America/Iggud Harabbonim also urged the Mormon church to "sanction" Romney for not being homophobic enough. Levin was Pat Buchanan's Jewish liaison when the hard right politician ran for president in the 1990s.

Haredi Rabbis Cancel Pro Gender Segregation Protest

Beit Shemesh haredi rabbis canceled a planned protest against the government’s removal of signs posted on public property telling women to segregate themselves from men on public sidewalks.

Little Girl Attacked By Haredim Returns To School

Eight-year-old Na'ama Margolis from Beit Shemesh, who has become one of the symbols of the struggle against the exclusion and degradation of women by haredi extremists, returned to school on Thursday morning.

“Go Marry Goyyim!”

Likud Party Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely says haredim on the bus screamed at her, shouting “go marry goyyim [gentiles]!,” and one haredi man pounded on the bus window, presumably opposite her seat.

Rod Colvin Sued For Wife's Murder

One day after Shele Covlin was found dead in her Upper West Side bathtub on the last day of 2009, she had an appointment with an estate planner to cut her estranged husband out of her will. Court papers show she already had a “get” — a divorce recognized under Jewish law - and had also received an order of protection keeping Rod Covlin away from her and limiting his contact with their kids. On Wednesday, almost exactly two years after the striking blonde UBS wealth manager was strangled to death in her West 68th St. condo, Rod Covlin was served with legal papers branding him her killer.

Agudath Israel Of America Statement On Haredi Violence Against Children And Women In Israel

As you read this statement, remember that most of the leading haredi rabbis in Israel – the so-called gedolim – have failed to publicly condemn this violence, and that haredim have been notably absent from the demonstrations held in support of the women and little Modern Orthodox girls who have been spit on and attacked by haredi "extremists." Also note that many of the haredim who have harassed secular women on public buses do not belong to the so-called extremist haredi groups, although others certainly do.

NYC's Worst Landlords

NYC's list of worst landlords was recently updated. Do you know any of these slumlords?

Jerusalem's Head Cop Says Haredi Rabbis Should Condemn Attacks On Women

Jerusalem District Police Commander Niso Shaham called on Israel's rabbis to condemn the exclusion of women from the public sphere and haredi attacks on women who refuse to move to the back of buses.

Haredi Man Arrested For Calling Female Soldier "Slut"

The Jerusalem police on Wednesday arrested an ultra-Orthodox man for calling a female soldier a "slut" during a bus ride in the capital.

No College, No Army, No Secular Studies

In a letter published on the front page of his newspaper Yated Ne'eman, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the most senior haredi rabbi, called on his followers to boycott all programs set up for them in education, national and military service.

Israeli Haredi Violence Is Damaging Israel's US Image, Anonymous Haredi Rabbis Say

Anonymous US haredi rabbis say Israeli haredi violence makes Israel look bad in the US – but they won't say it on the record using their real names.

Thousands Of Israelis Protest Haredi Violence And Extremism

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Beit Shemesh today to protest haredi violence and forced gender segregation in a city that has become a symbol for the struggle against religious extremism.

Video: Cops Arrest Haredim

Police arrested several haredim in Beit Shemesh yesterday. Here's video.

Live Video Feed Of Massive Anti-Haredi-Violence Demonstration

The mother of all demonstrations against hareidi extremism, which is taking place right now in Beit Shemesh in front of the Orot girls' school. According to a police report just announced over the loudspeakers there, thousands of cars are still crawling along route 38 (which is the main access road into Beit Shemesh) as people from all over the country make their way to join the demonstration.

Israeli Cops To Crack Down On “Extremist” Haredim

In response to a wave of haredi attacks on little children and women in Beit Shemesh, Israeli Police are flooding the town with hundreds of reinforcements.

