FailedMessiah.com

Haredi Leader Rushed To Hospital After Collapsing

99-year-old Ashkenazi haredi leader Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Steinman passed out early Thursday morning in his home and was rushed to a hospital.

Murdered Satmar Slumlord’s Wife, Business Partner Subpoenaed In Apparent Embezzlement Scheme, Partner Intends To Plead The 5th And Not Answer Questions, Court Records Show

Court records reportedly say that Menachem "Max" Stark's business partner Israel "Sam" Perlmutter intends to plead the Fifth and refuse to answer any questions posed by the trustee and his attorneys about the bank accounts and the missing money.

Yeshiva University Has The Worst Credit Rating Of Any Major University, Ranks As "Junk"

The university failed to produce an on-time financial report for the year ended June 30, 2013, releasing a draft estimating a deficit of $146 million that it later said would probably be larger. On Jan. 9, Moody’s lowered the rating by five steps to B1, making Yeshiva the only university with an endowment of more than $1 billion that it ranks as junk. Yeshiva’s mark in 2008 was Aa2, the third-highest grade.…

Uruguay Rabbis Mandate Pre-Nup Agreement For All Marriages

The Rabbinate of Uruguay has instituted the requirement for all Jewish couples that marry under its auspices to sign a Rabbinic Pre-nuptial Agreement. The agreement states that in the case of the couple divorcing civilly, the husband is obligated to immediately deliver to his wife a Jewish divorce contract, also known as a "get", as per Jewish law.

Haredi Rabbi Says Haredim Don’t Serve In The IDF Due To The “Immorality” And “Abominations” Found There

“If they [i.e., the IDF] provide me with kosher food on my level, make certain I will not be exposed to pritzut [immorality and immodestly dressed women, etc.] and to’eva [abominations, specifically homosexuality], and I will not be required to listen to foul language, and they permit me to keep Shabbat as required, and make certain that I will not be compelled to hear the words of heretics against Our Father in Heaven, and I am permitted to observe the mitzvot [Divine commandments] as I am required, then I too will enlist!”

Second Modern Orthodox School Will Allow Female Students To Wear Tefillin

Now that the Modern Orthodox SAR High School in Riverdale, New York is now allowing female students to wear tefillin (phylacteries) in its female-only prayer group, Rabbi Haskell Lookstein, the head of the Modern Orthodox Ramaz school in Manhattan, reportedly says he will do the same – if any of his female students ask him.

New Research Disputes Claim Of Ancient "Chromosomal Adam"

A new paper published in the European Journal of Human Genetics (EJHG) claims to prove that a previous paper authored by Michael F. Hammer and number of other geneticists is false because Hammer and his coauthors essentially cooked the books to show that the "Y chromosomal Adam" is extremely ancient and about twice as old as previously thought, and that this ancient “Adam” had intercourse with human “species.”

Rabbi Who Advocates Beating Innocent Children To Train Them To "Accept Torture Out Of Love" Teaches In Skvere Hasidic School

Rabbi Mendel Lowen has taught in Talmud Torah Skvere in London, England for more than 20 years.

Israel’s Defense Minister Comes Out Against Haredi Draft, Says Do Not Coerce Haredim To Serve

“I support the position that enabling Haredi youths to serve is important, but not by way of incitement, not by delegitimization, and not by force. To enable and not to coerce, this is the correct way that has proven itself [effective]. This is the correct way that will bring increased integration, integration that is important to the ultra-Orthodox sector, to Israeli society, and to the state.”

Haredi Rabbis Advocate Beating Children So They Learn To Accept Torture With Love

Rabbi Mendel Lowen published a booklet in London in 2011 on the proper way for haredim to educate their children. The booklet has approbations from leading haredi rabbis – including London's head haredi rabbi, Ephraim Padwa – even though it advocates for beating children at home and in school even when they have done nothing wrong. The beatings should be done, Lowen says, to make them humble, to instill fear and so children "should learn to accept torture out of love."

NYC Settles Discrimination Lawsuit Against Hasidic Stores

New York City City claims victory as the Satmar stores' attorney and Satmar representatives say the settlement proves they were always in compliance with the law.

Zionist Orthodox Mizrahi Movement Launches Effort To Get Satmar Hasidim To Immigrate To Israel

The Zionist Orthodox World Mizrahi Movement has reportedly launched a Yiddish language campaign to convince haredim in the diaspora – primarily from extreme hasidic groups like Satmar –  to immigrate to Israel.

