FailedMessiah.com

Video: Film About Abuse Of Undocumented Workers At Agriprocessors

"The U-Turn," a film about the abuse of undocumented workers at the Postville, Iowa Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse (owned by the Rubashkin family) and the masive immigration raid that took place on May 12, 2008 that victimized them all over again, is in the process of being made by noted Guatemalan-American filmmaker Luis Argueta. Here is an excerpt…

Ruth The Moabite Denied Israeli Citizenship

The grandmother of King David is denied Israeli citizenship in this modern Shavuot tale.

Magen Tzedek: The Sham(e) Behind The Shield

Yated Ne'eman 'exposé' reads like a North Korean government report on worker satisfaction.

Video: Rubashkin PR 'Documentary' Trailer

The men who made the Unity music fundraising video for Sholom Rubashkin are in the process of making a 'documentary' on Rubashkin's case. Here's the trailer:

New Questions About Judge's Impartiality In Rubashkin Case

The court schedule of a federal judge who faces allegations of bias in the financial fraud trial of Sholom Rubashkin has raised fresh questions about judicial impartiality.

"Unprecedented" Campaign Launched For Sholom Rubashkin

The "Sholom Across America" fundraising campaign will start in the Chabad stronhold of Crown Heights, with the intention to visit 16 major Jewish communities across the United States and Canada.

Audio: Voices Of The Raid

The PBS show The Story has three perspectives of the Agriprocessors raid, three years later: a worker, a community activist, and  an attorney for undocumented workers.

Agriprocessors 3 Years After

Today (right about now, actually) marks the third anniversary of the massive immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. Agriprocessors was the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the world. At the time of the raid, it had a workforce that was largely (75% according the government estimates) made up of undocumented workers from Guatemala and Mexico. 389 undocumented workers were arrested. Hundreds more fled in terror.

Chabad School To Honor Leah Rubashkin

Cheder Chabad of Monsey is honoring Leah Rubashkin, the wife of convicted felon Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, as the "essential aishes chayil," woman of valor.

Did You Miss The Sholom Rubashkin Profile On CNBC?

American Greed: The Slaughterhouse is being rebroadcast. Here are the dates and times, including times for later tonight.

Sholom Rubashkin and Agriprocessors

If you're looking for a summary of the various scandals surrounding Sholom Rubashkin, his family and Agriprocessors, and links to all posts related to them, here they are.

Postville Documentary Plays To Hushed Hometown Crowd

You know going in that a 90-minute documentary film about the 2008 Agriprocessors immigration raid and its aftermath will not end happily for most of its imprisoned and deported main characters. But “Abused: The Postville Raid,” holds out hope of an eventual happy ending if enough people appreciate filmmaker Luis Argueta’s vision of immigrants “not as the other but as ourselves.”

Audio: A New Beginning For A Glatt Kosher Meatpacker

In 2008, federal agents walked into a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa and walked out with almost 400 people. At the time it was the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history. For the tiny town of Postville and its main employer, it was devastating. Now, the plant is trying to get back on its feet.

Interview With Hechsher Tzedek Founder Rabbi Morris Allen

Rabbi Allen was part of a five-person crew that went to Postville in August of 2006 and then went back to Agriprocessors in September 2006 with 3 recommendations: 1) the Iowa Department of Labor be invited to do an audit of the plant which would have given Agriprocessors 18 months to respond to any of the findings; 2) all training be done in the vernacular – which for most workers was Spanish – and that all training materials be available in Spanish; 3) meetings be organized between senior management and the workforce, with a letter signed by the Rubashkins stating that there would be no intimidation or recriminations against workers for whatever they said at those meetings. The Rubashkins refused.

Addressing Treatment Of Workers, Group Readies New Kosher Seal

Most religious dietary guidelines allow individuals to maintain a sense of holiness in their daily lives. For many Jews, that sense was shattered in spring of 2008, when an Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa was raided and found to have hundreds of illegal immigrants and dozens of violations, from unsafe conditions to unethical treatment of workers.

