FailedMessiah.com

Modern Orthodox Billionaire Looted His Mining Company, Federal Jury Finds

Modern Orthodox mining billionaire Ira Rennert looted his bankrupt magnesium mining corporation as it teetered on the brink of insolvency in the late 1990s and will have to repay at least $118.2 million in damages and what could be hundreds of millions of additional dollars in interest.

Mikvah Voyeur Rabbi Barry Freundel Resigns From University – But Will Still Be Paid Thousands, Despite Guilty Pleas

Mikvah Peeping Tevya Rabbi Barry Freundel has resigned from his part-time teaching post at Towson University in Maryland but will still be paid through March, despite pleading guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism for secretly video recording naked women as they prepared to immerse in the National Capital Mikvah (ritual bath) he controlled.

Israel Medical Association Billboard Banned In Jerusalem Because Of Haredi Objections To Photo – Of Elderly Woman

The Deal Tov billboard company refused to publish the billboards, which included a photo of an elderly women, reportedly telling the IMA that the Jerusalem Municipality bans the publication of women's pictures on billboards and posters in “a haredi area" – in this case, an area full of government offices located less than a mile from the Knesset.

Satmar Hasidic Village Of Kiryas Joel Launches PR Ad Campaign Touting – Sustainability

The Satmar hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel, New York has launched a public relations advertising campaign that touts Kiryas Joel's "respect" and "sustainability" – two things non-Satmar locals overwhelmingly find to be untrue. Instead, from its community poultry plant with horrific EPA violations and KJ's near-complete disrespect for its neighbors, Kiryas Joel has proved itself to be the antithesis of sustainable and respectful, many locals say.

Study: Thinking of God Makes People Bigger Risk-Takers

Reminders of God can make people more likely to seek out and take risks, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings suggest that people are willing to take these risks because they view God as providing security against potential negative outcomes.

Chabad Rabbinical Front Group Launches Extreme Right-Wing Ad Campaign – On Eve Of Israel’s National Election

The Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP), a Chabad-founded right-wing front group, put up hundreds of billboards across Israel with the headline “ceding territory is a danger to life,” urging voters to vote for right-wing political parties.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet: Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles.

Failing UJA-Federation's Major Social Service Agency Hit With Massive NLRB Complaint

The complaint, filed Tuesday with the National Labor Relations Board, alleges that since Jan. 29 FEGS “has failed and refused to collectively bargain in good faith.” It said FEGS has repudiated various sections of the collective bargaining agreement, including those covering severance pay, advance notice of lay-off, vacation payout accrual, tuition reimbursement and flexible spending accounts.

Borough Park Haredi Man Busted For Attempted Luring, Related Charges, In Teen Penis Enlargement Ploy

A haredi man from Borough Park, Brooklyn has been arrested and charged with attempted luring of teenage boys, acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17 and disseminating indecent material to a minor.

An Open Letter To The Victims Of Child Sex Abuse And The Community From Chabad's Yeshivah Centre In Melbourne

What follows is an open letter sent today not long before Shabbat to victims of child sex abuse and to the Chabad Yeshivah Centre community from Yeshivah Centre leadership. The letter is in response to the shocking and awful testimony of many Chabad rabbis before Australia's Royal Commission investigating child sex abuse at Chabad institutions.

Video: In Interview With Ha'aretz, MK Rabbi Dov Lipman Talks About Haredim, About Allowing Reform Rabbis To Conduct Marriages, And About Other Religion-State Issues In Israel

Member of Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman (right) of the centrist Yesh Atid Party tells Ha'aretz how he believes the rift between secular and haredi communities in Israel can be bridged, what his party is doing to encourage haredi men and women to join the workforce, and why he believes the parties representing these people are perpetuating haredi poverty. Lipman, a moderate haredi, also explains his position on the Reform Movement and whether or not it should be incorporated into Israel's state-enforced religious law apparatus.

Banned Audio: Top YU Rabbi Talks About LGBT Jews, Women's Minyans, Female Orthodox Clergy, And Other Related Topics

Yeshiva University's Rabbi Mordechai Willig held a Q & A session at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh in Jerusalem recently, and the audio was allegedly briefly posted on Yeshiva University's Torah website, but was quickly taken down. Willig talks about women's roles in Judaism, same sex couples, transgendered people seeking to be treated as people of their new gender by Orthodox synagogues, evolution (disparagingly) and several other related issues. Willig basically advocates a domestic role for women while acknowledging women can play a greater role in the workforce if so desired, is clearly dismissive of increased ritual roles for women in Orthodoxy, is disparaging of homosexuality (but not so much of actual homosexuals), and says he supports basic secular education for the purpose of getting a job (but not as a pleasurable academic exercise). Listen here.