Kabbalist’s Murderer Gets Life In Prison

Rabbi Asher dahan gets life in prison for murding the kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, who allegedly fleeced him out of thousands of dollars in a fake blessings scheme.

Vizhnitzer Rebbe Bans Haredi News Hotlines

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe Rabbi Yisroel Hager has banned haredi news hotlines because they corrupt hasidim. The ban is reportedly soon to be adopted by other hasidic courts in Israel.

Court Date For Alleged Chabad Pedophile Set For Tomorrow

The committal hearing for Aaron "Ezzy" Kestecher, a former Chabad youth group leader in Melbourne, Australia, is set for tomorrow.

Former Haredi Mayor Loses Appeal In Suit Against Haredi Bloggers

 post has been edited after feb 3 2016

after the purchase of FM by diversified holdings   

The Day The Vatican Went Kosher

Last week, an Orthodox rabbi reportedly entered a kitchen at the Vatican and koshered it. When the scrubbing and purging was finished, that rabbi, Jaakov Spizzichino, supervised the preparation of a four-course meal catered by Ba'Ghetto, a top kosher restaurant in Rome. That meal was served by Pope Francis to a group of visiting Argentinean rabbis. Here is what the rabbis – and the Pope – ate.

In US First, Modern Orthodox High School Allows Girls To Wear Tefillin

A Modern Orthodox high school in Riverdale, New York is now reportedly allowing two female students to put on tefillin (phylacteries) during an all-female morning prayer group. This is apparently the first such decision made in the US.

Video: Near Riot In Haredi Boro Park Over Car Impound Attempt

New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission enforcement agents have reportedly been ticketing cars in Borough Park they believe are operating as illegal unlicensed car services. Yesterday, TLC agents apparently tried to impound a car there, sparking a near-riot by haredim, at least one of whom loudly compared TLC agents to Nazis. NYPD officers alleged forced TLC enforcement agents to leave the car.

Thompson Appoints New Prosecutor To Review Case Against Sam Kellner

Kellner was a child sex abuse whistleblower in the Brooklyn hasidic community when he was suddenly charged with extortion by former District Attorney Charles J. Hynes based on evidence that has since proved to be false or tainted, causing many legal observers to believe that Kellner was set up by the family of accused pedophile Baruch Lebovits in conjunction with senior prosecutors in Hynes’ office.

Ukraine May Charge Jews $100 Each To Visit Grave Of Rabbi Nachman Of Breslov

Breslov hasidim are reportedly in an uproar after a new bill was proposed in the Ukrainian parliament yesterday that if passed would see visitors to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman charged $100 each for a day's entrance to the tomb.

Chief Rabbinate Still Won't Say Who Smeared Rabbi Avi Weiss

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld and Rabbi Avi Weiss' attorney met with Israel Chief Rabbinate officials in Jerusalem on January 12, at the behest of Weiss. “The chief rabbi’s office told us that an official of the RCA raised the concerns about Rabbi Weiss with one of their officers. I asked them the source, they said ‘if we tell you the source we won’t be able to get information from them anymore.’"

Locals Protest Proposed Kiryas Joel Land Acquisition

The Satmar hasidic village of Kiryas Joel wants to acquire 500 acres of land from the adjoining town of Monroe, New York, and that reportedly brought dozens of protesters opposed to the possible acquisition to a rally held in Monroe this afternoon afternoon.

In Israel, Calling An Ambulance To Save Your Life May Cost You Money

If a person needs to be taken to a hospital emergency room to be treated or evaluated, Israel’s various health insurers won’t pay for the ambulance ride to the hospital if the patient is not admitted to the hospital by emergency room doctors.

Cabinet Agrees To Back Bill That Would See Israel Have Only One Chief Rabbi

The new law also provides clear wall of separation between the Chief Rabbinate and the state rabbinical courts, which would for the first time be constituted as an independent judicial institution out of the chief rabbi's direct control.

Skvere Rebbe Allegedly Covered Up Latest Case Of New Square Child Sex Abuse, Allowed Alleged Molester To Continue To Teach In Square Schools

“My mother, my brother and I told him [Twersky] what was happening to me. He let him [Taubenfeld] walk free.…The community protected him."

