FailedMessiah.com

Blog Schedule

The last two special holiday days of Passover tonight at sundown and end for the blog Tuesday night about an hour after sundown Minnesota time. We won't be posting anything until Tuesday evening at the earliest. Chag Samayach!

IDF Publishes Haredi Version Of Soldier’s Magazine; All Women’s Photos Are Removed

For the first time ever, the IDF’s magazine for soldiers, Bamahane, published a full Passover haredi edition. 5,000 haredi soldiers and future haredi soldiers who have enlisted to serve in haredi-only units were sent the special haredi magazine by mail. There were no photos of women in the haredi version of the magazine and the Torah though included is from a prominent haredi rabbi.

Jerusalem Court Issues Unusually Broad Gag Order In Case Of Politically Connected Rabbi Who Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Three Of His Own Daughters

The rabbi arrested is a “well-known” assistant to a “senior rabbi.” The aide allegedly, “assaulted his eldest daughter on all of the most intimate parts of her body, both by hand and orally, got into bed with her naked and got into the shower with her while she was naked when she was between the ages of 12 to 14.” Before performing some of the sexual acts on his daughter, the accused allegedly cited passages of Jewish law he claimed justified his actions, apparently to try to overcome his daughter’s resistance. He reportedly forced himself on her if she refused to comply with his wishes.

Who Killed Satmar Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger?

She gave other details that made Baum feel she was credible, and also revealed that her husband’s two accomplices were “your people” (Baum is Jewish), Jewish “men who wore yarmulkes,” but she gave no names. [emphasii added] Baum tried to persuade Theresa to come forward, but for several years she was afraid, telling him that “snitches wear stitches.”

Israeli Doctors Find 'Delayed Reaction' Herpes Infection Caused By Dangerous Haredi Cicumcision Rite

Israeli doctors have found a herpes (HSV-1) infection in a 2-and-a-half-year-old boy they believe came from metzitzah b'peh (MBP), the direct mouth-to-bloody-penis sucking done by many mohels (and almost all hasidic mohels) just after cutting off the baby's foreskin and ripping off the membrane under it. If correct, these doctors may have found the cause of what many believe to be the noticeably higher number of learning disabled children in hasidic communities.

Video: German Chabad Circumcision Lawsuit

A Chabad emissary in Germany, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, had his son circumcised by an Israeli mohel last week. The mohel did metzitzah b'peh (MBP), the direct mouth-to-bloody-penis sucking done immediately after removing the foreskin. The was videoed with Teichtal's knowledge and posted online by a German newspaper, prompting a lawsuit against Teichtal by a child advocate.

Chabad Rabbi Gives Kosher Supervision To Store Caught Smuggling And Selling Unapproved Meat

“We’re not going into it naïve. These are the precautions that we’re putting into place to allow him to stay in business from now until April 1. What happens after that, we’ll have to see.”

Real Estate Rumor Says Satmar To Get Huge Williamsburg Property From NY State For Pennies On The Dollar

Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration is allegedly set to sell the Williamsburg Armory to Satmar for only $14 million dollars.

Far Rockaway Man Charged With Defrauding Victims Of $50 Million In A Real Estate Ponzi Scheme

FBI agents arrested Gershon Barkany based on a criminal complaint alleging that the Far Rockaway man defrauded investors by promising to use their money in “risk-free” deals to purchase and then immediately re-sell at a profit large real estate properties located in New York City and New Jersey. In fact, the complaint alleges that no such deals existed and the defendant defrauded victims of more than $50 million.

Untying The Knot

Rabbi Joseph di Trani (1538-1639 ), known as the Maharit [considered to be perhaps the leading Talmudist and halakhic scholar of his generation], also ruled to the effect that, "Anyone who knows of a flaw [vis-a-vis] someone's marital eligibility is not permitted to reveal it, but will leave it as if it were kosher." This points to the malicious combination of halakha and bureaucracy that is unique to the modern era [especially in haredi-controlled Israel].

Video: Searching For A Mother Lost In A Haredi Cult

The Lev Tahor hasidic cult headed by Rabbi Shlomo Halbrans is located in a small town near Montreal. Israel's Channel 10 News accompanied Aryeh Leber, an ex-Lev Tahor cult member, as he went back to Lev Tahor to search for his mother. Here is the video.

IDF Rabbi Caught Surfing Porn Sites And Porn Chat Rooms Gets New IDF Job – Head Of The IDF’s Torah And Instruction Division

Five months after being removed from his post after being caught watching online porn, the head rabbi of an IDF division has a new job – head of the IDF’s Torah and Instruction Division.

