FailedMessiah.com

How Orthodox And Haredi Rabbis Sent Young Gay To Fraudulent Fake-Orthodox Therapy Group

Despite Goldberg’s lack of formal Jewish education — he left yeshiva after grammar school — and his personal non-observance, he was instrumental in the formation of right-wing Orthodoxy’s approach toward gay Jews. It was Goldberg’s name that was on the 2011 article in the Orthodox journal “Hakirah,” featuring a discussion between Rabbi Kamenetsky and him about the necessity of “setting forth Torah values” and touting JONAH’s services.

Jewish Gay-To-Straight "Conversion Therapy" Organization Backed By Many MO And Haredi Rabbis Defrauded Clients, Jury Finds

A New Jersey jury on Thursday found JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), a nonprofit that provides supposed gay-to-straight conversion therapy, guilty of consumer fraud for falsely promising clients they could overcome their same-sex urges by doing things including undressing in front of other men, pummeling an effigy of their mothers, and re–enacting traumatic childhood experiences under JONAH's guidance. JONAH is backed by many haredi and Modern Orthodox rabbis.

A Transgender Surprise: Groom Born As A Female Married By Jerusalem Rabbinate

The Rabbinate gave the couple permission to marry – a necessity in Israel, where all Jews are forced to marry through the auspices of the haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate of Israel and its local affiliates. The couple wanted a small wedding to be held at the Rabbinate's office, and the Rabbinate agreed and married the couple – without realizing the groom was actually born female.

Bar-Ilan University Uses Pedophile Excuse To Block LGBT Students From Holding Gay Pride Event

"…[I]f a group were to come and say ‘We believe in pedophilia, in allowing sex with minors, and we want to hold a happening’… Any call to break the law is problematic and these are the laws of the Torah. Just think what would happen if a religious university were called upon to hold an event for some organization that calls for a certain law to be broken.…”

Charges To Be Dropped Against One Hasidic Shomrim Member Indicted For Gang Assault

Charges one of the five indicted hasidic Shomrim street patrol members who allegedly savagely beat a gay black man walking home from a party in the early hours of December 1, 2013 reportedly will be dropped.

Orthodox Jewish Gay Drag Queens Take NYC By Storm

“Being a drag queen frees you up to say whatever the f#*k you want.”

Bostoner Rebbe Equates LGBT Jews To Murderers

"There is a community which wants to murder other people. It's their nature and they must murder – so we should give them equality? Why give them equality, because they are murderers?" Horowitz said during a rare press conference held at his Jerusalem home.

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.

Drag Queens Stage Race And Celebration In Jerusalem

Drag Queens raced through the streets of Jerusalem in high heels and put on musical performances in an event sponsored by the LGBT student community and the City of Jerusalem.

Lawsuit Against Debunked Abusive Jewish Gay To Straight "Conversion Therapy" Group Favored By Haredi And Orthodox Rabbis Proceeds

Chaim Levin prayed to God to cure his homosexuality—and Alan Downing promised to answer his prayers. Levin, an 18-year-old orthodox Jew and a victim of childhood sexual abuse, believed his attraction to men was a disorder; Downing, a gay conversion “therapist,” said he could heal him. At one therapy session, for which Levin’s parents paid $100, Downing told Levin to remove a piece of clothing, say something bad about himself, then repeat the process. Levin complied until he was naked. Downing instructed Levin to touch his penis, then his buttocks, while Downing watched. This, Downing said, would help Levin become straight.…

Former Chabad Rabbi Now Transgender Woman

Yiscah Smith used to be Rabbi Yaakov Smith, the Chabad shaliach (emissary) in Jerusalem's Old City Jewish Quarter from 1985 through 1991. He then taught at Aish HaTorah for a brief time. And now, years later he is a she, and she is teaching and writing elsewhere in the city. And she davens in the women's section of the Kotel (Western Wall) – something that will likely enrage haredim.

Transgender Woman Denied Entrance To Kotel

Kay Long went to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem’s Old City to day to place a prayer note in the Wall. But when she got there, an Orthodox female guard at the women’s entrance reportedly refused to let her in.

