FailedMessiah.com

Chabad Messianists Lose Fight To Retain Control Over Most Of Rebbe's Books

Chabad messianists lost a their battle against Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky and his Merkos Chabad to retain control over the the sichot (printed talks) of the late Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson when a federal judge dismissed most of their claims. However their claim for control over the late rebbe's Haggadah commentary will proceed to trial.

21 New COs Issued For Controversial Satmar Hasidic Development In Bloomingburg, NY

Twenty-one new certificates of occupancy were issued today for Modern Orthodox developer Shalom Lamm’s controversial high-density Chestnut Ridge housing development in Bloomingburg, New York.

Massive Jewish Social Services Agency’s Execs Got Fat Payouts As Bankruptcy Loomed

One month before one of the largest Jewish charities in the country admitted to donors that it had lost $20 million, the agency’s executive vice president got a $92,000 bonus. Not long after, Gail Magaliff, the group’s former CEO, got nearly $43,000 for unused vacation time.

In Child Sex Abuse Blowback, Australia May Force Rabbis And Other Clergy To Be Licensed, Those Who Don't Comply Would Lose Tax Exempt Status

Rabbis and other clergy would be forced to undergo government-specified training in Australian law, child sexual abuse, family violence, women’s rights, and children’s rights. They would also be forced to annually renew a “license” to practice which would require meeting ongoing educational training requirements. A complaint process would also be set up for complaints – including complaints of child sex abuse – to be filed against clergy.

FBI Allegedly Destroys Evidence Of Massive Kiryas Joel Welfare Fraud

The FBI allegedly destroyed the evidence because the investigation that uncovered it was conducted by a county employee – Nicole Latreille, a medicaid fraud investigator – who did not have authorization to conduct the investigation.

Jerusalem Diary: One ‘Impure’ Smartphone Dampens Hasidic Rebbe’s Sukkah Celebration

The rebbe’s assistants began shouting at the hasid to stop photographing and take the smartphone (which is ‘impure’) out of the sukkah (which is ‘pure’ and ‘holy’). At issue was not the photo-taking itself as much as it was the ‘impure’ instrument used to take the photos. But the hasid did not listen and in response the rebbe’s assistants grabbed his smartphone and erased the photos he took.

The Section Of The Torah Many Haredi Rabbis Ignore

For hasidic rebbes and haredi gedolim, the idea that homosexuality is an "abomination" that must be staunchly opposed is axiomatic, so much so that haredi rabbis and publications never refer to homosexuality by name and instead only refer to it as "the abomination." But the Torah also calls other things an "abomination" and these haredi leaders don't really actively fight those – and, in some cases, openly benefit from them. What section of the Torah is it that these top haredi rabbis ignore?

2 Zionist Orthodox IDF Frontline Soldiers Refuse Direct Order To Drink Water On Yom Kippur

Two Zionist Orthodox soldiers in the IDF’s Givati Brigade disobeyed a direct order to drink water on Yom Kippur and were subsequently punished.

Picture Of The Day: Unusual Haredi Sukkah

This unusual sukkah in the über haredi Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim is almost certainly illegal. But police and city inspectors almost never go into Mea Shearim. The city treats the neighborhood much the way the old NYPD used to treat some of the rougher neighborhoods of Manhattan, like those depicted in Gangs of New York, and therefore almost anything goes there –  no matter how dangerous – as long as local haredi rabbis allow it.

Sefardi Chief Rabbi Of Jerusalem Calls Homosexuality An “Abomination” That Must Be Fought

"It's not natural, not normal. The Torah called it an abomination and we certainly need to find more considered ways of fighting it.…I believe that this phenomenon will wane and disappear, because most of the public is disgusted by it and detest it."

Israel's Chief Rabbinate Rejects Conversion Done By Chabad Rabbi Under RCA Auspices

The haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate of Israel rejected a conversion done under the auspices of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) by a Chabad shaliach, Rabbi Moshe Feller of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Chag Samayach!

The first two days of Sukkot begin at sundown.

