FailedMessiah.com

Shocking: Bronx Assisted Living Facility Serving Non-Jews Gave Millions Of Dollars To Haredi Yeshivas And Charities In Israel

A Bronx nursing home and assisted living facility serves an almost exclusively non-Jewish population. Even so, the nonprofit has sent more than $20 million dollars to hasidic and Orthodox charities, mostly yeshivas and other institutions owned by the Belz, Skvere and Sanz hasidic dynasties, many located in Israel. Some money even went to Aish HaTorah to convert non-Orthodox Jews to Orthodoxy. Sitting on the board of this Bronx nonprofit are some of the most powerful men in the haredi community, men who sit on the board of Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union. One of them, Abraham Biderman, is the new head of the scandal-plagued Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, the Jewish community's NYC anti-poverty arm that was looted of millions of dollars by its former CEO William E. Rapfogel, who like Biderman is an Orthodox Jew.

Guess Who’s Home For Shabbos

The man who stole millions of dollars from New York City’s Jewish poor, William E. “Slick Willie” Rapfogel, that’s who.

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.

Racist Zionist Orthodox Deputy Knesset Speaker Ridicules New Government Poverty Report, Says Israel’s Poor Aren’t Really Poor

“I have five children and I do not think that two of them are poor. I live in a community that includes yeshiva students and their families, who are considered poor, but I do not see them as poverty-stricken. The poverty line today does not reflect the reality in which people can live.”

Most Haredi Children Live In Poverty

A new report issued today by Israel’s National Insurance Institute (NII) has found Israel has 776,500 poor children, and almost two-thirds of them are haredi. The report also found more than half of all haredi families, 54.3%, are poor.

Video: Poverty And Economic Disparity In America

A PBS Newshour report based on a new report jointly issued by the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the liberal Brookings Institution.

2 Dead At Haredi-Run Flophouse

The deaths and the run-down condition of the flophouse, located in the upper floors of a haredi elementary school run by the same people, expose the dirty underbelly of Jewish communal help for its own poor.

Was The Fix In? Slick Willie Rapfogel Gets Work Release, Home Visits, After Serving Just Over One Year In Prison For Stealing Millions From Jewish Poor

William E. Rapfogel, who stole millions of dollars from the Jewish poor, is now on work release, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed today. Rapfogel served just over one year of a 3-1/3 to 10 year sentence and could be paroled in November 2017. Until then, he'll be able to go home for extended weekend stays and will spend much of each day free in Manhattan.

In Israel, As Holocaust Survivors And The Poor Suffer, West Bank Jewish Settlers Flourish

As Jewish settlers and haredim are being flooded by the Knesset with millions of dollars in additional discretionary funding, Israeli Arabs got nothing. Israel's social periphery – the poor, the disabled, the abuser, the sexually trafficked – also got no additional funding from the right-wing controlled Knesset, and neither did Holocaust survivors, single mothers or children with special needs.

For The First Time, All Pediatricians In The US Are Asked To Screen Children For Hunger, Food Insecurity

For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recommending that pediatricians screen all children for food insecurity. Children who live in households that are food insecure, even at the lowest levels, get sick more often, recover more slowly from illness, have poorer overall health and are hospitalized more frequently. Early childhood malnutrition also is tied to conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease later in life.

Lakewood Haredi Rabbi’s Housing Nonprofit To Lose Federal Funding Over Apparently Illegal Loan To Haredi Yeshiva

The Lakewood Tenants Organization, Inc. (LTO), a Lakewood, New Jersey nonprofit agency that administers the township’s low-income housing program allegedly illegally gave $2 million in loans to a haredi yeshiva run by the LTO’s haredi CEO. And that CEO and Lakewood Township says those loans were kosher, because once the township paid LTO to administer the housing program, the money became "de-federalized" and LTO can do with it whatever it wants – even use it to keep its CEO's yeshiva afloat.

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.

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.