She's Baaaack!

Want an evil eye removed? Hoping for some medieval lead poring to scope out your future? Jerusalem-based haredi Rebeitzin Aidel Miller is back in New York seeking to do incantations and the like for you – at very modern prices, of course. And she has the blessings from top haredi rabbis to do it.

Does New Video Show Haredi Policy Change On Child Sex Abuse Reporting? Probably Not

Unidentified man 2: A child of 11 years old – a disgusting person sexually abused him. The person [i.e., the alleged victim] wants to know if he can go to the police or not? Kanievsky:  "Presumably yes - he will be saving others! – saving others, yes!"

Will Haredim Scam The New NYC Circumcision Protocol? Here's One Way They Might Do It

Many people familiar with issue of herpes transmission through metzitzah b'peh (MBP, the direct mouth-to-bleeding-penis sucking done by haredi mohels after cutting off a baby's foreskin) believe haredim will scam the new MBP agreement they made with New York City. Here's one way they might do it.

Beit Shemesh Moderates Fight Back Against Extreme Haredi Modesty Rules

The group took out advertisements in the local papers and launched a Facebook campaign in both English and Hebrew, all centering around an image of an ultra-Orthodox woman sitting with her young daughter looking through a magazine. The girl in the ad asks: “Mommy, why did they erase the little girl’s face?”

Jerusalem Christian Seminary Torched In Apparent Racist Hate Crime

The seminary was set on fire and its walls were painted with nationalist and racist graffiti, including the slogans “Jesus is a son of a whore” and “Redemption of Zion.”

Modern Orthodox Billionaire Allegedly Looted Mining Company

Did Modern Orthodox billionaire Ira Rennert loot one of his mining companies? A jury in a Manhattan federal court is poised to answer that question, and that answer could cost Rennert almost $1 billion.

The God Particle, Part 2: Physicists Offer Solution To Origin Of Matter

If a particle and an antiparticle meet, they disappear by emitting two photons or a pair of some other particles. In the “primordial soup” that existed after the Big Bang, there were almost equal amounts of particles of antiparticles, except for a tiny asymmetry: one particle per 10 billion. As the universe cooled, the particles and antiparticles annihilated each other in equal numbers, and only a tiny number of particles remained; this tiny amount is all the stars and planets, and gas in today’s universe, said Kusenko, who is also a senior scientist with the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe.

Mayor Of Kiryas Joel Asks Congresspeople To Boycott Netanyahu Speech, Cites Neturei Karta Website

The mayor of the Satmar hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel, New York wrote US Rep. Carolyn Maloney asking her and her fellow Democrats to boycott the controversial upcoming speech to the US Congress by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In that letter, the mayor cites a Neturei Karta website. Neturei Karta and its offshoots are allies of Iran.

Murdered Satmar Slumlord's Brother Reportedly Caught In Alleged Section 8 Housing Fraud

The brother of murdered Satmar slumlord Menachem "Max" Stark appears to have grown fat off government money meant for those who cannot afford Brooklyn’s skyrocketing rents. Proof of Aron "Al" Stark's alleged fraud surfaced in court while he was trying to illegally evict a low-rent tenant in white-hot Brooklyn Bushwick neighborhood.

Human Rights Watch: Israel Fails African Asylum Seekers

Government statistics just released show that of 3,165 Sudanese asylum applications lodged since 2009, Israel has recognized a grand total of zero. Almost 2,200 of them are still waiting for an answer. Of 2,408 Eritreans who lodged asylum claims, 4 have received positive decisions. Another 1,000 requests have been denied and 1,335 are stuck in limbo awaiting a decision.

The Bamba Snack Effect: New Study Based On Israeli And Jewish Kids Finds Peanut Consumption In Infancy Prevents Peanut Allergy

Researchers led by Gideon Lack, M.D., of King's College London, designed a study called Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP), based on observations that Israeli children have lower rates of peanut allergy compared to Jewish children of similar ancestry residing in the United Kingdom. Unlike children in the UK, Israeli children begin consuming peanut-containing foods [ – i.e., Osem's Bamba snacks and similar products –] early in life. The study tested the hypothesis that the very low rates of peanut allergy in Israeli children were a result of high levels of peanut consumption beginning in infancy.

More Resignations Of Chabad Leaders Over Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Two more top Australian Chabad leaders have resigned due to their roles in the massive child sex abuse scandal that has shaken the Australian Jewish community – and, indeed Australai itself – to its core.

Israeli Haredi Girls School Test Teaches Girls To Serve Their Future Husbands

Explain what the [proper] role of a woman in this world is based on the verse "it is not good for man to be alone, I [God] will create him a helpmate.” Correct answer: To ensure that her husband doesn't lack anything.