Poll Asked Americans: Would You Have Hidden Jews During The Holocaust?

1,000 Americans were asked the following question: "Think back to World War II when Jews in Europe were forced into concentration camps and many were killed by the Nazis. If you were living in this time period, would you have risked the possible imprisonment and death of yourself and your family to hide Jews?" But what's surprising about the results isn't the answers – it's how a haredi news website reported them.

Are There Illegal Haredi Currency Systems That Are Used To Defraud The Government?

Various haredi and hasidic yeshivas in Rockland County, New York allegedly have set up their own currency systems and 'banks' so teachers and other employees can receive much of their salary off the books.

Cops Do About Face, Now Say They Might Criminally Investigate Haredi School's Board

Members of the board of the Adass Israel haredi girls school in Melbourne helped Malka Leifer, the school's then-principal, flee to Israel after child sex abuse allegations against her were made. Leifer allegedly sexually abused and raped a at least eight young teenage girls from the school before she fled to Israel.

Video: How Mystics, Kabbalists, And Even Many Hasidic Rebbes Can Often Fool You – And Even Fool Themselves

The Maggid of Mezeritch used a trick to deceive followers very much like the one Peter Popoff was caught using, except the Maggid did by having spies work the crowd who had gathered in Mezeritch to hear him. But if you watch this video you'll quickly learn that some of these charlatans also fool themselves. 

Is This The Most Dangerous Sukkah In The World?

Is this sukkah outside an apartment building, apparently in Israel, the most dangerous sukkah in the world?

The Chofetz Chaim Then And Now

A bit of historical revisionism is now on sale and ready to be hung in your sukkah.

Is Extra Funding From The Government For Gender-Segregated Classes Illegal?

Israel’s Ministry of Education told the High Court of Justice last week that it will gradually reduce extra funding now given to official state Zionist Orthodox elementary schools to help defer the cost of gender-segregated classes. But that gradual reduction comes only because the government is restructuring how it funds all schools, not because the government admits the extra funding for gender-segregation is illegal and discriminatory.

Negative Spiritual Beliefs Associated with More Pain and Worse Physical, Mental Health

“In general, the more religious or spiritual you are, the healthier you are, which makes sense [because of reduced stress levels and greater sense of community and purpose]. But for some individuals, even if they have even the smallest degree of negative spirituality – basically, when individuals believe they’re ill because they’ve done something wrong and God is punishing them – their health is worse.”

MO Synagogue That Fired Woman For Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy Claims It Didn't Do It

"…Congregation Shearith Israel categorically denies Ms. Shultz's allegations of discrimination or of doing anything wrong. In addition, Congregation Shearith Israel did not terminate her employment. She continues to remain employed in the exact same title, receiving the exact same compensation and benefits that she had been receiving all along. Her claim of loss is fabricated and inaccurate.…"

Lakewood Haredi Rabbi Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud

Rabbi Allen Pollak pleaded guilty to participation in the massive fraud committed by haredi über-scammer Eliyahu Weinstein.

Did School District Employee Illegally Favor Haredim At The Expense Of Non-Jewish Children?

The Lakewood, New Jersey school district’s state-appointed monitor has filed tenure charges against the district's supervisor of pupil personnel services for a host of allegedly “illegal and/or highly improper” acts which include  overstepping her authority to place children with special needs in haredi yeshivas at an extremely high cost to the district while dumping non-Jewish minority special needs children in the district's public schools.

NYC Hid Haredi Baby’s Metzitzah B'Peh Herpes Infection From Public In Run-Up To Regulation Change

The city was notified of the infection in April but hushed it up until after it, at the urging of Mayor Bill de Blasio and health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett, voted to end its weak informed consent requirement for MBP and move to an even less restrictive protocol based almost entirely on voluntary cooperation from haredim – cooperation that does not appear to be forthcoming.

Jerusalem Rabbi Busted For Alleged Child Rape And Abuse

Rabbi Moshe Avraham Steinharter was arrested by Modiin Police after a 19-year-old former student filed a criminal complaint alleging Steinharter sexually assaulted and sodomized him over a period of years beginning when the young man was 14. The complaint also alleges Steinharter sexually abused other students, as well.