In Major Speech On Immigration Reform, Obama Says Government Will Prosecute Businesses That Deliberately Employ And Exploit Undocumented Workers

"Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work. That’s why businesses must be held accountable if they break the law by deliberately hiring and exploiting undocumented workers."

Letter from Miami: Prosecutor's Official Story Does Not Tell The Truth About Agriprocessors

Ignorance of history is no excuse. Agriprocessors (1987-2008) lifted Postville from the farm crisis, doubled its population and turned it into a vibrant multicultural community, hailed as a model of ethnic integration for the future of rural America.

When Lawyers Lie: Another Rubashkin Attorney Distorts The Truth

Sholom Rubashkin's lawyers appear to be serial liars.

Letter from Iowa: Rubashkin Got Off Easy

Rubashkin and his Chabad supporters intend a vigorous appeal of his sentence. We wish them no luck.

Video Of Massive Brooklyn Rubashkin Rally

Rubashkin Attorney Nathan Lewin and Sholom Rubashkin's son Getzel speak about the sentence.

Why Rubashkin Beat The Child Labor Rap, Part 2

“It was too high a standard. It’s too difficult for a prosecutor to demonstrate that an individual intended to break the law – they intended to hire someone who was underage.”

Michael Moore Producer Turns To Rubashkin Case

A documentary producer who has worked extensively with filmmaker Michael Moore is picking up the cause of a Brooklyn-based kosher meatpacking executive now on trial in Iowa.

Shmuley Boteach: The "Never-Ending Onslaught" Against Sholom Rubashkin

All people carry the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. Unless you're Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, that is, in which case even once you're found completely innocent on charges of child labor by a jury of your peers you are still guilty.

A Song For Rubashkin

Sholom Rubashkin's supporters turn musical in their quest to prove his saintliness.

Massive Rubashkin Rally Draws At Least 15,000 People

Monsey pro-Rubashkin rally sponsored in part by the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation featured an appearance from Rubashkin attorney Mark Weinhardt.

Rubashkin Victim Of "Vicious Public Smear Campaign" Orchestrated By Unions, Media, Conservative Rabbis, And Government, Nathan Lewin Claims

Nathan Lewin, the Rubashkin attorney who called PETA antisemitic and Nazis, and who fought fixing inhumane slaughter at Agriprocessors, now pushes conspiracy theory of Rubashkin 'persecution.'

Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Holds Special Event On Behalf Of Sholom Rubashkin

The foundation formed to promote the halakhic and ethical works of the man who was very careful not to deceive or steal from anyone, and whose halakhic commentary on the Code of Jewish Law is the standard by which Ashkenazi Orthodox and haredi Jews claim to live, honors convicted thief Sholom Rubashkin.

How Rubashkin Beat The Rap

Iowa's Deputy Attorney General said that Judge Nathan Callahan had barred his team from arguing that Rubashkin’s employment of illegal immigrants made him necessarily culpable for the hiring of minors. “Our intention was to present that evidence and point out that when the only evidence of age is the date of birth on a document that you reasonably know to be a forgery that you are at least willfully blind as to the age of your workforce.”

Moral Stakes In Rubashkin Case Were High, Both Sides Say

"A case where you got the wholesale employment of 26, 31, 60 --- Lord knows how many hundreds more --- minors at one plant, then there's a serious situation. It had to be dealt with as a serious situation."

Rubashkin Rabbi: The Conservative Movement Needs To Apologize To Sholom Rubashkin

The Conservative Movement's Hekscher Tzedek seal was created by tormenting a fellow Jew – Sholom Rubashkin, Chabad rabbi says.

Nun Decries Rubashkin Acquittal

Former pastoral administrator of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, who helped to provide support for families affected by the Agriprocessors raid, was praying for justice 'for the little people.

Rubashkin Escapes Conviction On Child Labor Charges Even Though Evidence Clearly Shows Crimes Committed

"There were not only wholesale violations of Iowa's child labor law. There was abundant evidence to support the claim that there was extortion, sexual abuse and forced labor committed against the population of workers at Agriprocessors."

What Does Rubashkin's Not Guilty Verdict Mean?

This is no time for Chabad and haredim to be rejoicing.