Mosque Burned In Another Alleged West Bank Jewish Settler Hate Crime

"At one o'clock we heard screaming from the people of the village and realized the mosque was on fire. More than three hundred people awoke and we managed to put it out. After that we saw the writing, racist writing. This great injustice is clear to the world."

NYC Won't Releasae Names Of Infected Mohels, Even If They've Been Banned By City

Under the new deal with haredim, de Blasio administration officials said it is unlikely New York City would release the name of any mohel who was banned after testing positive for infecting an infant with herpes – meaning Bill de Blasio has opted to further his own political career while endangering haredi children.

Agudath Israel Of America Says Still Must Ask Rabbis Before Reporting Most Cases Of Child Sex Abuse

Top Agudath Israel of America staffers say they don't know if Agudah's top rabbis know about the Australian Chabad child sex abuse scandal and the haredi umbrella organization's policy, which is illegal, remains the same: almost every case of child sex abuse must be cleared by haredi rabbis before police are called.

NYC Made Deal On Dangerous Haredi Circumcision Practice Because Haredim Won't Keep The Law Anyway, City Official Says

The de Blasio administration's rationale for the new policy, which its own health department says could put infants at risk, is that this is the only way it can receive cooperation from the community. In the two-plus years since the health department has required consent forms, it has collected only one, an administration official said. “They won't stop practicing no matter what we say,” the de Blasio official said. “If we ban it, it will go underground.”

De Blasio Ends Informed Consent Requirement For Dangerous Haredi Circumcision Rite

The deal scrapping the metzitzah b'peh (MBP, the direct mouth-to-bleeding penis sucking done by many haredi mohels after cutting off a baby's foreskin) informed consent requirement depends completely on haredim cooperating. There are apparently no penalties at all for haredi rabbis and others who fail to comply. MBP has killed hundreds if not thousands of children, and some of these deaths are actually documented in rabbinic sources.

Trial Of Accused Child Sex Abuser Todros Grynhaus Begins

Todros Grynhaus, 50, who has taught in Jewish schools, is accused of exposing himself to one alleged victim he was ‘obsessed’ with, treating her as a ‘plaything’ and taking her to a hotel where he abused her in a jacuzzi. He is said to have told another ‘vulnerable’ girl ‘you may as well make yourself useful’ as he subjected her to a sex attack. Grynhaus fled bail in Manchester using a false passport and tried to hide in Israel. He was eventually spotted, reported to British police and then deported back to England to stand trial.

Rabbi "General" Fredrik "Fishel" Todd Sentencing Hearing Transcript

The entire sentencing hearing transcript of Rabbi Fredrik "Fishel" Todd, the Lakewood-based US Army "General" (who really wasn't) who provided the US military with Orthodox and haredi chaplains. Todd was involved in the second Eliyahu Weinstein fraud and turned government witness.

Disgraced Chabad Rabbi Yosef "Yossi" Feldman Explains No-Sex Sex Tape

"It bothers me that it seems from some of your responses lately that you now don't believe in keeping Shabbos. I hope you still consciously believe in Hashem and the Torah. It's certainly a service for the community to expose certain truths but I hope that you really care to keep to that and don't get carried away to not let facts get in the way of a good story! Especially as a Jew who hopefully still believes in G-d who certainly despises untruths and also slandering and humiliating someone publicly in this way.…"

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Kisses Hand Of Skvere Rebbe

New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio made a trip last night to New Square, the Skvere hasidic village in Rockland County, about an hour north of the city, to attend the wedding of the Skvere Rebbe David Twersky's son. This is the same New Square where dissident Aron Rottenberg and his family were almost killed by an arsonist who was in the Rebbe's employ, a village where illegal gender segregation is mandated and enforced on public sidewalks, where illegal restricted covenants govern property sales and transfers and where illegal dangerous construction is epidemic.

Alleged Prodfather Rabbi Mendel Epstein Claims To Be Mafia Mediator

In an undercover video played at his federal kidnapping and extortion trial in Trenton, New Jersey Monday, Rabbi Mendel Epstein is seen telling undercover FBI agents that he works as a mediator in disputes with the Mafia.

Haredi-Cofounded Nonprofit Organization That Helped Child Molester’s Family Make Aliya Wins Jerusalem Prize

This year’s Jerusalem Prize for Aliyah and Absorption was awarded to the cofounders of Nefesh B’Nefesh today – despite the fact that Nefesh B’Nefesh helped the family of a child molester who fled justice move to Israel to join him there.