Top YU Rabbi Endorses Dangerous, Discredited Therapy, Allegedly Refuses To Meet With Therapy Opponents

Yeshiva University's Rabbi Mordechai Willig is by many accounts unsuited to be either a rabbi or a teacher. Here is another example of why that is.

Right-Wing Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Says He Will Promote Dangerous Psychological Therapy Despite Health Ministry Ban

Despite a rapidly growing body of evidence which shows that conversion therapy (sometimes called reparative therapy) meant to “convert” homosexuals to heterosexuality does not work and is dangerous, and despite the fact that psychological associations across the globe have banned it because of that evidence, leading right-wing Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Aviner says he will continue to encourage homosexuals to undergo it.

Israel’s Ministry Of Health Comes Out – Against Conversion Therapy

Israel’s Ministry of Health issued a public warning Sunday against so-called conversion therapies which claim to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals. The ministry noted that there is no evidence conversion therapy works while there is evidence that it likely causes harm.

Sefardi Haredi Kiruv Rabbi Calls Hamas Rocket Fire, Kidnapping And Murders Of Jewish Teens Punishments From God And “A Blessing”

Yemenite kiruv (intra-Judaism missionary) Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak said the West Bank kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens last month and the current rocket fire at Israel from Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are punishments by God for Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride parade and called these punishments “a blessing.”

Is Brooklyn's New DA Telling The Truth? (Part 2)

15 to 20 hasidim, most members of the Shomrim street patrol, allegedly savagely beat a gay black college student 7 months ago. Is Brooklyn's new DA telling the whole truth about that beating and the very delayed arrests related to it?

 

Is Brooklyn's New DA Telling The Truth?

15 to 20 hasidim, most members of the Shomrim street patrol, allegedly savagely beat a black college student 7 months ago. Is Brooklyn's new DA telling the truth about that beating and the very delayed arrests related to it?

Shomrim Sued By Black Gay Assault Victim

Taj Patterson, who was allegedly savagely beaten by a gang of Satmar hasidim associated with the Shomrim street patrol last December, is now suing some of those hasidim and Shomrim.

14-Years-Old, Orthodox – And Transgendered

One day, 12-year-old Moshe stood in his mother’s bedroom and said, “‘Hashem [God] knows I’m a girl,’ going on to explain that he just couldn’t do it anymore, couldn’t have a bar mitzvah, that every time he put on tzitzit [a small ritual fringed garment worn by men, often under their shirt but sometimes over it] he was lying to Hashem [God]. It just began pouring out of him,” his mother said.

Jewish ‘Conversion Therapy” Group JONAH May Be Liable For Damages It Allegedly Caused Gay Men, Judge Rules

The judge, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Peter F. Bariso Jr., ruled Friday that Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) and its co-defendants may be liable for three times the amounts of money the the four men paid for therapy to repair the psychological damage JONAH allegedly caused. JONAH’s program reportedly included nude sessions with counselors and mock “father-son holding” and was a favorite of haredi rabbis, a surprising number of whom referred gay Jewish men to it to be "cured.'

68% Of Israeli Haredi Gay Men Are Married To A Woman, Almost Half Of Them Admit To Having Regular Sex With Men, Nonprofit Finds

Sixty-eight percent of Israeli haredi homosexuals marry women, and many regularly cheat on their wives by having sex with other men, Hod, an Israeli organization that advocates for Orthodox homosexuals, has found.

Senior Zionist Orthodox Rabbi: It Is Forbidden To Rent Apartments To Lesbian Couples

Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, a senior Zionist Orthodox rabbinic leader who is also the state employed chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, issued a ruling earlier this week forbidding Jews to rent apartments to lesbians couples.

Orthodox Rabbi Warns Men To Keep Their Wives Away From Lesbian Dance Teacher

A Jerusalem rabbi affiliated with right wing political causes has been ordered by the Jerusalem District Court to pay a local dance teacher over $17,000 dollars after he publicly outed her as a lesbian and warned local men to keep their wives and daughters away from her.

First Rabbinically Approved Safe Sex Anti-HIV Information Published In Israel

"We must understand in the clearest manner that silence has its price. When we fail to talk about a certain issue – it basically doesn't exist in our consciousness, and when it happens – the way to risky behavior is very short."