AG, Top Cops, To Meet With Embattled Kabbalist’s Lawyers Over Police Bribery And Embezzlement Affair

Sefardi haredi kabbalist Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto hopes his claims of bribing a top Israel Police officer will keep him out of prison over other charges of embezzelment, attempted bribery of another police officer, money laundering and, just perhaps, bribery of other public officials.

Scandal-Plagued Haredi-Controlled School Board Loses Lawsuit Against State

A New York State Supreme Court judge has upheld a New York State Department of Education finding that the scandal-plagued haredi-controlled East Ramapo school district’s practice of placing haredi students with disabilities in yeshivas when public school placements were open and available broke state law.

Drug Smuggler Kingpin’s Aufruf Cancelled

A billion-dollar drug smuggler was supposed to have his pre-wedding Torah honor and celebration at the Young Israel of Staten Island today. But after news of the aufruf was made public, members of the Orthodox synagogue’s board and members of its congregation objected and the celebration was cancelled – although by whom and under what circumstances is still unclear.

Kabbalah Centre Leader Accused Of Sexual Assault

Yehuda Berg, who is the co-director of the L.A.branch of the  Kabbalah Centre and a son of the centre’s late founder Rabbi Philip Berg, allegedly sexually assaulted Jena Scaccetti in October 2012 in his mother Karen Berg’s apartment. Berg allegedly invited Scaccetti to dinner claiming he would be able to help heal her kidney stones.

Shomrim Shooter Sentenced To 12 Years, Lashes Out At Judge

“I’ve been railroaded. There's no justice in this court. What is the penalty for a hate crime? These people were beating me. Nobody cares about my rights. I'll see you in federal court.”

Alleged Haredi Pedophile Arrested

Moshe Menachem Taubenfeld, a brother of convicted New Square pedophile Hershel Taubenfeld, has allegedly been arrested on charges of sexual abuse.

Let Women Take Smicha Tests, Israeli Law School Tells Chief Rabbinate

Sha’arei Mishpat College, a private law school ilocated n Hod Hasharon, has reportedly asked Israel’s haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate to allow its female students of halakhic (Orthodox Jewish) law to sit for the Chief Rabbinate’s smicha (rabbinic ordination) tests – tests that are only given to men.

Video: Protest Against Crown Heights "Slumlord"

A protest was held in Borough Park yesterday against an alleged Crown Heights slumlord and his attorneys. The landlord has allegedly failed to maintain his buildings and has failed to provide required services (presumably heat and hot water) to his tenants in an alleged attempt to drive them out of the properties and flip the buildings for redevelopment and gentrification.

Minivan Owner’s Son Suspect In Murder Of Menachem “Max” Stark

Despite tens of millions of dollars in defaulted loans and million dollar alleged scams, police reportedly believe a $20,000 bad debt to a local contractor may have been the motive for Satmar slumlord Menachem "Max" Stark's kidnapping and murder.

Video: De Blasio Says He Wants To Change Informed Consent Circumcision Requirement In Consultation With Haredim

New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, says he wants to change the city's informed consent requirement for Jewish ritual circumcisions involving metzitzah b'peh (MBP), the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis suction done by haredi mohels immediately after removing the baby’s foreskin and the membrane beneath it.

Haredi Rabbi Who Wants To Give Drug Smuggler Torah Honor Allegedly Banned Orphans Who Talked In Shul From Receiving Them

You can smuggle a billion dollars worth of pot and launder the proceeds and still get Torah honors and other perks at Young Israel of Staten Island. But if you talk in shul, you can't.

New NYC Commissioner Of Health Says Circumcision Informed Consent Requirement Will Remain In Place

New York City’s newly appointed Commissioner of Health Dr. Mary Travis Bassett said today that the city’s informed consent requirement for metzitzah b’peh (MBP – the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis suction done by haredi mohels immediately after removing the baby’s foreskin and the membrane beneath it) will remain in place.

Canadian Court Blocked Release Of Information On Haredi Cult Due To Fears of Mass Suicide

Nachman Helbrans, the son of Lev Tahor’s leader, Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, sought out the ex-member because of his mastery of the English language and asked him to prepare a defense to claims Lev Tahor was a cult. He obliged, mainly because he had fallen out of favor for having tried to leave the community with his pregnant teenage wife. As punishment, the couple had been forcibly separated for two weeks, his wife had been pressured to divorce him and Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans had diagnosed him with borderline personality disorder. “I looked up the definition of a cult,” the ex-member told the court. “Based on various checklists I told Nachman Helbrans that we are a cult.”