Coming Out About Child Sexual Abuse

"I was 13 years old, attending sleep-away camp at Camp Dora Golding, an all-boys Orthodox camp that some of you still send your sons to. I was befriended by a 28-year-old member of the rabbinic staff. Over the course of a week he sexually abused me repeatedly. When the activity was exposed, I was summoned to the camp director’s office and forced to confront the assailant. Then I was summarily sent home, as if it were I who had committed the crime. The camp never even told my parents why I was being sent home. They were just advised to pick me up at the Greyhound terminal at New York’s Port Authority."

Republicans Pass Bill To Force NYC To Expand Special School Busing Program That Benefits Haredim Almost Exclusively

“At a time when the city is being forced to do more with less, it is outrageous that the state would create a new unfunded mandate that will benefit a politically powerful special interest group.”

Chabad Continues To Shun Abuse Survivor's Father; Parliament Testimony On Chabad Sex Abuse Released

"I have tried speaking to them directly and through intermediaries, and have been consistently refused a hearing. I have tried going to a Jewish Court, which they also refused. Victims and their families must be protected and encouraged, not further abused: enough is enough!”

Haredi Newspaper Censors Women’s Faces From Iconic Photo Of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

“We honor the memory of the martyrs of the Holocaust, and unlike [you in the secular press] - respect our readers and bring them only what they need and want to see."

The Shame Of CBS

The CBS news magazine 48 Hours will air a 6-part reality TV series on the Brooklyn DA beginning in May. The program won't he hard-hitting investigative news. Instead, it will be reality fluff TV that largely whitewashes the real problems of what could easily turn out to be the most corrupt DA in New York City's recent history. The lead "characters" are the DA Charles Hynes himself and his thuggish and allegedly corrupt lead prosecutor Michael Vecchione.

Prominent Rabbi Arrested For Sexually Abusing Underage Daughters

A prominent rabbi was arrested 10 days ago for allegedly sexually abusing three of his daughters for more than a decade. The rabbi, who has not yet been publicly named, is reportedly being charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and invasion of privacy.

Blog Schedule

Passover starts tonight, and the second day of the holiday ends Wednesday night.

Let All Who Are Hungry Come And Eat…

It wouldn't be right to start Passover without taking a moment to think about those who are like what the Torah says we once were –  slaves. They may be real slaves; for example, many prostitutes who were sold into the sex trade and forced to sell their bodies by pimps who beat and sometimes kill them if they resist. Or they may be slaves whose slavery is no less real, even though it is much less visible.

After More Incidents Of Gender Discrimination Made Public, Jerusalem’s Mayor Promises To Fight Them – Again

Following several incidents of women musicians at the Sounds of the Old City festival in Jerusalem facing discrimination from festival organizers, Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat posted a statement on his Facebook page yesterday pledging to fight against such incidents. He insisted that women's exclusion from Jerusalem's public sphere will not recur. However, the women who were ‘asked’ by festival promoters not to perform say they are not comforted by the mayor’s gesture.

Newsweek's Top 50 Rabbis List Worse Than Last Year

Can a former Forward web editor improve Newsweek/The Daily Beast's list of the Top 50 rabbis in America?

Video: Major LA Kosher Distributor Caught Selling Allegedly Treif Meat

The distributor, Doheny Glatt Kosher Meats, allegedly used Aaron's best labels to repackage non-kosher meat. Rabbinical Council of California (RCC) says meat purchased before 3 pm Sunday is still kosher – even though an investigator videotaped the fraud over the past month.

Haredi Man Asks High Court To End Israel’s Remembrance Day Siren And Minute Of Silence Calling Them A “Classic Characteristic Of A Dictatorship”

A haredi man with a history of anti-Zionist vandalism – including defacing Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial – has petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice to limit the sounding of what has been until now the nationwide siren on Remembrance Day, the national day of warning for Israel's war dead.

Average Haredi Family Will Now Lose At Least $19,000 Per Year In Gov’t Subsidies, Haredi Mag Says

The haredi newspaper Mishpachah reported this today that the new government’s coalition agreement will cost haredi families an average of NIS 6,000 ($1,641) every month in lost government benefits. Mishpachah reportedly estimates that the overall loss to the haredi community will be NIS 2.3 billion ($629,119,000) – the average haredi family will lose NIS 71,000 ($19,421) annually, Mishpacha reportedly claims.

$40 Per Pound Matzoh In Manhattan

It may be the greatest kosher food rip-off on earth. Crown Heights handmade shmurah matzoh is selling at almost a 100% markup in Manhattan.

Twisted Tzaddik: How Breslov's Rabbi Eliezer Berland Justifies His Alleged Rape And Sexual Abuse Of Young Female Followers

"It was this teaching, of restoring the sparks from the lowest realm - even those hidden in the crassest of sins - to the messianic state of Atzilut, that was the main justification of Shabatai Tzvi & his followers to transgress the Law & make permissible various prohibitions, including of the sexual nature - & even incest (by permitting the biblical "arayot"). They called this reinterpretation of the Law to transgress the Law, "The Torah of Atzilut."…[I]t is this same teaching & kabbalistic concept that Berland used to justify his acts."