Wanted “Sex Fiend” Breslov Hasidic Leader Allegedly Resurfaces – In South Africa

Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the 77-year-old head of the Breslov hasidic Shuvu Banim sect who fled Israel more than two years ago after female followers – including one minor – claimed Berland sexually abused them, has allegedly resurfaced. But will he ever be sent back to Israel to face justice?

Video: Inside The Haredi "Taliban" Burka Cult

A Ynet reporter, Ariella Sternbach (right), got inside the haredi women's burka cult and was able to film some of the members at home an din prayer groups. Here's the video.

How Do Haredim View Work?

Increasingly, haredim, especially in Israel, are becoming ever more distanced from work, to a point that holding a job in the modern day workforce is openly frowned on, as this haredi cartoon flyer seems meant to show.

Haredi School Inspectors Apparently Sacked After Biased Inspections Of Haredi Schools Exposed

Haredi inspectors have been accused by education advocates of covering up deficiencies in haredi yeshivas, and when non-haredi inspectors have inspected some of those yeshivas they found significant deficiencies the haredi inspectors failed to report.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem Promises Jerusalem Chief Rabbi It Will Not Try To Convert Jews At Sukkot Event

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) has promised Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Aryeh Stern there will be no missionary activity at the Feast of Tabernacles celebration sponsored by the group. Even so, haredim want the event stopped.

Haredim Who Helped Accused Serial Pedophile Flee Justice Will Not Be Criminally Investigated, Cops Say

Australian Police will not investigate members of the Adass Israel girls school's board over their roles in helping accused serial child sex abuser Malka Leifer flee to Israel to avoid ­police investigators, despite the fact that their actions were likely criminal in intent.

Schools In Haredi-Controlled District With Leaking Roofs And Mold Found "Safe" For Students And Staff By NY State

Carl T. Thurnau, PE, the Director of Facilities for the New York State Education Department, recently inspected schools in the scandal-plagued haredi-controlled East Ramapo school district and found them safe – despite leaking roofs, mold and other issues.

Genetic Analysis Supports Prediction That Spontaneous Rare Gene Mutations Cause Half Of All Autism Cases

A new study appears to show devastating “ultra-rare” gene mutations play a causal role in roughly half of all cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

2 Israeli Rabbis Arrested For Alleged Child Sex Abuse

Two Israeli rabbis have been arrested for separate cases of alleged child molestation involving multiple victims at different religious institutions.

New Haredi Anti-Technology Al Cheit Prayer

This new "al chiet" ("for the sin") prayer was distributed as a leaflet in some haredi synagogues in Monsey during Yom Kippur.

UPDATED: Medicaid Worker Says She Uncovered $40 Million Fraud In Kiryas Joel, Was Punished By County

An employee of Orange County, New York was allegedly punished by the county for uncovering massive medicaid fraud in the Satmar hasidic Village of Kiryas Joel.

Hasidim Lied: Video Shows Thousands Of Kapparot Chickens Dumped In Garbage

A video shot by an anonymous citizen shows thousands of dead, bloody kapparot (kaporos) chickens dumped in the garbage in Crown Heights, Brooklyn even though kapparot spokesmen have insisted the chickens are donated to the poor to eat.

G'mar Hatima Tova

Yom Kippur begins a few minutes and ends tomorrow night about an hour after sunset. G'mar Hatima Tova to you all, and for those who are fasting, have an easy fast.

MO Synagogue Fires Employee For Out Of Wedlock Pregnancy

Alana Shultz was a program director at the Modern Sephardic Orthodox Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan since 2004. But Schultz was fired because she got pregnant out of wedlock, violating the synagogue’s alleged morals.

