FailedMessiah.com

Israel Fails To Adequately Care For Its Elderly

An old-age home in Bnei Brak had gone up in flames. The fire, which started due to what turned out to be criminal negligence, was the fault of the institution's directors, who were operating it without a license and with a forged safety certificate. Some people still believe that society's "weak" members are those who did not try hard enough, or were not born smart enough, or are just losers who at most have to be given an occasional hot meal as a "contribution to the community." But these people don't understand that they are living in a country that has abandoned the most basic principle that makes a society out of a chaotic jungle: the right to live a dignified life. Life expectancy in Israel is constantly on the rise, but the bad news, released this week by the Bank of Israel, is that government outlays on caring for the elderly are among the lowest in the western world.

Another Man Arrested In Haredi Yeshiva Fraud

A fourth man has been arrested in connection with a nonexistent yeshiva used to scam the government out of hundreds of thousands of shekels in student subsidies, and Jerusalem police expect further arrests in the case.

New Law Forces Rabbis To Speed Up Divorce Process

The new law mandates  that once a rabbinical court has ruled that a husband must give his wife a get, he must do so within 45 days. If he does not, the rabbinical court is mandated to hold a hearing within another 45 days to discuss imposing punitive sanctions which can include seizing the husband's passport and blocking all overseas travel, confiscating his driver’s license – and even imprisonment.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg.

Cops Arrest 3 Haredim In Fake Yeshiva Scam

Jerusalem police arrested three haredi men for allegedly operating a fake kollel (yeshiva for married men). The men allegedly duped the Education Ministry into paying the living allowance for dozens of full-time students, and received hundreds of thousands of shekels each year from the Education Ministry.

Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg In "Extremely Critical" Condition

Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg is in extremely critical condition. The 101-year-old haredi 'gadol' is sharing a room in Jerusalem's Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital's ICU with 101-year-old haredi leader Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

Rabbi Killed In French Shooting Mourned

Rabbi Sandler was well known in France's Jewish community for his column in a Lithuanian Haredi monthly newspaper, "Kountrass", which is distributed in France and Israel. His column focused on outreach with secular Jews and theological questions. Sandler also performed outreach work with secular Jews as a volunteer for the organization, "Shoresh," which works in community outreach.

Netanyahu Gives Affordable Housing To Haredim, Pushing Out Seculars

Netanyahu and Steinitz gave in to Yishai and Atias because Shas provides them with a coalition majority. So they favored the ultra-Orthodox over the secular, hard-working, tax-paying middle class, which serves in the army and does reserve duty. They favored the non-Zionists over the Zionists.

Standing Silent On Child Sex Abuse

One by one the victims stood and described their alleged molesters: the Torah teacher, the rabbi, the ice cream truck driver, the man at the mikvah.

The Dead In French Motorcycle Terror Attacks

Gabriel Sandler before his first haircutting. He was murdered today along with his older brother, his father and a classmate.

Blackmailing Brooklyn Rabbi Loses Appeal

Sholom Rubashkin's brother-in-law, Rabbi Milton Yehoshua Balkany lost the appeal of his extortion, blackmail, and wire fraud conviction.

Forensics Link 3 French Terror Attacks

It appears that the attack that killed four Jews at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France early today was carried out by the same man or group that attacked French elite combat soldiers last week, all of whom were of Arab or African origin.

Video: Hasidim Clash With City Council Member

A purim celebration turned to confrontation last Thursday after Outremont's hasidic community faced off with city councillor Celine Forget as she says she tried to enforce local bylaws.

Haredi Girls Schools Can Now Grant High School Degree

The Szold Exams - the haredi equivalent to Israel's official Bagrut (matriculation) exams - are carried out by the Szold Institute. Some 4,500, a majority of seminary students take external exams in Hebrew, history, English, math and grammar. Data previously published by Ynet revealed that 90% of the girls pass the exams successfully, yet until now, were not recognized as graduates by the Education Ministry. This unofficial testing system has been in use for 50 years, ever since haredi rabbis refused to allow their students to take the Bagrut exams.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier Saluted On 50th Anniversary

Former Mayor Ed Koch joined prominent leaders Sunday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rabbi Arthur Schneier as Park East Synagogue's rabbi.

NYC Bans Food Donations

The Bloomberg administration is now taking the term “food police” to new depths, blocking food donations to all government-run facilities that serve the city’s homeless.

101-Year-Old Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg Seriously Ill

The haredi 'gadol,' infamous for allegedly telling victims of Rabbi Yehuda Kolko 25 years ago that they were forbidden to cooperate with police or talk to the media because, in the Torah's view, no child sex abuse took place because Kolko did not penetrate his victims, is gravely ill in a Jerusalem hospital with a septic infection.

Another Case Of Metzitzah B'Peh Herpes Infection?

NYC's Department of Health is investigating another Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 infection of a newborn, and a source in the medical community says the infection was given to the baby by a mohel who sucked the baby's penis after cutting off the baby's foreskin.

Republican Candidate For NY State Senate Minimizes Pedophilia, Rape

Chaim Deutsch, the president and founder of Flatbush Shomrim, objects to the candidacy of defense attorney David Storobin, who is running against Lew Fidler in a special election for a New York State Senate seat, because Storobin represents accused pedophiles and rapists, and because of this…

Exclusive: Prayers For Arsonist Shaul Spitzer

New Sqaure arsonist Shaul Spitzer pleaded guilty to the arson that almost killed New Square dissident Aron Rottenberg and family. Even so, Skvere hasidim are coming together – again – to pray for Spitzer, who is due to be sentenced early next month. This prayer gathering is being held in the lunchroom of New Square's girls school. Skvere has not held repeated prayer gatherings to pray for the recovery of Aron Rottenberg, who was seriously burned over more than half his body by Spitzer. But they have done so for Spitzer, in hopes of getting him a light sentence.

Exclusive: Chabad Mag Gives Readers The Finger

Geulah, a weekly Chabad magazine focusing on the messiah and redemption, flips the bird at its readers – twice.

Exclusive: Haredim And Geography

Lew Fidler is running for New York State Senate in a special election March 20th. Fidler's haredi supporters placed a Yiddish ad in a weekly Borogh Park shopper publication called The Weekly Link with a photoshopped yarmulke on Fidler's head and Fidler's picture hovering above…

Spinka Gabbai Sent To Jail For Refusing To Testify Against Fellow Jewish Crooks

Rabbi Moshe Zigelman, a 64-year-old Spinka hasid, was ordered to report to a federal detention center in Brooklyn after he again refused to testify against Jews who conspired with him to defraud the government. Until he chooses to testify, he will remain behind bars up to a maximum of 18 months, according to federal prosecutors.

The True Cost Of Neonatal Herpes Simplex Infection

Untreated neonatal herpes simplex virus is associated with a 40 percent survival rate, and even with the early initiation of high-dose intravenous acyclovir therapy, it can result in “considerable disability among survivors.” The neonatal herpes virus can spread to the brain and central nervous system causing encephalitis and meningitis and leading to mental retardation, cerebral palsy. Herpes can also spread to internal organs, such as the liver and lungs.

Former Agriprocessors Manager Appeals Extradition Order

Hosam Amara fled to Israel with the help of Sholom Rubashkin shortly after the May 12, 2008 immigration raid on Agriprocessors that resulted in 389 arrests of undocumented workers. He was indicted on harboring aliens for profit, aggravated identity theft charges, and related conspiracy and abetting charges along with being implicated in other crimes. In December of last year, an Israeli court ordered his extradition to the US. But Amara is still free in Israel, appealing his extradition order to Israel's highest court.

Inside The Lev Tahor Haredi Cult

The book was published by the community in Canada and thousands of copies have been distributed throughout the haredi world. Some are sent by mail but mainly they are passed from hand to hand, under the table, in synagogues and yeshivas. Most of the Hasidim who have joined the community in recent years came to it after reading the book.

Video: More Babies Infected With Herpes Through Haredi Penis Sucking Ritual

Two babies were infected with Herpes Simplex 1 in Rockland County in 2009 through metzitzah b'peh.

Two More Babies Get Herpes From Haredi Circumcision Penis Sucking Ritual

Two Jewish infants in New Jersey were recently infected with Herpes Simplex Virus 1 from their ritual circumcisers’ use of the same oral suctioning technique that caused the death of an infant in New York in September.

Man Dies From Apparent Alcohol Poisoning After Chabad Purim Party

A non-Jewish relapsed alcoholic who was drinking heavily at a Chabad Purim party was found dead in the parking lot of the Chabad center in Ormond Beach, Florida. A member escorted the drunk man out of the center and left him on the grass near the parking lot to sleep it off. But the man apparently died of alcohol poisoning overnight.

Haifa Hasid Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison For Serially Raping, Sodomizing 5 Of His Daughters

The 55-year-old Haifa resident serially raped his daughters for almost 14 years beginning when the oldest was 8, preying on them whenever his wife was a niddah or otherwise sexually unavailable. This unnamed hasid was himself sexually assaulted as a child.

Crooks And Schnooks

A new weekly Jewish crime and misbehavior column.

Rabbi Matisyahu Solomon Gravely Ill

The mashgiach ruchanai of Lakewood yeshiva was rushed to the hospital in very serious condition. His condition deteriorated from there, until doctors were able to locate what appears to be the source of internal bleeding and are apparently in the process of controlling it.

VIDEO: The Chabad Rabbi And The Prostitute

A Chabad shaliach in the Former Soviet Union has a pornographic liaison with a prostitute caught on videotape.

VIDEO: Neturei Karta Tells Al Jazeera Zionism Has Created "Rivers Of Blood"

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss blames Zionism for, well, pretty much everything and allows himself and his organization to be used to justify Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon.

Haredim To Open Gender Segregated Market In Jerusalem

"It is our intention to establish a market that would be similar to Machne Yehuda and would include only strictly kosher (mehadrin) stalls. There will be no interaction between men and women, a complete separation of the sexes."

Tens Of Thousands At Vizhnitzer Rebbe's Funeral

Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the admor (rabbinic leader ) of Vizhnitz and head of Agudath Israel's Council of Torah Sages, was laid to rest in Bnei Brak after 40 years at the sect's helm. He died Tuesday night at the age of 95 after a lengthy battle with various illnesses.

Federal Judge Nominee Questioned About Agriprocessors Raid

Stephanie Rose said Wednesday she was the deputy chief of the criminal division with the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the time of the raid. She said that title may be misleading because she was overseeing the “guns and drugs” cases. Her role in Postville was limited and she wasn’t in charge of the operation. She spent two weeks in Waterloo when the prosecutions took place. She acted as a liaison between the court, defense attorneys, probation, the clerk’s office and others. Most of her time was spent on the phone coordinating, she said.

Report: DA Investigating Mohel In Baby Death Probe

Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer remains prohibited by a 2007 court order from performing the oral-suction ritual and was sent a letter this morning stating that, a New York state Department of Health spokesman said. Fischer uses his mouth to suction blood from the wound after he removes the foreskin. The centuries-old ritual, called metzitzah b’peh, is used predominantly by hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Kletzky Killer Back In Court

Levi Aron appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday via web cam from Bellvue Hospital for routine pre-trial motions and to schedule a new trial date. Last summer, Aron admitted killing and dismembering 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky but later changed his plea to not guilty. His attorneys are expected to try an insanity defense.

Christians Sue Over Jerusalem Synagogue Tax Exemption

Five foundations representing Christian communities in Israel have petitioned the High Court of Justice to implement equal treatment under law for all religious houses of worship in the country. Currently, in Jerusalem all non-Jewish religious prayer halls are exempt from property tax, but other non-Jewish religious facilities like classrooms, offices and event halls are fully taxed. But. synagogues’ entire properties – including spaces used for strictly  commercial purposes – are fully tax exempt.

Rabbis Force Restaurant To Sideline Female Servers

A venerable haredi-owned Jerusalem restaurant with a diverse clientelle made up of many non-haredi customers will restrict the working hours of female servers in order to keep its haredi-issued kashrut certificate. According to its owner, zealots "jealous of the place's success" pressured the kashrut supervisors of Badat"z Agudat Israel to ban waitresses from working on Thursday nights when many haredi yeshiva students traditionally eat out.

India Expells Chabad Over Alleged Attempt To Hide Conversion Efforts

A Chabad rabbi and his wife who was serving the tiny ancient Jewish community in Cochin, India, were expelled to Israel on Tuesday for allegedly engaging in illegal activities. Indian authorities accused Rabbi Zalman Bernstein of failing to declare on his visa application that he would be conducting religious activities and of trying to convert foreigners.

Baruch Dayan Haemet: The Vizhnitzer Rebbe

One of the haredi community's most veteran leaders passed away overnight Tuesday in Bnei Brak. Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the head of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty and president of Agudath Israel's Council of Torah Sages, passed away. He was 95 years old. His funeral will be held today.

BREAKING! Infected Mohel Still Sucks

Mohel linked to metzitzah b’peh death and brain damage is still sucking newborn babies’ penises during circumcisions, despite a state ban against him.

Celebrities Unite Against African Refugees Deportation

400 writers, artists, doctors and academics have signed a petition Tuesday demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent the impending deportation of 700 refugees from South Sudan.

Arrest Made In Latest New Square Arson

A 22-year-old New Square man surrendered this morning to face charges of setting fire to a car owned by Aron Rottenberg, the village resident set on fire last year by another young employee of the Skvere Rebbe.

Chabad Girls Write To Rubashkin

A Chabad girls school in Crown Heights had their grade 1, 2 and 3 students write to Sholom Rubashkin, who is serving a 27 year sentence in federal prison for financial fraud related to Agriprocessors, his family's glatt kosher slaughterhouse. The girls got special candy as a reward for writing their letters. The project was promoted by Chabad's official women's group, Neshei u'Bnos Chabad.

Druckman 'Apologizes' For Not Reporting Child Sex Abuse

Rabbi Haim Druckman did not report allegations that Netiv Meir's rosh yeshiva, Ze'ev Kopolovich, was sexually abusing students. Now, Druckman is about to get the Israel Prize for his achievements in education and conversion to Judaism of thousands of immigrants from the FSU, and former Nativ Meir students are incensed. Last night, Druckman 'apologized.'

Brooklyn Purim Effigies Upset Non-Jewish Neighbors

"Hanging lifelike forms in effigy carries with it meaning for many people that these Haredis probably didn't even think of. An African-American may see lynchings and Jim Crow. Latin Americans might see civil war and torture. A Haredi sees eleven dead anti-Semites, and can't understand why anyone is upset."

Haredi Rabbis Force Restaurant To Sideline Female Servers

A haredi kosher supervision agency forces a restaurant to sideline all its waitresses due to modesty concerns.