Deceptive Kiruv From Jerusalem

Jeff Seidel, the find-you-at-the-Western-Wall-invite-you-for-Shabbat-get-you-into-haredi-BT-yeshiva-forever kiruv guy, who also runs missionary outposts he calls student centers at large Israeli universities, has always used non-Orthodox famous people as lures, and has almost always done so without their permission. But his new Passover ad might have reached a new, deceptive, low.

Entering The Breslov World Of "Nobility"

"…He locked me in his room …[and] pointed to the bed.…He kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth. He held me real tight, my whole body, close to his, and he became dreadfully excited and panted. He told me, 'Now you are in the world of nobility,' and licked my face until it was really sticky.…After that he put his hands under my blouse and felt me up brusquely.…I ran to my husband and told him excitedly that the rabbi said I was in the world of nobility. We began to fight, because my husband understood."

Sholom Eichler In Chains

"…After I received confirmation on Thursday morning that Eichler was arrested, the police requested that I be on “standby” for when they would call me. I thought they would ask me to ID Eichler or something, but what came next was very unexpected. I was brought into a fairly small room with three police interrogators, one of them a translator, and was directed to sit in a seat right across from Sholom Eichler where he was sitting with shackles on his feet.…"

Women Musicians Forced Off Stage In Old City By Haredi Threats

It was a violation of the law allegedly repeated often during the Sounds of the Old City music festival in Jerusalem last week. The government-funded festival was meant to showcase musicians, but the festival’s director is accused of forcing women musicians to get off stage, and of trying to block the performances of bands that include women muscians, all to appease haredi activists who threatened to disrupt the festival if it did not give in to their demands.

Video: Israel's First Black Miss Israel Meets President Obama

Miss Israel, Yityish Aynaw, is an immigrant from Ethiopia who served in the Israeli army and idolizes President Obama. The White House asked Israel to invite her to the state dinner it held in honor of President Obama this week. Aynaw tells CNN all about it.

Why Do Children Often Fail To Tell Adults About Their Abuse?

“Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt [Georgie] would ask me why I had never told any one how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established. Also, badly-treated children have a clear notion of what they are likely to get if they betray the secrets of the prison-house before they are clear of it.”

High Court Rules Chief Rabbi, Rabbinic Courts, Knowingly Broke Law In Divorce Case

It was a judicial punch in the nose for Israel’s chief rabbis and rabbinical courts. Yesterday, a seven-judge panel of Israel’s High Court of Justice headed by the Court’s President Asher Grunis hit Israel’s haredi chief rabbis square on the nose – hard.

OU: "The Chassidish and Chareidi World: An Unsustainable Economy And The Onslaught Of Self-Hating Jew-Bloggers

Steven Savitsky is a former president of the Orthodox Union. Yesterday, he interviewed his close friend, Ami Magazine's editor and publisher Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter, who Savitsky says he respects greatly, for his regular OU.org podcast. The title? "The Chassidish and Chareidi World: An Unsustainable Economy and the Onslaught of Self-Hating Jew-Bloggers."

Scandal-Plagued Haredi-Controlled School Board Sues NY State Over Special Ed Yeshiva Placements

The haredi-controlled scandal-plagued East Ramapo school district is reportedly suing the New York State Department of Education. The district's suit claims that the district's controversial practice of assigning haredi and Orthodox students with disabilities to private out-of-district Yiddish-speaking programs at yeshiva schools is kosher – even though in-district public school placements are available.

Cousin Of Haredi MK Arrested For Child Sexual Abuse

Sholom Eichler was arrested about an hour ago in Kfar Chabad for allegedly molesting one of his cousins.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Certifies Kosher For Passover Cigarettes

For the first time ever, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is putting his kosher supervision mark on Passover cigarettes – even though Yosef opposes smoking and urges people who smoke to quit.

Haredim To Obama: Save Us From The Zionists!

In a small demonstration in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Neturei Karta welcomed President Obama yesterday by asking him to, "Save us from the hands of the Zionist subjugators!"

Video: Israel's Fire Service Warns Of Dangerous Illegal Haredi Matzoh Bakeries

"Last year there were at least two serious incidents. They have no permits and fire fighting equipment. Last year a young man's hand was amputated, [when it was] trapped in the machine making holes in the matzohs.” The Fire Service also warns that many of these illegal matzoh bakeries have underage workers who are not properly trained in safety issues, and even little children are allowed in the bakeries near dangerous equipment and wood- or coal-fired ovens ovens that reach extremely high temperatures. Many of these illegal bakeries do not have fire extinguishers or first aid supplies, either.

