FailedMessiah.com

State Of Israel Says It Is “Not A Priority” To Fund Suicide Prevention And Mental Health Services For New Immigrants, Even Though One-Third Of Israeli Suicides Are New Immigrants

More than one-third suicides in Israel over the past decade were new immigrants, but the State of Israel is steadfastly refusing to fund services for new immigrants that would reduce that suicide rate because the state says it is “not a priority."

An ATM For Blessings And Tzedaka

Outside the home of #2 Ashkenazi haredi non-hasidic rabbinic leader Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky is a new ATM-like device that allows users to deposit money for a charity Kanievsky supports and, through the use of computerized technology, give Kanievsky's aides the donor's name, Hebrew name, and other religiously pertinent information the charity promises Kanievsky will use when he gives the donor a remote blessing.

Jew Who Rescued Syrian Christians Passes Away

“I can’t save the world… but I had a debt to repay. It was Quakers and Christians who brought those [Kindertransport] children to England. It was a very high-minded operation and we Jews should also be thankful and do something for the endangered Christians.”

Haredi MKs Propose Bill To Indemnify Restaurants, Caterers, And Food Manufacturers To Allow Increased Food Donations

The bill would permit food that cannot be legally sold – for example, leftovers from catering companies, restaurants, hotels, wedding halls and food factories, and expired food from groceries that is still safe to consume – to be donated to nonprofits for distribution to poor large families.

Haredi-Run Fake Children’s Leukemia Charity Forced To Close By NY State

The National Children’s Leukemia Foundation (NCLF) run by Zvi Shor, Yehuda Gutwein, Shlomo Shor, and Shlomo Donn, raised $9.7 million from unsuspecting donors but paid out only $57,000 in direct assistance to leukemia patients, less than 1% of the money raised.

 

Despite Large Need, Israeli Nonprofit That Helps Ex-Haredim Gets Zero State Funding Because Right-Wing And Centrist Lawmakers Do Not Want To Anger Haredi Rabbis And Politicians

According to a 2014 study, Israelis who were once religiously observant are at a high risk of committing suicide. The study was carried out by Bishvil Hahayim (Path to Life), a nonprofit organization that helps the families of people who have committed suicide. It found that 40 percent of people who are no longer religiously observant have had suicidal thoughts, compared to 12 percent, 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively, among respondents who described themselves as secular, traditional and religious. The incidence of suicidal ideation increased to 45 percent for young people in the process of leaving the religious community. Also, 90 percent of ex-religious respondents reported a low level of social support.

Haredi Org That Helps Cancer-Stricken Kids Gives Away Cancer-Causing Cigars As Fundraising Prizes

Chai Lifeline says it helps kids with cancer. But one of its major prizes – a box of premium Cuban cigars – to be given away at its next fundraising event cause cancer.

Don't Give Charity To Haredim Who Did Not Vote For An Approved Haredi Political Party, Haredi Newspaper Editor Says

Regarding his call not to give them any help, even though among them there are needy families, Greenbaum justified his position by saying: "There is no need to say a lot regarding the fact that they are not justified in taking part in the haredi consensus whether for good or bad. Whoever separates himself from the group in a time of trouble, chazal [the sages of the Talmudic era] taught us that he cannot be included with us in a time of joy. He even added and said "There is no choice but to not give [charity; tzedaka] to those who are not a part of us what we work hard to get with little power."

Video: Interview With Conservative Jewish Couple Who Called 911 To Report Horrific Brooklyn House Fire That Killed 7 Haredi Children

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Rosenblatt talk about calling 911 to report the horrific Brooklyn house fire that killed seven haredi children early Saturday morning and their attempts after the fire to get and distribute fire safety information to their neighbors.

Top Haredi Rabbi Hospitalized In Serious Condition

The 101-year-old top posek (decisor of halakha, Orthodox Jewish law) for hasidic communities worldwide is hospitalized in serious condition on respirator.

Purim – Chabad Syle

Halakha (Orthodox Jewish law) puts great emphasis on giving tzedaka (loosely translated as "charity"), and on no day is giving charity more important than Purim. Halakha commands all Jews to give charity to poor people on this day and mandates extra concern for their well-being. So how is this very great mitzvah (religious commandment) carried out in Chabad's main synagogue located at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn?

