FailedMessiah.com

Video: Hurricane Mugging In Crown Heights

A ba’al teshuva yeshiva student in Crown Heights was brutally beaten and robbed by a gang of assailants as he raced home before the worst of Hurricane Sandy hit. The attack and robbery which took place at Albany Ave. and President St. at 6:47 p.m. Monday was captured on security camera footage. A gang member tripped 21-year-old recent recent Princeton University grad Jeremy Furchtgott, and others pummeled him from behind, striking him in the head and body before stealing his wallet that contained $40 in cash, and his iPhone.

London Haredi Sex And Rape Scandal, Continued

The Times of Israel has posted a long article on the alleged London haredi rape and sex abuse scandal.

Video: Haredi Rabbi Blames Hurricane Sandy On Gay Marriage

A haredi rabbi, Rabbi Noson Leiter - who claims to be representing what he was told by other, more senior haredi rabbis – has blamed the devastation of Hurricane Sandy on gay marriage and homosexuality – and he did so on tape yesterday while millions of Americans were suffering without power, heat, water and food.

Haredi Ponzi Schemer Convicted

A 43-year-old haredi man from Bnei Brak has reportedly been convicted in a Tel Aviv court of running a Ponzi scheme that stole more than 5 million shekels from fellow haredim.

Most Tasteless Exploitation Of Hurricane Sandy

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School Bus Rage: Racist Attack On Ethiopian Bus Guard In Northern Israel

A parent in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Bialik allegedly assaulted an Ethiopian school bus guard yesterday, breaking her nose.

Haredi Yeshiva Student Allegedly Spits On Female Soldier And Her Mother

A female IDF soldier and her mother were allegedly spat on by a haredi yeshiva student in Jerusalem as the two women were sitting inside their car on Bar Ilan Street. The haredi man approached and allegedly shouted, "Good women, good women!,” and then spat on the two women.

Greatest Number Of Haredim Ever Dodge Military Service

“The non-drafting of yeshiva students became a breaking of the law en masse. The Defense Ministry did order draft notices to be sent to a great many yeshiva students, but none were actually drafted.…[the IDF has repeatedly warned that] "if the yeshiva students are not drafted there will not be enough soldiers. The numbers show that in terms of equally bearing the burden the situation is not static and every postponement of a solution to the problem makes it worse."

Jail All African Refugees, Haredi Interior Minister Says

"They've painted us as if, heaven forbid, [we were creating] refugee camps," Interior Minister Eli Yishai complained yesterday. "The facilities are almost finished and now I'm in a battle with the human rights organizations and the [state’s] prosecution. I don't agree that it's impossible to return [people] to Eritrea and northern Sudan, and if I did accept this there would be hundreds of thousands more.…"

An Agriprocessors Judge Writes About Harsh Federal Sentencing Guidelines

Judge Mark Bennett was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and was the chief judge of the Northern Iowa circuit before Judge Linda Reade, a Republican appointee who sentenced Rubashkin. Bennett was one of the federal judges who sentenced the undocumented workers arrested in the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant raid in May 2008. He has new opinion piece in the Nation about an aspect of the Northern Iowa circuit where Rubashkin was tried and convicted and the federal sentencing guidelines.

Divorce, Israeli Style: Haredi Divorce Case Turns Into War Between Religious Lifestyles

When a couple with three children recently divorced in an Israeli state rabbinical court at the wife’s request, everything appeared to be amicable and going as well as any divorce could go. But the outward appearance of calm was only a ruse.

Weberman Rape Case

As the Nechemya Weberman rape case is about to begin, the New York Daily News has published a recap of the alleged witness intimidation and other bad behavior by hasidim backing Weberman against his alleged victim, who is now 18-years-old and who was allegedly raped repeatedly by Weberman beginning when she was 12 and ending when she was 15.