Child Sex Abuse Victim's Father Files Complaint With Human Rights Commission Over Chabad Intimidation, Harassment And Shunning

"About 2 years ago, a major police investigation started into sexual abuse of children at Yeshivah Centre (YC). I have a son, Manny Waks (MW), who was a victim. We both cooperated fully with the police. A few months later, he went public about these matters, and has become an activist within the Jewish community. He is in very regular contact with the media. The Respondents (and other members of the YC leadership) have a very strong religious view about "mesirah" (informing on a Jew to the secular authorities). I am part of the same religious community, but have a view at the opposite end of the spectrum to theirs. My son MW is longer part of the YC community. The Respondents have been involved in an escalating campaign of "shunning" me during the last 18 months, because of my views and actions, and those of my son who they find it hard to attack except via me."

How Did A Modern Orthodox Rabbi Find Himself On A List Of America's Most Inspiring Rabbis?

“Rabbi Herzfeld is Orthodox, but he opened his shul’s door, heart and mind. He suggested I lead the Kabbalat Shabbat at his shul and say Kaddish for my mother. My children, who aren’t comfortable with Orthodoxy after attending Orthodox public schools during a sabbatical in Jerusalem, stood with me. After the service Rabbi Herzfeld said, ‘I want you to know that I do not believe women should lead worship with men present. But one of us had to be uncomfortable. Why should it be you and not me?’ He can’t repair my broken brain, but Rabbi Herzfeld brought healing to my broken heart.”

Haredi School That Benefited From Millions In Apparently Stolen Special Ed Money Asks Government To Give It Millions More For Internet Access

In addition to themillions of dollars it has received, apparently illegally, through Island Child, Bnos Bais Yaakov has requested almost $1.2 million from the E-rate program for 2013 – the same program that appears to have given haredi schools that eschew the Internet and that forbid their students and students' families from having Internet access, even though the money doled out to these haredi schools was mostly earmarked for Internet access.

How Haredim Ripped Off Israel

Mechir Lamishtaken [special deals for low income Israelis on mortgages] is one blatant illustration of the way Israeli politics has helped the haredim maintain themselves without working. The cheaper mortgage offered by the Housing Ministry…is given only to those who have been married a certain number of years, have a certain number of children and a certain number of aunts and uncles on both parents’ sides. In other words, only people whose families have been large for at least two generations meet the criteria. One can easily guess for which population the benefit is intended.

Man Falsely Convicted For Killing Hasidic Rabbi, DA Says

In the wintry darkness 23 years ago on a back street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a jewelry thief fleeing a botched robbery panicked and shot a Satmar hasidic rabbi in the head. Four days later, the rabbi, Chaskel Werzberger, an Auschwitz survivor, died. A dirty cop worked closely with a Satmer fixer, the now disgraced Leib Glaz, who brought him alleged witnesses and translated for them. An unemployed printer named David Ranta was arrested and convicted on what now clearly looks like false and tumped up testimony. More than 20 years later, the Brooklyn DA now says Ranta is innocent and should be released from prison immediately.

Teaneck Rabbi Charged With Child Sexual Abuse Had Previous Arrest For Pedophilia-Related Charges, Still Taught In Jewish School

It’s getting dirty. An attorney for a 65-year-old Teaneck Orthodox rabbi with a history of molestation charges, Uzi Rivlin, are accusing one of the rabbi’s two teenage accusers of making up charges that his own father molested him.

Edah Haredit Chief Rabbi: Zionists And Their Converts Are "Total Goyyim"

"According to Halacha, they are total goyim and increase public chilul Shabbos in our cities. There are other gezeiros [decrees they have issued against haredim] and they wish to harm the Torah world in its entirety."

Hit And Run Driver Who Killed Hasidic Couple And Their Baby Now Could Face Life In Prison

Julio Acevedo, the driver already charged with leaving the scene of a horrific Brooklyn traffic accident that killed a pregnant hasidic woman and her husband, was charged again today, this time with three counts of second-degree manslaughter – one count for each of the dead parents and one count for the death of their premature child.

Monsey Hasid Who Repeatedly Raped 14-Year-Old Boy Is Sentenced To – Probation

Even though a Monsey hasid refused to take full responsibility for sexually abusing a young teenage boy, a New York State Supreme Court judge sentenced the sex offender to a probation-only sentence. A 59-year-old Moishe Turner told probation officials in Rockland County that the boy backed his buttocks into him, which caused Turner to become sexually excited and the sexual contact to be initiated.

Massive Haredi-Run Special-Ed Fraud Exposed

According to New York State auditors, one of New York City’s largest providers of special education services to preschoolers with disabilities, the haredi-owned Island Child Development Center in Far Rockaway, Queens, illegally diverted millions of dollars in taxpayer financing to a haredi girls’ school, haredi summer camps, and to a haredi kosher supermarket that is owned by the group’s officers and board members.