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.

Rabbi Benny Elon In Critical Condition

Former Israel Cabinet Minister Rabbi Benny Elon is reportedly in critical condition in an Israeli hospital. The 61-year-old Elon has been fighting an undisclosed illness for a long period of time.

Senior Orthodox Rabbi Calls For Chabad Resignations Over Abuse Coverups

Rabbi James Kennard, a former executive member of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) and the principal of the largest Jewish school in Melbourne, Australia, issued a public call for top Chabad leadership to resign over their conduct in the wide-ranging Chabad schools child sex abuse scandal that has shaken the Australian Jewish community to its core and shocked Australians country wide.

London Haredi Group Raises Money To Provide Armed Security Guards For Haredi Synagogues – In Israel

Along with the armed guards, some Israeli hareidim are also receiving firearms training paid for by the London group. While almost all other Jewish Israelis have served or are currently serving in the IDF and have firearms and basic self defense training, haredi generally refuse to serve in the IDF and therefore do not have either.

Did Chai Lifeline Misuse Almost $1 Million?

Did Chai Lifeline, the haredi charity that provides summer camps and outings for (primarily) haredi and Orthodox kids sick with cancer and other life-threatening diseases, essentially steal almost $1 million from a donor?

Money Needed For Ill Chabad Rabbi And Disability Activist

63-year-old Rabbi Ben-Tzion Welton, the founder and CEO of Vaad Hakashrus of Northern California (a small regional kosher certification agency), reportedly began experiencing extreme nausea this summer. His digestive system eventually stopped functioning properly. Welton recently was hospitalized for a week and is now dependent on a form of intravenous nutrition. He is unable to work and has lost 30 pounts since October.

Muslim Employee Likely Saved 15 Hostages’ Lives In Paris Kosher Supermarket Terror Attack

Lassana Bathily, a 24-year-old Muslim employee of the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris, likely saved the lives of as many as 15 customers during Friday’s terror attack.

Israel Gives Largest Per-Capita UNICEF Ebola Donation

“We thank Israel for their generous contribution to help stop Ebola and for recognizing that children are especially vulnerable during emergencies. Although progress has been made in controlling Ebola, much remains to be done to fully stamp out the disease and provide care to children whose lives have been upended by it.…"

How A 4-Year-Old Auschwitz Survivor Finally Found His Family, But Is Still Searching For His Twin Brother

Auschwitz prisoner No. A7733 has finally found family. Elias Gottesman (now Menachem Bodner), a survivor of the Mengele twin experiments, was only three years old when he, his twin brother Jeno (Yoilly) and his family were taken to Auschwitz. Last month, through the work of a very persistent volunteer genealogist, he found first cousins he didn’t know existed. From them he got a photograph of his parents whom he could no longer picture in his mind and other family photos. His entire family was lost in the death camps except his mother, who was killed in a pogrom in 1948, years after he had last seen her. Menachem is still searching for his twin brother, who he believes also survived Auschwitz.

Daughter Of Hamas Leader Treated In Israeli Hospital

A daughter of Ismail Haniyeh was hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv for "a number of days" in October, Avi Shushan, a spokesman for for the hospital said.

Woman Allegedly Made Homeless By Chabad Charity Allegedly Sexually Assaulted In Chabad’s Main Synagogue – Where She Was Sleeping

A Chabad-Lubavitch organization meant to house and feed hasidim, primarily from Israel and France, who come to Crown Heights, Brooklyn for the month of Tishrei to spend the High Holidays, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret “with” Chabad’s long-dead rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (who many of these Israeli hasidim believe is still alive, even though he died in 1994) has allegedly left many of these visitors – most of them apparently young women – homeless, forcing them to sleep on synagogue benches and in building stairwells – where one of them was allegedly sexually assaulted.

Video: Brooklyn DA Visits Masbia

In an almost never-ending attempt to appease haredim, Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson has given haredi criminals easy (and often no-jail) plea deals, denigrated an anti-abuse activist and made far too many photo op visits to haredi rabbis, store and organizations. But he finally did something right – his latest photo op visit was to the haredi soup kitchen Masbia, which is arguably the the best and most effective haredi charity in all of New York City and one of the only truly deserving haredi places he's visited.