Notorious Haredi Yellow Sheet Blogger Rumored Critically Stabbed Calls IDF Radio To Say He's Fine

Chaim Shaulson, a haredi tabloid newspaper publisher turned yellow sheet blogger was rumored to have been stabbed multiple times and left near death, called Army radio to announce that despite the rumors of his imminent demise, he's fine. Shaulson, the bane of hasidic courts worldwide, originally hails from a Chabad family. Over the years he has claimed several attempts were made on his life by various hasidic sects, primarily by Satmar.

Accused Haredi Fraudster Caught Violating House Arrest

A haredi businessman charged with tax fraud, money laundering and accepting bribes was nabbed by Israeli police who found him eating at a Tel Aviv restaurant in violation of the terms of his house arrest.

Prominent Canadian-Israeli Businessman Busted For Money Laundering, Flight From Prosecution

Nathan Jacobson was arrested for money laundering in the US and cooperated with federal investigators for years afterward. But he failed to show up in the US  for sentencing this summer and was arrested late last week in Toronto, as a result.

Secular Jews Want Secular And Cultural Outlets For Their Judaism That The Jewish Community Still Refuses To Provide

A poll of 1,000 American Jews reveals that one in six are trying to find a way to express themselves Jewishly outside of affiliation with a synagogue or religious programing.

CORRECTION: More Americans DON'T Think Obama Is Jewish Than Think He’s Muslim, New Survey Finds

An AP survey has found that many Americans – more than who believe the president is Muslim – believe Barack Hussein Obama is Jewish.

Long Island Kosher Disaster Shelter

West Hempstead High School was designated as a kosher disaster evacuation shelter — the first of its kind in Nassau County – in January 2011 by the Red Cross.

Synagogue Gabbai Who Repeatedly Raped A 14-Year-Old Developmentally Disabled Boy Gets Light Sentence – Even Though He Fled The Country To Avoid Prosecution

In another example of Israel's ethically challenged legal system, a synagogue gabbai who fled prosecution for the repeated rapes of a developmentally disabled child gets a short prison sentence on his return to Israel.

Crown Heights: A 'Love' Story Complete With Coerced Abortions

The son of a powerful Crown Heights man is an alleged drug dealer who has impregnated two young Chabad women out of wedlock in past few months. How this situation has been handled by Chabad rabbis will shock you.

NYC Hurricane Sandy Update: Mandatory NYC Evacuations; Subways, Trains, and Buses To Stop Running Tonight

Mayor Bloomberg has just announced a mandatory evacuation of low-lying areas in Zone A, including areas within Lower Manhattan. Parts of the Lower East Side, West Side and Battery Park City are part of the evacuation zone – check if your home falls within Zone A, and the location of your nearest emergency shelter using this tool. Subway, bus, and railroad service will be suspended as of 7pm tonight, including Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad. Public schools will be closed Monday.  All elevators in the 26 NYCHA housing complexes within Zone A will be shut down beginning at 7pm tonight. City parks, beaches and playgrounds are closed beginning at 5pm today. Senior Centers will be closing early on Monday and will be closed on Tuesday.

Israeli Anti-Abortion Group Linked To Suicide Pact Tragedy

Efrat activists allegedly so traumatized a young girl about to have an abortion that she called off the procedure. Instead, just a few days later, now emotionally unstable, she and her boyfriend tried to commit suicide. To stop it, police had to shoot and kill him as she stood next to him.

President Obama, Shabbos Goy

“I saw the president on many occasions on Friday afternoons look at his watch, and ask: ‘Isn’t it time for you to get going?’” Lew said, “or, ‘Why are you still here?’ The president was not checking the clock “because he doesn’t think I can keep time,” Lew said. Rather, the extra care on this issue reflects the President’s wish “to remind me that it’s important to him, not just to me, that I be able to make that balance.”

Chabad's Sydney Yeshiva Closed, Government Funds Misused

The yeshiva run by Chabad's Feldman family in Sydney, Australia is closed due to a lack of teachers and funds, and an independent audit had shown that government funds appear to have been misused or embezzled by the Feldmans.