Yated Ne'eman Attacks Government For Opposing Forced Gender Segregation, Haredi Violence

"As part of the desperate attempts to grovel before a small group of journalists and politicians who try to dictate public agenda, the prime minister and his advisors are willing to turn the haredi community into a punching bag. The politicians have these shocked looks on their faces over the 'religious coercion' and the 'exclusion of women.' This is how the wave of incitement [by the media and the government against the haredi community] began to gain momentum and reached a level that is reserved for media which are mobilized in certain countries."

Small Group Of Haredim Expected To Join Tonight's Massive Demonstration Against Haredi Violence

A group of about 100 moderate haredim organized by a haredi college student leader are expected to join tonight's rally against haredi violence in Beit Shemesh. The rally, expected to draw thousands of Israelis from all over the country, is being held in response to haredi physical attacks on little Modern Orthodox girls they consider to be improperly dressed.

Haredi Leader Bans College, All Secular Studies, Special Haredi Army Programs

"[We] must exclude all paths that lead to national service, secular studies, or the army, even if they assure a special framework for hareidi Jews. Such a framework will subject hareidi Jews to the control and culture of secular Jews who have thrown off the yoke of Torah. Thus they encourage all sorts of programs, academies, colleges, and the like which promise degrees, licenses, academic credentials, etc., intended to introduce goals and aspirations foreign to our way of life."

Beit Shemesh Haredi Leaders "Condemn" Extremist Violence But Threaten To Continue To Break The Law

"The neighborhood's [so-called moderate haredi] residents and activists declare that these signs [that call for women to walk on different sides of the street than men]– which were placed out of respect for women and due to the fact that Judaism orders a separation between men and women in the public sphere – will be placed again and again and again and again…A media and police war against this sign will lead to similar signs being placed next to every synagogue across the city."

Haredim Ask Israeli Media To Help Them Get Rid Of Haredi Extremists

One after another the Haredim came up to the reporters. Some gave their full names, some refused to give any name or - as with one leading rabbi - asked that their names not be published. Some approached in the streets of Beit Shemesh, some made a phone call. They're reaching out to plead for the help of journalists who work for secular newspapers, which many ultra-Orthodox now think will play a decisive role in increasing the public pressure on the extremists living in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem. They want the police and the government to get on the extremists' case, because the leadership vacuum created by politicians, rabbis and newspapers that serve the ultra-Orthodox world has left mainstream Haredim looking for help in places they normally wouldn't go.

Video: Haredim Clash With Cops

A video of haredim clashing with police in Beit Shemesh today after the city removed a sign posted on public property asking women to walk on a different side of the street than men.

Video: Fight Over Haredi Radicalization Centered On 8-Year-Old Girl

8-year-old Na'ama Margolies has been attacked by haredi men who spat on her and called her a whore. Now she's too afraid to walk less than 1000 feet to her school.

300 Haredim Attack Cops In Second Day Of Riots

Approximately 300 ultra-Orthodox Jews began chasing police officers, hurled rocks at them, and burned trashcans after police were called to remove a sign on a main street that orders the separation of men and women in the neighborhood. The sign has been removed and re-instated several times over the past two days. And for the second straight day, haredim also attacked a television news crew.

Notorious Agriprocessors Manager To Be Extradited To US

The extradition to the US of Hosam Amara, a former senior manager at Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, known as the Rubaskins' "enforcer," has been approved by the Jerusalem District Court.

The Silence Of Haredi "Gedolim"

"The main problem concerning Beit Shemesh is our silence, the disturbing silence maintained by religious, haredi people. We are the first people who really ought to come out and oppose such extremism," Rabbi Dr. Dov Halbertal said. Halbertal suggested that if a prominent figure, such as Ashkenazi haredi leader Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, issued a denunciation of violence emanating from the haredi fringe, it would cause convulsions in the Haredi world, including its extremist fringes. Yet Elyashiv persists in his silence, as do the main haredi media outlets.

Haredim Riot In Beit Shemesh

Police forces accompanied by Beit Shemesh municipal inspectors removed public signs calling for segregation between men and women in the city on Sunday. This prompted dozens of haredim to crowd around the officers. They hurled stones and cursed the officers. Some haredim called police "Nazis."