Shamed Before Royal Commission, Senior Chabad Rabbi Resigns From Yet Another Communal Position

Chabad Rabbi Yosef Feldman has stepped down from his role as the interim rav ha-machshir (kosher food supervising authority) for the prominent Sydney-based kosher caterer Amaze in Taste. But Feldman still holds the position as top rabbi of a synagogue, despite his shameful testimony before Australia's Royal Commission investigating child sex abuse at Chabad institutions.

Chabad Child Rapist David Cyprys Charged With Five Counts For Alleged Jailhouse Rape Of Teen

Top Chabad rabbis protected him for almost 30 years as he raped and molested his way though the children in Chabad's care. But Now convicted child rapist Samuel David Cyprys is facing five more criminal charges stemming from his alleged prison rape of an 18-year-old male.

New Charges Against Chabad Pedophile David Cyprys?

Samuel David Cyprys, Melbourne, Australia's most notorious child rapist who is currently serving time in prison of child rape and abuse charges, is due in court next month – perhaps for the alleged rape of an 18-year-old prisoner. Cyprys was protected by Chabad leadership for more than two decades and given free access to Chabad's buildings and its students. He used that to abuse and rape more children.

Dishonest Pro-Shechita British Organization Lies Again

Simon "Shimon" Cohen wouldn't know how to tell the truth if his very life depended on it, and his Shechita UK organization (which also now markets itself as Shechita EU) is the most consistently dishonest Jewish community organization I've seen anywhere. And today's statements from Cohen are no exception.

Report: Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson Uses Detectives Like They're His Personal Errand Boys

Ken Thompson has spent the first 13 months of his term giving sweetheart plea deals to hasidim, dissing anti-child-sex-abuse advocates and victims alike, and overturning the convictions of men his predecessor wrongly convicted. And now it seems Thompson has also turned detectives on the city's payroll into his family's personal errand boys, forcing them to pick up his laundry and take out his family's garbage.

Sefardi Haredi Parties Want To Ban Teaching Of Evolution In Israel's Public Schools

“As an ultra-Orthodox party that believes that our forefathers were Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that our holy matriarchs were Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, we refuse to teach our children that they originated from apes.”

Alleged “Prodfather” Rabbi Mendel Epstein Shown On Tape In Court Offering To Kidnap And Torture Husband For $60,000

In the secret video recordings made by undercover FBI agents, Epstein is seen speaking with two undercover FBI agents posing as a brother and sister. Epstein is reportedly heard saying that it would cost the pair at least $60,000 to get "tough guys" to kidnap the sister’s ‘husband’ and beat a Jewish religious divorce known as a “get” out of him. Epstein speaks of using cattle prods and karate to torture the ‘husband’ until he complies and signs the divorce papers.

OU May Certify Medical Marijuana As Kosher

Rabbi Moshe Elefant, COO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification agency, said he has held “preliminary discussions” with several companies interested in obtaining a kosher seal of approval for medical marijuana.

Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Complains City Plowed Streets On Shabbat

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Aryeh Stern complained that the city plowed streets on Shabbat – even though plowing was necessary (despite claims to the contrary) to allow emergency vehicles to safely pass.

David Cyprys Raped Child At Knife-Point In Chabad School, Victim's Rabbi-Father Says

The brutality of convicted pedophile Samuel David Cyprys on display once again. For the first time ever, Rabbi Laibl Wolf publicly states that Cyprys held a knife to the throat of his son Yaakov while threatening him and sexually assaulting him as a defenseless, innocent child. That assault took place in a classroom at Chabad's Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne, Australia, long after Chabad's top rabbis there knew Cyprys was a child sex abuser. Even so, they allowed him to have free access to children.

Journalist Who Leaked Damning Texts From Chabad Rabbi Reportedly Forced Out Of Job At Australian Jewish Newspaper

The journalist in question took text messages sent by Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant to the AJN's editor Zeddy Lawrence as Waks' father Zephania was testifying and gave them to Manny Waks. The messages attacked Zephania for the damage his testimony was doing to Chabad and called him a "lunatic."

HaTikva Is “Stupid,” Top Sefardi Rabbi Says

Speaking at a Shas campaign rally in Netivot on Sunday, the head of the Sefardi haredi Shas Party’s Council of Torah Sages Rabbi Cohen called Israel’s national anthem Hatikva "a stupid song.” Cohen also reportedly disparaged people who sing it.

The Science Of Teaching: Study Finds Brain Processes That Are Key To Understanding Pupils

How does the brain of a teacher work? New research has identified the parts of the brain involved in computing mistakes in other people's understanding, which is a key process in guiding students' learning.

Terror Attack Foiled By Wedding Gift, Jerusalem Mayor

Jerusalem has a new Caped Crusader, and it isn’t Batman – its secular Mayor Nir Barkat.