Shomrim Issues Deceptive Statement On Yesterday's Arrests

Five hasidic men linked to the Shomrim Safety Patrol of Williamsburg, Brooklyn were arrested yesterday for allegedly savagely beating Taj Patterson, a gay black college student, in early December. Today, Shomrim issued a deceptive, highly parsed statement. Here it is…

Video: Williamsburg Shomrim Arrests

A News 12 video report on the arrests of 5 of the approximately 15 hasidic men from the Williamsburg Shomrim street patrol who savagely beat a gay black college student December 1 on the edge of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

5 Shomrim Members Face Up To 25 Years in Prison In Beating Of Gay Black College Student

“We simply cannot allow anyone walking on the streets of Brooklyn to be knocked to the ground, stomped and brutally beaten.  Our streets must be free of such violence and everyone must adhere to the rule of law, including these defendants,” said District Attorney Ken Thompson.

UPDATED: 5 Satmar Hasidic Shomrim Members Arrested In Beating Of Gay Black Man

The NYPD hate crimes unit has arrested five individuals from Williamsburg’s hasidic community in the December 1 beating of a gay black man, 22-year-old Taj Patterson. Each hasid faces as much as 25 years in prison.

No NYPD Updates On Beating Of Black Gay Student, Allegedly By Hasidic Shomrim Street Patrol

The NYPD has no new information on the December 1st beating of a black gay college student by a gang described by witnesses as a hasidic street patrol. The NYPD has made no arrests and apparently no progress – even though the attack was witnessed and photographed. Here's why.

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!”

Gay Jews Are Superior To Straight Non-Jews, Israeli Leader Says

Gay Jews have "higher souls" than all non-Jews, gay or straight, Israel’s Deputy Minister for Religious Services, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan of the of the right wing Zionist Orthodox HaBayit HaYehudi Party, says. But that doesn't mean, Ben-Dahan hastened to add, that he supports homosexuality.

Haredi Mayor Of Beit Shemesh Says Town Has No Gays Or Lesbians, Gays And Lesbians Are Criminals And Ill

What does Rabbi Moshe Abubtbol, the town’s Sefardi haredi Shas Party mayor – who was reelected late last month on a wave of massive haredi voter fraud allegedly carried out by his cronies – think of gays and lesbians?

Statement Of Haredi Umbrella Organization Agudath Israel Of America On Senate Passage Of The Employment Non-Discrimination Act

"…The most unfortunate aspect of ENDA’s history is that today it has little to do with “discrimination.” ENDA is no longer intended simply to “right a wrong.” Rather, many of its proponents have used it – as they have used gay marriage — to force change in the belief system of Americans whose faiths teach that homosexual behavior is immoral – indeed, a sin in the eyes of G-d — and not to be accepted or condoned in society. Proponents have castigated those religious adherents as “haters,” “bigots” and “liars” and they engage in these characterizations in the hope that those who reject homosexuality will become pariahs and that this activity will gain greater legitimacy in religious doctrine and, through it, in society. The implications of this course are ominous.…"

Updated: Leading Haredi Rabbis Order Followers To Vote Against Cory Booker And For Tea Party Candidate, Now Claim "Hoax" – But Is It?

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, the rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Philadelphia haredi yeshiva and the number two rabbi in Agudath Israel of America's Council of Torah Sages (the Moetzet); Rabbi Yisroel Neuman, rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood Yeshiva); and Noson Leiter of of Torah Jews for Decency told listeners in a robo call yesterday that it is a chiyuv from the Torah (a Torah-based obligation) to vote for the Republican New Jersey US Senate candidate Steve Lonegan, who is hard right and Tea Party endorsed.

Ex-Orthodox Transsexual Woman Standing For Australian Federal Parliament

Melissa Starr is running for Australia's parliament on the the Sex Party ticket. She's Jewish, a former BT – and a transsexual.

Spanish Jewish Community Responds To Uproar Over Haredi Chief Rabbi’s Anti-Gay Remarks By Insisting He Never Made Them

Almost a week after the incident sparked an international outcry, the official Jewish community of Madrid, Spain responded to a report that their haredi chief rabbi had called homosexuals “deviants” who are in need of “reeducating” by denying their rabbi made the remarks.