Crown Heights Kapparot Turn Ugly As Hasidim Jostle Protesters And Media, Try To Block Cameras

"…A white-bearded man waded into the chaos brandishing two chickens by their wings in the face of Michelle and other activists gathered to protest the slaughter. Reaching over a barricade with both hands, he mashed the two chickens into a protester's shirt. Asked to explain his actions, he declined to identify himself, but said a woman had grabbed his wife and daughter. Another circle formed around a videographer and Michelle. This time she yelled, "You people are sick!" and "Don't fucking touch me!" The assembled men responded with chants of "Shiksa, shiksa," "Go fight ISIS," and "What about abortion?" A young man named Larry McDrew jeered from one side, "I'm gonna get you."…"

Has The Tomb Of The Maccabees Been Found?

"…The archaeological evidence currently at hand is still insufficient to establish that this is the burial place of the Maccabees. If what we uncovered is not the Tomb of the Maccabees itself, then there is a high probability that this is the site that early Christianity identified as the royal funerary enclosure, and therefore, perhaps, erected the structure. Evidently one cannot rule out the assumptions of the past, but an excavation and a lot of hard work are still required in order to confirm that assumption unequivocally, and the riddle remains unsolved–the search for the elusive Tomb of the Maccabees continues".…

New Book On Kapparot

A new book on kapparot (kaporos; kapporos; kaparot) attempts to bridge the gap between animal welfare/ animal rights activists and hasidim. Does it succeed?

More Anti-Chicken Kapparot Protest Videos

Anti-chicken-kapparot (kaporos) protesters sometimes behaving badly as haredim try to defend a cruel and wasteful custom that was widely regarded by medieval rabbis as pagan in origin and something that should not be done.

Chabad's Israel Head Reportedly On Verge Of Being Indicted Over Massive Embezzlement Scheme

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Aronow, the head of most Chabad activities in Israel, is likely to be indicted on fraud, money laundering and tax evasion charges for the alleged embezzlement of tens of millions of shekels.

Video: Anti-Chicken-Kapparot Activists Violently Attacked By Haredim In Ashdod

Haredim in Ashdod, Israel attack a car occupied by anti-chicken-kapparot activists, smashing the car's windshield and shoving tree branches though the car's side windows.

Did King David Celebrate Yom Kippur?

Probably not. In fact, Yom Kippur likely originated with a murder in the Temple committed by a High Priest against his rival hundreds of years after David died. Here's the story you didn't learn in yeshiva.

Alert: Missing Haredi Woman

45-year-old Suzanne "Chava" Gruer went missing sometime after August 31. She was last seen at her home located at 2410 Kings Highway in the heavily-haredi Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Haredi Papers Refuse To Run Anti-Chicken Kapparot Ad Placed By Government

When Israel's Ministry of Agriculture tried to place ads in haredi newspapers asking haredim to use money for the kapparot ritual rather than live chickens, the newspapers – Yated Ne'eman, HaMevaser, BaKehila, HaPeles and Hamodia – refused to run the ads. The lone haredi publication to agree to run the ads was the relatively moderate Mishpacha Magazine, which agreed to run the anti-chicken-kapparot ad – but only if a quote from Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law) opposing kapparot was removed from it.

US Soldiers Ordered To Ignore Child Rapes Committed By Afghan Allies

US soldiers were ordered to ignore rampant child rape committed by Afghan police and military commanders working with US forces. In some cases, US soldiers who intervened to protect the children (almost always boys) were reprimanded or forced out of the military, while local Afghans, upset at the rapes of their children, often turned against the US and the murder of a group of US soldiers on one US base by an Afghan teen boy may have been payback for the soldiers allowing the rapes to continue. This shameful behavior began during the Bush Administration and  continued (and perhaps even increased somewhat) under President Obama.

Video: Anti-Chicken Kapparot Demonstrations In Israel And Brooklyn

Animal welfare activists protest haredi kapparot (kaporos) centers in Israel and in Brooklyn. The protest in Brooklyn was especially large, and the mood on the street outside haredi neighborhoods and among non-haredim who live in or adjacent to haredi neighborhoods appears to have shifted from a sort of disinterested neglect to a growing anger at haredim and at the corrupt politicians who do haredi leaders' bidding.