All “Bombshell” Evidence Allegedly Showing Kabbalist’s Innocence Apparently Came From Kabbalist Himself

It turns out that those “bombshell” Israeli media reports yesterday about crooked cops and pressure from an Israeli cabinet minister on Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto meant to stop Pinto from helping the FBI nab US Congressman Michael Grimm on campaign fraud charges were all exclusively (or almost exclusively) sourced from the same place – Pinto’s attorneys. In other words, all that information is apparently allegations made by Pinto and swallowed nearly whole by the Israeli media.

Billion Dollar Drug Smuggler’s Aufruf May Be Off

"The synagogue is very not sure exactly what to do in this situation, and therefore the synagogue doesn't know exactly how to pursue it, and it's a very big question. The backlash that I get…is should the synagogue have this public ceremony for him? The board of the synagogue, which is elected every year by the members, is trying to figure out what is the right thing to do. There's no right, there is no wrong. It's very confusing because the whole family is here. Do we punish the whole family?"

Israeli Government, Police Allegedly Tampered With Key Witness Against US Congressman, Infuriating FBI

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto is one of Israel's 10 richest rabbis with a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars. He splits his time between Manhattan and Israel and 'counsels' the rich and famous both in the US and Israel. But he is also allegedly a crook who embezzled money from his own charity, bribed at least two top Israeli police officials, and helped a US Congressman violate campaign finance laws. And within these swirling, constantly evolving allegations lies a new accusation – that a sitting Israeli cabinet minister and Israel Police tampered with a witness in the investigation into that congressman's alleged crimes.

Video: Haredi Slumlords Allegedly Trash Own Building To Illegally Force Out Rent-Stabilized Tenants

A pair of haredi slumlords, Joel and Aaron Israel, are allegedly illegally destroying one of their own buildings – 300 Nassau Avenue in the now gentrifying neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn – in order to force rent-stabilized tenants to leave.

Head Of Israel’s “FBI” Allegedly Took Bribes From Kabbalist Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto

The department in Israel’s Ministry of Justice that investigates alleged police misconduct is reportedly investigating the head of Israel’s version of the FBI on suspicion he took bribes from Sefardi ‘kabbalist’ Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto and from wealthy businessmen who are Pinto’s disciples.

Israeli Government Minister Allegedly Involved In Scandal Surrounding Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, US Congressman

The FBI has allegedly received information showing that an Israeli government minister is involved in the complex criminal scandal swirling around a prominent Israeli haredi rabbi and a Republican US Congressman.

Van Used In Satmar Slumlord Kidnapping Found

Police have found the Dodge Caravan minivan allegedly used in the kidnapping and murder of Satmar slumlord Menachem “Max” Stark.

Haredi Charity To Posthumously Honor Murdered Satmar Slumlord

Only two days before his kidnapping and murder, Stark reportedly told his wife that that he was transferring the title of dinner honoree to her – a sign of modesty and of respect for his wife, according to haredi media, but just as likely an attempt to conceal the fact that he was making lavish donations to Satmar and other haredi charities with money he legally owed banks, contractors, businesses and other lenders.

Chief Rabbinate Backs Down, Accepts Rabbi Avi Weiss

In the wake of sharp criticism from both inside and outside of Israel, Israel’s haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate has now said it will accept Jewish status letters written by Modern Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss. However, the Chief Rabbinate still has not released the names of the American rabbis who smeared him.

Mosque Set On Fire In West Bank Price Tag Attack

Jewish settler youth apparently set a mosque in the West Bank Arab village of Dir Aistia on fire today in another so-called “price tag” attack, Israeli media reported. No one was injured in the attack and the fire was contained to the mosque’s front door, which had the words "Arabs out!" spray painted on it.

More Than $1 Million Missing From Murdered Satmar Developer’s Bank Account

It turns out the suspicions German American Capital Corporation had about murdered Satmar slumlord Menachem “Max” Stark and his partner Israel “Sam” Perlmutter were based on more than intuition or simple fear. Almost $1.2 million in allegedly unauthorized withdrawals were made from the corporate bank account of South Side House LLC used to hold the rent money from a building Stark and Perlmutter had defaulted on in 2009 – and some of those unauthorized withdrawals may have been made after Stark was dead.