Block The Driveway And We'll Vandalize Your Car And Beat You Up

"Please Do Not Block The Driveway [repeated in Spanish]" And then in Yiddish the sign continues, "If you block the driveway we will puncture your tires and afterwards we'll kill you [i.e., beat you up badly]"

Jewish Pols With Haredi Ties Attack Bloomberg Over Penis Sucking Ritual

“I think it’s fair to say that nobody else would take [on metzitzah b’peh]. I mean, come on! Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office, screaming?”

Chief Rabbis Declare War On (Some) Kosher Restaurants

"There is no desire to force businesses to have a kashrut certificate as long as they don't present themselves as kosher in writing. Publication in a newspaper, a flyer or on the web without a rabbinate certificate is against the law. In such cases the severest possible action will be taken against the offenders."

Chabad Man On Trial For Child Sex Abuse, Rape, Sexual Assault

A haredi man, Menachem Mendel Levy, 40, is on trial in London on eight counts of child sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault of a young woman. Three of those charges are for indecent assault against the woman when she was a minor.

Psychiatrist Illegally Helped 5,000 Haredim Dodge The Draft, Police Say

The psychiatrist, who lives in the Beit HaKerem neighborhood, allegedly sold haredim official medical opinions stating that they were not mentally fit to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. This allowed these haredim to receive a psychiatric discharge.

Chabad Fails To Heed Beit Din Ruling, Leaves Fired Teacher Without Means Survive

Chabad's Melbourne, Australia Yeshivah Centre fired a teacher, failed to give him the proper severance pay, and disregarded a Chabad beit din's injunction against them. These are the same Chabad rabbis who have failed to fully cooperate with police investigating the dozens of child sexual abuse cases at the the Yeshivah Centre and who have done nothing to help alleged victims or the victims they know were abused there.

Kashruth Council of Canada Tries To Cheat Employees Out Of Government Ordered Settlement Money

The Kashruth Council of Canada, perhaps more familiar to kosher consumers as the COR seal, was ordered by the Canadian equivalent of the US National Labor Relations Board to pay its mashgichim and certain other employees for all the overtime it failed to pay them, for forcing them to work on holidays but not paying them holiday pay, and for multiple other labor violations. In response, the Kashruth Council of Canada is pressuring those employees to sign over their cash awards to the Kashruth Council of Canada.

Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu Parties To Run On Unified Secular Right Wing Ticket

Nearly six months after shocking the political system by forming a unity government with Kadima, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown another curve ball by joining forces with Avigdor Lieberman ahead of the upcoming elections. In a special press conference held Thursday evening, the two men announced they were uniting the Likud and the even harder right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party under one ticket.

Haredi Magazine Compares Resisting Smartphone Use To Surviving The Holocaust

A graphic in the haredi Yiddish language magazine Shtralen, which is distributed in haredi communities in New York, compares stopping smartphone use to other tests haredim have had to overcome: closing businesses on Shabbat and the Holocaust.

Circumcision Lawsuit Unites Haredi Groups

"The intention of the mayor is to stop metzitzah b'peh in any way he can. Parents are deciding not to go with a mohel [for the bris] because parents think 'mohels kill babies,'" he said. "Painful myths have arisen from these regulations, that we don't care about our children in order to protect our customs. It goes without saying that we care about each of our children."

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg On Metzitzah B'Peh

"I think it's fair to say that nobody else would take that on. I mean, come on! Forget about the fact that -- "They do what!?" -- Who wants to have 10,000 guys in black hats outside your office screaming?"

Jerusalem's Secular Jews Organize, Fight Back

After years of setbacks, Jerusalem's secular population has begun to push back against what many believe are heavy-handed tactics by the city's haredi residents to impose their religious mores on the general population. A growing number of restaurants now open on Saturday, an array of cultural events have sprouted up, and for the first time in years, a longtime exodus of secular residents for nearby suburbs appears to have halted.