Haredi Quasi-Life Insurance Policies Come Under Scrutiny – Sort Of

Areivim insists it isn't a true life insurance company and therefore should not be regulated by the State of New York, and it even commissioned a report from a white shoe law firm to back up that contention. But is that true?

Finally, Haredim Have Done Something Useful

I just hope none of us will need to make use of this new haredi service for anything serious.

Haredi War News: Haredi Faction Bans Haredim From Attending Home Front Command's Missile Defense Instruction Sessions

HaPeles, the mouthpiece newspaper of the non-hasidic Ashkenazi haredi rebel faction led by Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, ordered haredim not to attend the Home Front Command's war education sessions held specifically for haredim in haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Why? The sessions are all allegedly an evil IDF-government plot.

Haredi Rabbi Guilty Of Tax Evasion, Charities Fraud

Rabbi Yaakov Weingarten convicted of felony tax fraud, required to make restitution to New York State and to charitable causes, permanently barred from charitable fundraising.

Haredi Day Camp Delays Opening, Refuses To Refund Parents’ Money

A haredi day camp, My Yellow Bus run by a Rebbitzen Liefer, moved from its old facilites to new facilities almost two weeks ago. But it lacked proper permits and a certificate of occupancy and could not open for almost a week, leaving kids – and parents – stranded without a day camp. Worse yet, the camp consistently refused to answer parents' requests for refunds.

Hasidic Shul Warns Congregants Not To Give Charity To Many "Russian" And Other Beggars Who Are "Fakes"

A sign posted by the synagogue with the rabbi's explicit permission argues that giving beggars money does not fulfill the mitzvah of tzedaka (giving charity) and claims that helping them is perpetuating their frauds. It says some of these beggars are on "government programs" and don't buy kosher food with the money given them, anyway.

Haredi Charity To Issue Free Smartphone App To Help Prevent Caregivers From Accidentally Leaving Children In Parked Cars

National nonprofit Kars4Kids today announced the upcoming release of a free app to prevent parents and caregivers from forgetting their young children in the car. With the summer only just begun and news headlines already reporting several heatstroke deaths of children forgotten in cars, the Kids N Kars app gives concerned parents a tangible preventative measure they can take to ensure such a story doesn’t happen to them.

New Hatzalah Smartphone App May Help Thwart Some Terrorist Kidnappings

United Hatzalah has debuted a new emergency smartphone and tablet computer app called "SOS” that allows users to send out a distress call to United Hatzalah and police with one swipe that includes their exact location.

Passover Charity From A Well Known Haredi Rabbi

A homeless woman approched the rabbi of the synagogue, Rabbi L, showed him a letter vouching for her from the Va'ad of Queens, and asked Rabbi L. for maos chitim (Passover charity) money. The rabbi allegedly yelled at woman in front of onlookers and stood by as she broke into tears and then walked away.

Police Ask For Help In Finding Missing Haredi Woman

The NYPD is urgently asking for your help in locating a missing young haredi woman, Reizel Berkowitz.

Alternate Source Of Passover Food For Needy Jews

If the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty left you high and dry this year, or if their crisis hotline can't help you with food for Passover, here is an alternate source of Passover food for needy Jews.

High Court Rejects Haredi Mayor’s Appeal, Orders New Elections

Israel’s High Court of Justice has rejected an appeal filed by the haredi Mayor of Beit Shemesh Rabbi Moshe Abutbol. Abutbol wanted to block the new elections ordered after widespread haredi pro-Abutbol voter fraud was discovered on election day by police and poll watchers and a three-judge panel of the Jerusalem District Court voided the election results.

Agri Star Donates More Than $50,000 Worth Of Meat Products To Oklahoma Tornado Relief

Agri Star, the successor company to Agriprocessors, has donated 20,000 pounds of meat products to Oklahoma tornado relief in partnership with the haredi chain of soup kitchens Masbia. The meat and poultry products, which Agri Star says have a wholesale value of more than $50,000, were shipped from Postville, Iowa late yesterday afternoon, Agri Star’s Jo-Ann Chadbourne told me yesterday.