Feds Seek To End Haredi Control Over Lakewood Section 8 Housing Program After Haredi Program Refuses To Submit To A Requested Audit

If HUD does end LTRAP’s contract, Section 8 Housing and other Hud programs LTRAP administered would be given to the Lakewood Housing Authority – meaning they would be out of direct haredi control.

Exclusive: Chabad’s Main Synagogue Again Charges Beggars An Admission Fee, Allegedly Tells Beggars It Believes To Be Non-Jews To Leave

During High Holiday prayer services, Jews repeatedly pray that “Tzedaka [charity], Teshuva [repentance], and Tefilla [prayer]” cause harsh decrees from Heaven against the Jewish people to be averted. But in Chabad's main synagogue located at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY, oppressing the poor a week before Rosh Hashana is company policy.

Wife Of Convicted Felon Who Stole Millions From The Jewish Poor On Ballot For Job To Nominate State Judges

Her husband William is a convicted felon who stole millions of dollars from the Jewish poor. Her boss, disgraced former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon “Shelly” Silver, has been indicted on federal corruption charges. A significant amount of the millions stolen by her husband was found – hidden in the couple’s homes. But if Silver and his top aide Judy Rapfogel have their way, Rapfogel will soon be nominating judges for New York State’s lower courts – while her husband is still serving his prison sentence.

Video: Poor Kids

What's it like to be a poor kid in America? What's it like to go hungry every day? To live in substandard housing? To be 8-years-old and homeless?

Crown Heights Landlord Busted For Illegally Forcing Out Rent Controlled Tenants, Endangering Welfare Of A Child

Daniel Melamed alleged used construction and demolition to force out the rent controlled tenants. A criminal indictment against him issued today charges Melamed with unlawfully evicting tenants from rent-regulated apartments, endangering the welfare of a child and filing a false document.

Neighbors Angered As Loud, "Very Disrespectful" Hasidim Wait In Line Overnight For Low Income Housing

The hasidic crowd, many who came from outside the county to try to get one of the very limited number of low income housing vouchers, woke up several residents in the apartment complex the housing authority's office is located in. They say those waiting in line overnight were loud, parked in spaces reserved for complex tenants, and were "very disrespectful." When police finally got to the complex Monday morning before the housing authority's office opened, they told the hasidim to move their cars to a nearby municipal lot. But some refused to so so, and some complex residents responded to that by having the hasidim's cars impounded by private towing companies.

Video: Hundreds Wait Outside Overnight For Chance At Low Income Housing

400 Section 8 low income housing slots opened today in Monticello, New York, and hundreds of people – most hasidim – waited in line overnight for a chance to get one. Here’s video:

Top Haredi Rabbi Orders Charities To Trash Food Meant For The Poor

The top non-hasidic haredi rabbinic leader worldwide, 102-year-old Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman, was asked in the past few days if heter mechira vegetables can be given by a haredi charity to the poor.

Rabbi David Cohen Sentenced To One Year In Jail – Kind Of – And $650,000 In Restitution In Met Council Fraud

Haredi Rabbi David Cohen, former executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council), has been sentenced to one year in jail. He also paid $650,000 in restitution to Met Council. Cohen, together with former Met Council CEO William Rapfogel and other co-conspirators, stole approximately $9 million from the taxpayer-funded nonprofit organization as part of a 20-year grand larceny and kickback scheme.

Gerrer Hasidim Allegedly Loot Lower East Side Orthodox Synagogue

Instead, $10 million from the sale will go to Ger, a right wing Hasidic sect, to build a synagogue in Israel, and the other $3 million will go to the synagogue’s president, Rabbi Samuel Aschkenazi, who calls himself a leader of the Ger sect and also runs a synagogue out of a converted garage attached to his personal residence in Queens – too far away for the elderly Lower East Side worshipers to get to on Shabbat or even on weekdays. The soon-to-be looted shul is reportedly the only one on the entire Lower East Side of Manhattan with a wheelchair ramp.

Did Modern Orthodox Man Who Stole Millions From The Jewish Poor And Homeless Get Kid Glove Treatment From NY State's AG?