In Response To Wave Of Criticism, Rabbi Tries To Walk Back Ruling That Women Should Not Hold Public Office Or Vote

“For sure, the Torah ideal is that women should not be involved in politics, but clearly, if there will be women in the Knesset anyway, then certainly one should vote for those women that will bring the most blessing to the nation.”

Sheldon Adelson's Long And Malignant Reach

Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose millions of dollars in unchecked donations to conservative Republicans has so poisoned and damaged America's electoral process, is also extending his grubby fingers to Israel, where he's doing what the Chinese do so well to American workers – underselling his product  so the locals can't afford to stay in business.

Women Should Not Run For Public Office Or Vote, Leading Rabbi Says

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, the head of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in Jerusalem, told his students this week that a woman should not run for Knesset, Israel’s parliament, or for any other public elective office – including as a board member of a synagogue.

Video: The Rabbi's Daughter

Rabbis daughters, no longer Orthodox.

Haredi Girl Who Joined Burka Cult Forbidden By Court From Leaving Israel

A source familiar with the case says the girl’s family suspects that cult members are trying to smuggle the girl outside Israel to an area near Montreal, Canada, where she could hide inside the Lev Tahor haredi cult.

Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Comes Out Against Sperm Donation To Older Single Women

Donating sperm to a single woman is immoral, even though the halakhic problems related to donating sperm are “resolvable,” because the child “will be miserable” only having a mother.

Haredi Political Party Reportedly On Edge Of Split

The Ashkenazi haredi political party Untied Torah Judaism (UTJ) may be about to break apart.

Bowing To An Imaginary (And Dead) Rebbe

Chabad followers present (the empty chair of) the Lubavitcher Rebbe, dead for more than 18 years, with notes asking for prayers for family members and for themselves, and bow to the imaginary rebbe sitting in that empty chair in the main synagogue of Chabad world headquarters in Brooklyn.

Haredi News Site Reports Former First Lady's Speech But Only Posts Husband's Picture

The haredi news website Matzav dot com reports that former first lady Laura Bush is the keynote speaker at a fundraising dinner of a Detroit haredi school system. The problem? She's the keynote speaker, her husband isn't on the agenda, but the photo used to illustrate the story is of former President George W. Bush – not his wife. This is apparently another example of haredi gender censorship.

Delivery Van Jumps Curb In New Square, Critically Injures Young School Girls

A delivery van jumped a curb in New Square late this afternoon a 5 Bush Lane and struck five children, some of whom were critically injured.

Charges Against Ehud Halevy Dismissed

Brooklyn's DA Charles Hynes has just issued a terse statement dismissing the charges against the Crown Heights man who resisted arrest while inebriated.

Question All Gets In America, Israeli Haredi Rabbi Says

"America is degenerating to a state where anyone who marries a divorcee will need to clarify first which beis din gave her the Get and whether the husband willingly gave it.…[there are] Orthodox battei din that are known as hareidim and yet they conduct themselves contrary to halacha due to our many sins. And even by silently acquiescing to this violation of halacha they are perpetuating it – chas v’shalom!"

Bukharian Chief Rabbi Ousted Over Theft, Fraud, Bribery Allegations

For 25 years, Itzhak Yehoshua has been the spiritual face of Bukharian Jewry, fêted by politicians and foreign dignitaries as the Bukharian chief rabbi. Yehoshua continues to receive greetings and awards from elected officials. But among Bukharians today, in their diaspora capital of Queens in New York City, he is better known as an embarrassment — a great man felled by allegations of lax conversion and kashrut standards, bribery and forgery, and of making false claims in the name of Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel.

Former Mossad Head Says Romney Wrong On Iran

“Obama does think there is still room for negotiations,. It’s a very courageous thing to say in this atmosphere. In the end, this is what I think: Making foreign policy on Iran a serious issue in the US elections — what Romney has done, in itself — is a heavy blow to the ultimate interests of the United States and Israel.”