Rabbi Baruch Lebovits Out Clubbing?

These pictures allegedly show Rabbi Baruch Lebovits – who is supposed to be on house arrest – out clubbing last night at Club Dream's Matzo Ball party.

Haredi Mob Attacks TV Crew, Steal Equipment

Israeli police say a TV crew has been attacked by a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in Beit Shemesh, a city that has become a symbol of violent religious extremism.

Another Haredi Arrested For Spitting On Women

A haredi Beit Shemesh resident who was seen spitting on a woman was arrested on Saturday and will be arraigned at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court later today.

Hannukah Party For Survivors Of Child Sex Abuse

The party will be held in Brooklyn for survivors of child sex abuse and domestic abuse and their families.

Israel's Rosa Parks Defies Her Own Community's Gender Segregation Demands

On a sunny afternoon early this week, an ultra-Orthodox woman boarded a bus in the enclave of the Gur Hasidic community in Ashdod and took a seat in the second row. The bus, Egged line 451, was headed for Jerusalem. It quickly became clear that this simple, everyday act - choosing a seat to her liking - was enough to transform her presence in the bus into a palpable challenge to the rest of the passengers. I sat down across from the woman, fearing the worst.…

Video: Little Girl Too Afraid To Walk To School After Haredi Attack On Her Galvanizes Public Opinion Against Haredim

More than 4,000 people say they will attend a march in Beit Shemesh this week to protest the forcible exclusion of women and girls from the public sphere, haredi violence against women and girls, and the increasing haredization of the city.

Kars-4-Kids And Oorah Are Questioned By Charity Watchdogs

Kars4Kids, they learned, is the primary funder of a New Jersey organization called Oorah Inc. that provides religious-based services to Orthodox Jewish children. Kars4Kids paid $65,000 in fines in each state in 2009. Oregon also found that Kars4Kids failed to disclose that its "free" vacation vouchers offered at the time recruited people for a timeshare and contained hidden costs."If you donate to an organization called Kars4Kids, it's a huge red flag that the money isn't going to an organization with that name," said Lindsey Nichols, spokesperson for Guidestar, a national charity information websites. "Plus, some people may want to donate to a secular group or one from a different religion," added Daniel Borochoff, president of Charity Watch. "I guess they figure they wouldn't be as successful if people knew what was really going on."

Nittle Nacht Asifa In Borough Park Tonight

Hurry, don't be late!

No Need For Gender Segregated Buses, Haredi Rabbi Says

"There is no exclusion when it comes to a strange woman. Apart from touching, apart from looking, apart from smelling any good smell she may have put on herself – we should not be interested in anything else," said Rabbi Avarahan Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon, who is a son of Sefardi leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

Haredi Man Who Spat On Woman Released On Bail

Menachem Manes Simon was arrested on Wednesday after a woman filed a police complaint against him claiming he had spat on her in the street. He was brought for a remand hearing that very day, but Judge Hagit Mac-Kalmanovich, Vice President of the Beit Shemesh Magistrate's Court, ordered his release on bail. An indictment against him will be filed in the coming days. The suspect, part of fanatical groups in the city, was uncooperative during the investigation.

Large Chabad Charity Honors Rubashkin Family Members

Family patriarch Aaron Rubashkin – whose kosher slaughterhouse employed more illegal alien workers than legal ones, and which was the site of horrific animal abuses and humane slaughter violations along with of abuses of those undocumented workers, many of them children – is seated at the head table at Colel Chabad's massive annual fundraising dinner next to the head of Chabad worldwide Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky. Grandson Getzel Rubashkin is honored by reciting the chapter of psalms that corresponds to the age Chabad's rebbe would be if he were living. Getzel's father Sholom Rubashkin is currently serving a 27-year-sentence for financial fraud related to that slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors.