FailedMessiah.com

When A Child Sexual Abuse Investigation Goes Wrong

This is how bad police work helped create a panic – and how the lessons from that panic apply to the child sexual abuse panic in Nachlaot, Jerusalem.

Special "Blessed" Coin Will Protect You – For A Price

A haredi nonprofit tries to raise money by asking Jews to enter a raffle to possibly win a special "blessed" coin.

Parents Ask State To Remove Haredi Members Of East Ramapo School Board, Bar Them From Future Office

After years of what most non-haredi residents see as abuse and looting of the school system by haredim, a nonprofit New York law firm is petitioning to have haredi school board members removed from office and barred from holding future public office.

Chabad Center Given "Stay Of Execution" By Court

An incredulous judge shocked by bizarre claims made by Chabad in Sydney, Australia has extended the time Chabad has to pay off a massive debt until mid-August.

Concubines Are Kosher, Rabbi Rules

The chief judge of Jerusalem’s state rabbinical court ruled that men can take a pelegish, concubine, in certain specific circumstances.

Accused Hasidic Child Rapist Wants Alleged Victim's Sex Tape Introduced As Evidence

A 17-year-old alleged rape victim is out for "revenge," Rabbi Nechemya Weberman claims. He aslo wants a "sex tape" made of the girl and her boyfriend to be broadcast in court.

Netanyahu Is A Dishonest Man Who Deceives Israelis And Sells Out To Haredim, Plesner Says

MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) – the head of the committee charged with setting the parameters of a new law to draft haredim that was abruptly disbanded by Prime Minister Netanyahu (Likud)just as it was about to release its findings – says that Netanyahu is a dishonest person who intentionally deceived Israelis and his coalition partners, and who chose haredim over the national interest.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet: Rabbi Elyashiv

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leader of Ashkenazi haredim for much of the past decade, has passed away at age 102.

Hasidic Rebbe Allegedly Caught Cavorting With Much Younger Naked Woman

The rebbe was discovered when a visiting hasid climbed up to the rebbe’s window to peer in. He was shocked to see his rebbe – who was supposed to be like an angel and extremely close to God – cavorting with a much younger naked woman who is not his wife.

A Holy Beggar Dies, Again

Howard Frank died under suspicious circumstances in June. Now the NYPD’s bungled investigation is killing him again.

Haredim Drain Welfare Benefits Away From The Truly Poor

Israel’s poor receive far less welfare than the poor of other first world countries and suffer because of it.

IDF Stages Urban Warfare Drill – In Mea Shearim

An elite Israel Defense Forces unit reportedly held a urban warfare drill in the haredi Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim today, shocking residents.

Williamsburg Grocery Store Dress Code

A grocery store on Lee Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York has a strict dress code to prevent shoppers dressed for this summer's extreme heat from entering.

Video: Springsteen And McCartney London Jam Session Abruptly Shut Down By Time Police – A Jerusalem Story Retold

Bruce Springsteen finished his concert in London's Hyde Park Saturday night with a surprise jam session with former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. But before the jam session could finish, London authorities shut off the sound, allegedly because the concert had run over its allotted time as specified in a city permit. 25 years ago, a similar event took place in a Jerusalem park, and Jerusalem city officials did exactly the same thing to…

Photos: Huge Haredi Anti-Draft Protest

There is a huge (and so far peaceful) haredi anti-draft protest taking place right now in the Mea Shearim and Geulah neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Here's a photo snapped by a passerby a few minutes ago…

Leading Zionist Orthodox Rabbis Attack State “Corrupt” Orthodox Bible Curriculum As Secular And Non-Jewish “Lies”

“The approach to Torah studies requires a clear awareness of the fact that you are not studying 'biblical stories' or a history book, rather these are events we are brought up on to implement in our lives on this earth. The intended curriculum has no emphasis on this purpose and worse – there are trends and approaches that do not comply with the sages' views; through distortion and inappropriate interpretation of the Torah with corrupt viewpoints at their base.”

Indicted Pedophile Reportedly Welcomed At Gerrer Synagogue

David Cyprys, who is indicted for the rape and child sexual abuse of 12 former students of Chabad's Yeshiva College in Melbourne, is allegedly welcomed by Gerrer hasidim – the same sect that protected indicted child rapist Avrohom Mondrowitz.

Petition Asks Secretary of State Clinton To Intercede On Behalf Of 4 Children Allegedly Kidnapped With The Help Of Chabad

A new petition asks U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to order the State Department to work “with the Russian Foreign Minister” to get four Italian Jewish children who were kidnapped by their non-custodial mother in Florence and taken to St. Petersburg, Russia “out of Russia and safely back home with their dad and the rest of their family who love and care for them.”

Exclusive: The Chabad Chief Rabbi And The Prostitute?