William E. Rapfogel stole at least $9 million from poor and homeless Jews, and destroyed the New York City Jewish Community's anti-poverty arm in the process. But did New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman give Rapfogel a much better plea deal than he deserved? And Why wasn't the Met Council's board summarily forced out by Schneiderman – a step he has taken with other nonprofits which did far less wrong than the Met Council? An expert on nonprofits says Schneiderman was wrong and explains what that unwarranted kid glove treatment will likely mean for other nonprofits.

Dozens Of Jewish Leaders, Including At least 19 Rabbis, Pleaded To Get William E. Rapfogel A Sweetheart Deal In $9 Million Theft From Jewish Poor

Who sent letters to New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asking him to go easy on William E. Rapfogel, the Modern Orthodox former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty who stole at least $9 million from the UJA-Federation's New York City area anti-poverty organization, causing the nonprofit to eventually collapse? Who wanted Slick Willie to get a get out of jail free card? Take a look.

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio's Policy Makes Some Abused Youths' Lives Worse, Advocates Charge

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is an atheist who has been pandering to religious groups – especially to Satmar hasidim – in likely preparation for a gubernatorial run or an appointment to national office by Hillary Clinton if she is elected president next year. De Blasio promised during the 2013 campaign that all homeless youth in the city would have shelter beds if he were elected mayor. But he reneged on that promise, even though many of these homeless youths are survivors of child sex abuse and even though sexual predators openly wait outside youth shelters like Covenant House to try to sexually exploit youths turned away due to lack of space.

New York City Jewish Federation's Primary Social Services Agency Declares Bankruptcy After Flagrant Mismanagement

The Federation Employment and Guidance Service's (FEGS)  salaries for its top executives increased even as program revenue declined. It's financial management system was 'outdated," and its administrative cost structure was "overly prohibitive" was "significantly more than target industry standards."

Joseph "Yossi" Ross Sentenced To 18 Months In Metropolitan Council On Jewish Poverty Fraud

Joseph "Yossi" Ross – a top Breslov hasidic lay leader – helped William E. Rapfogel and others steal at least $9 million from the NYC Jewish Federation's anti-poverty arm.

As Her Husband Sits In Prison, Judy Rapfogel Makes More Money Than The Governor, Despite The Fact That Her Disgraced Boss Is No Longer Speaker Of The NYS Assembly

A month after disgraced Assemblyman Sheldon Silver resigned from his post as the New York State Assembly’s speaker, his top aide Judy Rapfogel remains employed – and makes more money than the governor.

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.

Sefardi Haredi Kabbalist’s Plea Deal Allowed To Stand

Israel’s High Court Of Justice rejected a petition challenging the plea bargain agreement given to Sefardi haredi ‘kabbalist’ Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto – meaning Pinto will turn state's witness and admit to bribing senior police officers in a bid to find out what police knew about a fraud that stole millions of dollars from poor Holocaust survivors.

Met Council Hasidic Embezzler Gets Better Plea Deal Terms

Joseph “Yossi” Ross, the first person to plead guilty in the long-running Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty embezzlement scam, has renegotiated his plea deal in a bid to keep him out of state prison.

Metropolitan Council On Jewish Poverty To Go Out Of Business

Met Council officials reportedly met with other Jewish nonprofit leaders about the closure today – the same day the met Council’s chief legislative patron,  New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was arrested by the FBI for allegedly taking millions of dollars in kickbacks.

Children Eligible For Expanded Medicaid Contribute More In Taxes As Adults, New Study Finds

A new study has found that children who received expanded Medicaid benefits in the 1980s and 1990s contributed more to the U.S. tax system as adults. They also were more likely to attend college and less likely to die prematurely in adulthood.

Haredi Children Sue Parents Over Financial Support

Haredi children are suing their parents at an alarming rate over wedding gifts that don't match up to what they were promised by the parents. For example, a father promises his prospective son-in-law's family that he will buy the couple an apartment in Jerusalem if the boy agrees to marry his daughter. But after the wedding, the apartment purchased for the young couple isn't in Jerusalem. Instead, it's in Beit Shemesh, a suburb, or in Ashdod, a port town with a large haredi community about one hour away by car (or 2 1/2 hours by bus) from Jerusalem. So the children sue.