All-Female Version Of Hazolah Gets NY State Approval

Ezras Nashim, the women-only haredi EMT group, recently received the okay from New York State to open their service to the public. Ezras Nashim will compete with Hatzolah – the male-only haredi EMT service – in heavily Jewish neighborhoods. Hatzolah refused to start a division of female volunteer EMTs, prompting the creation of Ezras Nashim.

Baltimore Shomrim Member Gets Award From San Francisco Cops

A member of Shomrim of Baltimore, Maryland received a certificate of appreciation for helping free a woman trapped with her children in a storage locker – in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco Police Department awarded the certificate to Yitzy Schleifer, Shomrim’s dispatcher. Schleifer took a call from a confused, hysterical Spanish-speaking woman who apparently mis-dialed her phone as she tried to get someone to free her and her children from the storage locker in San Francisco.

Mordechai Ben David, Choir, Visit Rubashkin In Prison, Sing For Him In Honor Of Daughter's Wedding

Hasidic singer Mordechai Ben David and members of the Shira Choir visited former Agriprocessors VP Sholom Rubashkin in federal prison this week to help Rubashkin celebrate his daughter's wedding. Rubashkin is serving a 27-year sentence for bank fraud and related crimes. Ben David and the choir stayed with Rubashkin for 2 1/2 hours. They talked, sang and even danced.

Video: 6-Year-Old Writes Book To Raise Money To Find A Cure For Friend's Genetic Disorder

“Chocolate bar” means “awesome” to Dylan Siegel, a 6-year-old 1st grader who wrote a book called Chocolate Bar to raise money to find a cure for his 7-year-old best friend's rare liver condition.

New Jersey Pilot Program Allows Inmates To Participate In Lighting Of Menorah

It took about a year to iron out the details of the department's new menorah policy, which allows each state prison to designate a room where one menorah will be lit by a staff member or a volunteer religious group leader. And while the candles burn, the inmates are supervised by the staff member.

Flatbush Shomrim Honored For "Lumberjacking"

“This guy, Chaim Deutsch, blows me away,” Manhattan Beach Community Group President Ira Zalcman said of the Flatbush Shomrim founder, who lead a team of urban lumberjacks who cut up and carted off more than 70 trees that fell across Brooklyn roadways during the storm until the city told him to put down his buzz saw.

Baltimore Shomrim Saved Trapped Woman And Kids – In San Francisco

Baltimore Shomrim received a hotline call just after midnight Tuesday from a woman who was trapped with her children in a locked in a storage rental facility in San Francisco. The email reportedly sent by Shomrim said the woman was "hysterical" and crying, and noted that the woman’s phone died during the call.

Is This Any Way To Treat The Poor?

"…Jews believe in charity, but primarily as a private endeavor. The tithing obligation, or the dispensing of gifts to the poor in Biblical times (maasrot, leket, shikcha, pe’ah – known collectively as matnot aniyim, gifts to the poor), are all private ventures, and are not publicly coerced."

A Lesson From The Storm

What can we learn from the massive natural disaster that ravaged New York City and New Jersey along with many other East Coast locations after Hurricane Sandy struck?

Jewish Federation Releases $10 Million For Hurricane Relief

The UJA-Federation of Greater New York released $10 million to its member agencies and synagogues to use for emergency hurricane relief. The decision to release the funds was made last night by the UJA-Federation’s board of directors, which met in a special session.

Jewish Community Locations Providing Hurricane Relief

A list of NYC locations where Jewish community members can find kosher food and other forms of assistance.

Lower East Side's Rabbis AWOL In Face Of Hurricane, Some Residents Say

Lower East Side residents stuck without food (and sometimes without water) in the neighborhood's high rise buildings complain that the area's haredi and Orthodox rabbis left the area without helping the elderly, disabled and poorer residents they left behind.

More Hurricane Sandy Recovery, Clean Up, And Public Aid Information

"As our City begins to recover from Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to share information about relief groups and other charitable organizations to which you can donate, if it’s difficult for you to personally offer supplies and shelter to people in need."

Haredim Drain Welfare Benefits Away From The Truly Poor

Israel’s poor receive far less welfare than the poor of other first world countries and suffer because of it.