Rubaskin Verdict: Not Guilty

Jurors find former Agriprocessors slaughterhouse manager not guilty of child labor violations.

Rubashkin Trial Day 14: No Verdict Today

The jury deliberated all day but did not reach a verdict.

Rubaskin Trial: Closing Arguments Done, Jury To Begin Deliberations Today

Prosecutors built their child labor case against Sholom Rubashkin on the testimony of liars and thieves, and failed to prove that the former Agriprocessors Inc. executive allowed children to work at his family's slaughterhouse, defense attorneys argued Thursday.

Rubashkin Trial Day 13: State's Rebuttal Finished, Jury Deliberations Begin Tomorrow

“We all want to live in a country in which our laws are obeyed, in which children to work in slaughterhouses, in which children out of poverty aren’t exploited for profit. I urge to find the defendant guilty on all counts.”

Letter from Matzav.com: Emes And Sholom

The Rubashkin debacle began when a doctored-up PETA video, depicting so-called abuse of animals at Agriprocessors, was picked up by the secular Jewish media, who then seized upon it to mount a crusade against the company.

Rubashkin Trial Day 13: Rubashkin Closing Arguments Completed

Weinhardt attacked the credibility of the state’s workers because they have U-visas being processed. He argued the government can yank the visa if they don’t like what they’re doing. "I’m not blaming them. But what are they going to do? They’re going to testify favorably to the state.”

Rubashkin Plays The Antisemitism Card

Agri became a big fish in a small pond, and he became the face of Agri. They rushed to the conclusion he was responsible, this stranger in a strange land ... this white whale, Moby Jew ... they went after him to be harpooned.

State: Rubashkin Ignored Warnings

Despite repeated warnings about underage workers at the slaughterhouse he oversaw, former Agriprocessors Inc. executive Sholom Rubashkin did nothing about the allegations for nearly two years, a state prosecutor argued Wednesday.

Rubashkin Trial Day 12: The Prosecution's Closing Argument

The state said Rubashkin failed to act even though he knew minors were working at the plant. It argued Rubashkin didn’t initiate changes in the hiring process after several July 2007 firings, and did not respond to a state subpoena about underage workers for 31 days before the raid.

Rubashkin Trial Day 12: Closing Arguments To Begin This Afternoon

Closing arguments in the child-labor trial of former Agriprocessors Inc executive Sholom Rubashkin has been pushed back until 1 p.m. while jury instructions are finalized.

Some Rubashkin Child Labor Charges Dropped

Sixteen misdemeanor child labor charges filed against Sholom Rubashkin were tossed Tuesday because five minors listed in the complaint failed to testify during the former plant executive's trial.

Rubashkin Trial: Picture of the Day

What in the world is is Sholom Rubashkin wearing under his long black coat?

Rubashkin Trial Day 11 Afternoon Summary: The Defense Rests

After the judge exited the courtroom, Sholom Rubashkin leads about two dozen supporters — mostly young men studying at the yeshiva in Postville — in afternoon prayers.

Rubashkin Trial Day 11 Morning Summary: Leah Rubashkin Takes The Stand

Sholom Rubashkin’s wife, Leah, took the stand and spoke largely about their family and religious beliefs.

Rubashkin Lawyer Urges State Investigator: Guess The Ages

For nearly 45 minutes Thursday, Sholom Rubashkin's defense attorney showed picture after picture of fresh-faced Latino workers to a state criminal investigator and asked him to guess their ages.

Rubashkin Trial Day 10 Afternoon Summary: Rabbis, Orthodox Jews, Testify For Rubashkin

Rabbi Weissmandl testified that 170 years ago there was a split in the Jewish community when some wanted to modify or loosen the Jewish codes. Only the Orthodox community kept true to the original code of Jewish law, he said.

Rubashkin Trial Day 10: Morning Summary

A former Agriprocessors security director said he never saw anyone walk into the plant he thought was under the age of 18. Cletus Pladsen said everyone had to walk by him to enter the plant. A prosecutor showed him a picture of a young-looking former worker who testified. “Does that look like an adult to you?” “No,” Pladsen said.