Haredim: Poor By Choice, Not By Fate

“[Haredim] are to a significant degree making a conscious choice to be poor…If you have seven children on average [and refuse to have them educated in math, science and other secular subjects], you are choosing to be poor [and choosing to have your children and their families be poor].”

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky: Media "Liars;" I Never Called For Collective Punishment Of Arabs

In a bizarre radio interview, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky claims the media are "liars," that "the Geneva Convention doesn't apply anymore," that his call for collective punishment against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians was not collective punishment but instead prevention of terrorism, and similar statements that are equally dishonest. Pruzansky attacked the OU's and Rabbinical Council of America's condemnations of the call for collective punishment and made it very clear that he is completely unrepentant and believes he has done nothing wrong.

OU Israel Job Fair Allegedly Charged Unemployed Job Seekers An Entry Fee

The Orthodox Union's Israel branch allegedly charged unemployed job seekers 50 shekels to enter its Jerusalem job fair this past spring.

Dov Hikind And OU Sponsor Job Fair – Charge Unemployed $20 Each To Enter

Orthodox New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind and the Orthodox Union (OU) sponsored a job fair last week at the Young Israel of Midwood synagogue in the heavily haredi neighborhood of Midwood, Brooklyn and charged unemployed people $20 each to enter.

UNICEF: Israel Has 4th Highest Child Poverty Rate In The Developed World

“This report is a warning light to Israel. We must make children our focus to prevent further deterioration and bring about long-term change,” Jonny Cline, UNICEF’s Israel office executive director, reportedly said. A large number of the poor children, however, are members of haredi families whose male adult members refuse to work.

More Arrests Possible In Rapfogel Scandal, Former Board Members May Be Targets, AG Says

New York State’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman appears to be targeting former Met Council board members who may have turned a blind eye to or participated in the embezzlement of at least $9 million from the Met Council.

University Opens Investigation Into Alleged Voyeur Rabbi Barry Freundel

A university spokesman reportedly said the university is investigating whether it violated provisions of Title IX, the federal law which prohibits various types of gender and sex discrimination on college and university campuses.

The Beggars Of Lakewood

Lakewood, New Jersey, the home of the famous Lakewood Yeshiva, is inundated with haredi beggars. So Lakewood's haredi community regulates them. Here's how it does it, courtesy of the New York Times.

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.

NYC's Worst Slumlord Lives In $1.2 Million Mansion In Monsey

NYC's worst landlord lives in a $1.2 million suburban mansion with an in-ground pool, a sweeping front lawn and a circular driveway — about 30 miles north and a world away from a rat-infested building she owns in the Bronx.

Haredi Landlord Settles With NYC Over Harassment Of Poor Tenants

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State’s Tenant Protection Unit has signed an agreement that will end the reported harassment and intimidation of long-term tenants at several rent-regulated buildings in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush and Crown Heights. The landlord of these buildings, Yeshaya Wasserman, had purportedly been engaging in a pattern of abusive behavior and flagrant violation of rent laws.

Will Teshuva, Tefillah And Tzedaka Rip Up The Evil Decree?

As Rosh Hashana fast approaches, a question is begged – but will your answer cut it?

Zionist Orthodox Lay Leader Resigns Over Money "Tainted" By – Christians

It’s a canard that refuses to die, a canard illustrates the high level of anti-Christian prejudice still common in the haredi and the right-wing Israeli Zionist Orthodox communities, despite the fact that believing Christians are some of the closest allies Israel has.

Haredim Move To Take Over Secular Anti-Poverty Agency

Met Council board member Abraham Biderman, who is a top haredi lay leader in Agudath Israel of America, is likely to be the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty's new board chairman and his candidate to replace David Frankel  the CEO brought in to clean up the anti-poverty agency after widespread embezzlement came to light last year is a Chabad rabbi. Frankel was allegedly forced out by haredim, likely with the help of Biderman and other board members.