Madrid Haredi Chief Rabbi: Gays Deviants Who Need To Be Re-Educated

“Homosexuality is a deviation from nature. It’s an anti-natural tendency and a sin…The pastoral duties with regards to homosexuals are focused on re-educating them about their tendencies to return them to normal.”

Three Haredim Arrested At Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade

"About 2,500 participated in the march and there were no incidents, except for one stink bomb being thrown. An ultra-Orthodox (Jew) and two women suspected of causing the provocation were detained,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. But that relative calm was enforced by hundreds of police officers who were deployed to protect marchers.

Israel's First Orthodox Drag Queen

Just shy of midnight, Shahar Hadar trades his knitted white yarmulke for a wavy blond wig and a pink velvet dress. Cheers greet him in a packed gay bar as he starts to swivel to a Hebrew pop song, his shiny red lips mouthing lyrics that mean more to him than the audience knows: “With God’s help you’ll have the strength / To overcome and give your all.”

Haredim Demand Governor Veto Bill That Prohibits Gay Conversion Therapy On Minors

Reparative therapy claims to be able to make gay people straight. But it has been exposed as being a dangerous, failed therapy that hurts manypeople and helps very few (if any). It full of abuses, and has no significant support in the medical or psychological communities. Even so, haredi rabbis with no medical training, no qualifications, and no peer reviewed studies to back them are demanding that Governor Chris Christie veto a bill that prohibits this type of dangerous, unethical therapy from being done on minors.

Racist Candidate For Chief Rabbi Lied To Attorney General

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu told Israel's Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein that he did not make any of the racist and homophobic statements attributed to him. When Weinstein didn't believe him, Eliyahu responded by justifying those very same comments – the comments he first claimed not to have made.

For Gay Haredi And Orthodox Jews, Growth Of Social Media Creates A Safe Space Online

“I am a frum, gay & married male who feels compelled to share,” he wrote in his first blog entry. “I could be a mispallel [2] in your shul listening to the Rov talk about the perverts and mishkav zochornicks [homosexuals] supporting gay marriage. … I reiterate, I am lonely and in pain. … I am convinced there are other people like me out there. I want them to know that they are not alone. I want to have the opportunity to hear from them and share my experience with them.”

Haredi Man Busted For Threatening Lesbians With Axe

A 46-year-old haredi man from Bnei Brak was arrested in Tel Aviv for allegedly threatening a group of lesbians with an axe.

Haredi Poster Against Christine Quinn Treats Her Like Enemy Of Jews, Says Her Name Should Be "Blotted Out"

Yiddish posters were hung up in Borough Park calling for NYC mayoral candidate Christine Quinn's name to be "blotted out"  – a curse reserved in Jewish practice for enemies of the Jews like the biblical Haman and the Nazis. What did Quinn do to deserve this? Be a lesbian.

OU-Linked Haredi Rabbi, Others, Ban NYC Israel Parade

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky (right),the rosh yeshiva of Torah Vodaas and the OU's co-head posek (rabbi who decides cases of Jewish law), and other haredi rabbis have banned NYC Israel Parade due to…

Lakewood Modesty Booklet – Gay In The Mikva

The Lakewood modesty booklet You and Eye has a small vignette on being a gay (or bi-curious) yeshiva student. Here it is:

Kabbalists Happy Because They Get To Roll Naked In The Snow To Atone For Sins, Israeli Rabbi Says

Snow has a more personal meaning to kabbalsits, Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri also noted, because they have the rare opportunity to perform a kabbalistic atonement ritual, tikkun gilgul sheleg – immersing oneself naked in snow and rolling front and back a total of nine times. "Days of snow are a days of celebration for kabbalists," Rabbi Batzri added.

Haredi Yeshiva Students Who Stoned Lesbian Teen Are Not True Haredim, Haredi Activist Says

"I have no idea if the stone-throwers from last week could be defined as haredim, but their behavior proves that they do not act according to the laws of the Torah. The teenagers acted they way they did despite the education they received, not because of it."

Updated: Teenage Girl Reportedly Stoned By Haredi Boys Who Thought She Was Lesbian

A teenage girl was attacked by a mob of yeshiva students in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ganey Tikva Sunday because they judged from her dress that she is a lesbian.