A recording is purportedly made of Rabbi Berel Lazar, Chabad's 'chief rabbi' of Russia, having phone sex with a prostitute. Is it really him? Lazar tells me it isn't. But there's more to the story.

Chabadniks Plead Guilty In Mortgage Fraud, Face Up To 30 Years In Prison

Menachem Yosef Levitin and Jeffrey Weisman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud.

Video: The Black Jews Of Nigeria

Are the Igbo people of Nigeria decended from Jews? Do they need to convert to Judaism to be accepted as Jews? 40,000 currently identify as Jews, and there are about 26 synagogues in Nigeria. But there are 25 million Igbo in total. What would happen if all 25 million Igbo wanted to convert?

Video: Pursued

An unsettling relationship unfolds when a man confronts the person who sexually abused him when he was a student at a haredi yeshiva.

Haredi Spokesman Threatens “Chaos,” Violence, Sedition, Haredi Exodus From Israel If Haredi Yeshiva Students Are Drafted

If you draft us, we will destroy the country. That is the essence of what a senior haredi spokesman wrote in yesterday’s edition of the Shas Party’s daily newspaper Yom Leyom.

Ami Magazine Endorses Violence, Condemns…Bloggers

The editors of the haredi publication Ami Magazine, who called bloggers Nazis in a previous issue and have published much similarly extreme rhetoric, have now written and published an editorial endorsing vigilante violence and condemning bloggers. And there's no mistaking who Ami's editors would like you to physically attack.

Israel's Richest Haredi Rabbis "Savvy Businessmen"

Actually, most of these rabbis are thieves and charlatans with criminal and civil fraud investigations swirling around them like mosquitoes on a naked Norwegian in an Amazon jungle in the summer. But why quibble over facts…

Alleged Chabad Pedophile Turns Down Plea Deal, Will Stand Trial

"[I]nstead of easing the pain and suffering of the victims, their families and our community, and helping himself by getting a reduced sentence, [David] Cyprys has preferred to challenge the strong cases against him (41 charges by 12 victims). Apparently he has also withstood pressure from his own defence team to accept a plea bargain…"

Pedophile Tells Victim “I Love You” In Open Court, Shows No Remorse, Gets Slap On Wrist From Judge

Justice Martin Murphy issues a baffling sentence that calls his competency as a member of the judiciary into question.

Prosecute Haredi Website Execs For Extortion, Police Say

Israel Police say they now have enough evidence to prosecute the director-general of the Behadrei Haredim news website, his deputy, and three other employees for extortion, and have turned their findings over to prosecutors.

Pregnant Woman, Husband Injured In Anti-African Jerusalem Arson

A pregnant woman and her husband were injured early this morning after a fire was set at the entrance to their Jerusalem apartment. Both husband and wife are African refugees from Eritrea.

10-Year-Old Modern Orthodox Girl Is Weighlifting Champion

A 10-year-old Modern Orthodox girl from New Jersey is a powerlifing champion who can deadlift twice her body weight.

Former RCA Head Forced Out At Shul

"Although no vote was scheduled for last night's Board meeting, a member of the Board offered a motion to end all contract discussions with Rabbi Kletenik.  This motion was not on the agenda nor was I advised in advance that it was to be offered.  After a long and acrimonious debate where Robert's Rules of Order was debated as much as the merits of the motion,  this motion was approved.  Rabbi Kletenik's current contract with BCMH will end June 30, 2013."

The Gerrer Rebbe, Leader Of Hasidic Jews In Israel And Protector Of Notorious Child Rapist Avrohom Mondrowitz, Hospitalized After Surgery

Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, his uncle and his father all allegedly used their immense political power to protect indicted child rapist Avrohom Mondrowitz and block his extradition to the United States. Mondrowitz fled Brooklyn a quarter century ago, hours before he was to be arrested for allegedly raping young boys. He is thought to have at least 100 victims in Brooklyn alone.

Exclusive: Medical Examiner, Police Refuse To Exhume Beggar's Body

The Kings County (Brooklyn) New York Medical Examiner and the NYPD have refused to exhume the body of Howard Frank – a moderately mentally ill homeless beggar with a million-dollar-plus photo collection – and do an autopsy, telling Frank's brother that because there were no signs of physical violence on the body, NY law forbids them from doing it – even though more than a dozen people who knew Frank were told by him during the last 24 hours of his life that he was going to be murdered.

Haredi Man Gets 2 1/2 Years In Prison For Human Organ Trafficking

Levy Izhak Rosenbaum showed no immediate reaction to the sentence Wednesday in Trenton federal court.

The New York Times Revisits Postville – And Destroys History In The Process

Most remarkable about this bad piece of reporting and editing are the transparent attempts to shield the names of certain activists or companies, apparently in order to mask the fact that the information the Times is now reporting was reported first – usually by me but also by the Forward and the JTA – in 2008, 2009 and early 2010.

PM’s New Committee On The Haredi Draft Reportedly In Turmoil After PM Allegedly Reneges On Agreements

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new committee, just formed by the prime minister to craft a replacement for the Tal Law which unconstitutionally exempted haredim from the draft, appears to be falling apart after Netanyahu reportedly reneges on agreements he made regarding it.

Israeli Bus Company Forced To Pay Damages For Gender Segregation

Superbus discriminated against a high school student and her friends in Beit Shemesh, and now must pay for it, an Israeli court has reportedly ruled.

Video: Haredim Demonstrate Against Draft

In the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, a small haredi demonstration against the draft includes the burning of large plastic trash dumpsters – much to the irritation of other haredim who, while they most likely oppose the draft, also dislike breathing highly toxic burning plastic.

Hasidic Rebbe Decries "Malicious Plans" Of The Secular Government To "Stick [Its] Paws" In Yeshivas And Draft Haredim

"…[W]e have recently begun to hear about malicious plans of regime leaders here in our Holy Land, to stick their paws in the sacred halls of the yeshivas, with vain claims about equal burden and responsibility, in order to enlist the yeshiva students for military service…"

Haredim To Handcuff 2,000 Little Children In Draft Protest

The same people who dressed their children in Holocaust death camp uniforms and yellow star patches will now handcuff them together in a bizarre protest against drafting haredim.

Breaking With Hasidism: How The Internet Helped A Hasidic Woman Think – And Flee

"In my Hasidic community, people knew me as the young newlywed, mother of one, daughter of so-and-so, and married to such-and-such, with a scarf over my head and an apartment in the new development. But on the Internet, I was anonymous. I was anyone. I was everyone. I was a mystery, and I was hidden. I was whoever I wanted to be, and I could say whatever I wanted to say without fear.…"

Rubashkin Lead Attorney Talks About Bid To US Supreme Court For A New Trial

"…the 8th circuit has basically held that new information that suggests that the judge should have never sat on the case is essentially irrelevant and won’t get considered, unless the defendant can also show that information demonstrates that they are likely to be acquitted on the merits. And the problem with that is that really, one doesn’t have to do with the other."

Haredi Pol Says Drafting Haredim Borders On “Antisemitism”

"I miss Olmert," Gafni said on during a Knesset plenary session today. "If Israel had a prime minister, he would have put his foot down and opposed this coercion. But Israel doesn't have a prime minister."

Haredim Say Israel’s Money Proves They Should Be Exempt From Army Service

In their continued attempt to evade the draft, haredim in Israel are trumpeting a “discovery” they say endorses their view that haredi Torah study is at least important as army service and therefore should replace army service for haredim – the Israeli NIS 200 bill, which bears a quote from former Israeli president Zalman Shazar.

New Facebook App To Detect Unfriendly Friends, Pedophiles And Criminals

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) undergraduate students have developed a new privacy solution for Facebook. The Social Privacy Protector (SPP) can help parents adjust their children's profiles in one click, prevent criminals from garnering valuable personal information and keep teens safe from pedophiles.

Netanyahu Reportedly Tries To Scam The Haredi Draft Process

Regarded by many as one of Israel’s most disingenuous prime minsters, Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly tries to create a law that would allow haredim to dodge the draft for 7 to 8 more years – at which point, haredim will be able to politically block the law's implementation.

Scamming Satmar Rabbi Gets Caught – Again

Rabbi Leib Glanz tries to scam a federal judge and is successful – until a newspaper uncovers the rabbi's little lie.

Exclusive: Police Say $1 Million Beggar’s Death Suicide, Despite Conflicting Evidence And Lack Of An Autopsy

Police tell Howard Frank's brother that the investigation into his brother's suspicious death is now being closed, and that Howard Frank's death is being ruled a suicide – even though Frank told people in the hours before he died that he was "a dead man" and that people were going to kill him.

Don't "Bash" Haredi Yeshiva Students Or Force Them To "Waste" Time Serving In The Army

"Tens of thousands of young Israelis, aged 18, get out of their beds early, every morning, on their commanders’ orders. At times they must wake up after only few hours of sleep and report to roll call within seconds.…Indeed, I’m referring to IDF soldiers, but not only to them. Try to dive for a moment into the world of a yeshiva student: He is young and is surrounded by a cultural world replete with temptations. He gives up television, movies, sex and entertainment, and instead voluntarily enters a boarding school where his whole world revolves around the Torah."

Ethiopian Jew Allegedly Beaten And Electric Shocked By Israeli Cop Who Told Him To Go Back To Africa

An Ethiopian Jew claims he was pepper sprayed and electric shocked by a cop in the Israeli city of Haifa who told him to “go back to Africa.”