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Friday, May 25, 2018

...And in the beginning....בְּרֵאשִׁית


An Anonymous Flier (Pashkevil) In Brooklyn
By: Editorial Board  

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

It was doubtless inadvertent, but the author of the flier makes our point. Thus, the flier recites that "this mailing should not have been necessary," inasmuch as the target and his employer were warned in advance that if the individual either resigned or was fired, "th[e] mailing would be stopped." And on the Internet, the author has declared to one and all that he is about to "uncover" others if they do not accede to his demands. 

Plainly, this individual is engaged in an effort to fashion a weapon with which to impose his will on Klal Yisrael.

An anonymously written flier mailed recently to many Jewish homes in Brooklyn, containing lurid accusations of improper conduct against an individual in our community and railing against his employer for not firing him, should be taken as a serious warning of a cancer growing in our midst. The flier not only offers no substantiation of the charges themselves, but also reports uncorroborated – and, it turns out, vigorously denied – comments from the employer, which the flier’s unknown author offers as proof of a cover-up.

The mere circulation of the document has caused some, albeit limited, discussion as to the culpability of both the accused individual and the employer – this despite the lack of any evidence or the possibility of any follow-up with the accuser. But if even one person takes this sort of thing seriously, there is cause for concern. Compounding the problem is that the purveyor of this material seems fully at home with the Internet and has spread it anonymously on that medium as well, guaranteeing that it will be seen by all that many more people, both within and without the Jewish community.

Anonymous accusers effectively destroying their targets’ reputations, even before the truthfulness of the accusations are ascertained, cannot be the way of Klal Yisrael – and indeed has never been. Certainly it accords neither with halacha nor with common sense. It is precisely for this reason that for millennia we have invariably insisted that those making claims against another take the accused to a bet din in order to determine the facts and, if necessary, the halacha.

On another level, it is hardly engaging in hyperbole to suggest that if the notion takes root that an anonymous purveyor of unsubstantiated charges can get peoples’ tongues wagging, then none of us can count ourselves safe. It will enable anyone to exercise devastating power at any time and under any circumstances simply by choosing to do so, for whatever motive.

But it is not the excesses of one individual that are of primary concern. As a general proposition, before we even begin thinking about anyone’s having gone astray, we must have more to go on than mere innuendo and accusation flung about by nameless, faceless sources. It is incumbent upon each of us to resolve to give no credence to unproven charges and to urge their being discredited on a community-wide basis. That’s something that certainly should apply to this particular anonymous accuser.

We would also remind readers that President Bush recently signed into law a statute making it illegal for any person to use the Internet to post anonymous accusations designed to inflict pain and suffering on others. In this instance the anonymous accuser should be aware that if identified, he runs the risk of fine and imprisonment for violation of a federal statute.


90 comments:

Anonymous said...

** It is incumbent upon each of us to resolve to give no credence to unproven charges and to urge their being discredited on a community-wide basis. That’s something that certainly should apply to this particular anonymous accuser.**

I did NOT hear you voice your opinion when it came to shmearing Rabbi Nosson Slifkin
who is ruined as well as his fammily, for life, because of unsubstatiated accusation and by our *so called choshuva BIG gedolim*
There are plenty of Genuine gedolim who were not on those signed papers as i am sure you are aware of
Did you voice your opinion there too? if yes show it too us and if not then shut your FAT trap.

Anonymous said...

Wow, it is shocking that The Jewish Press finally got an issue right!

FInally someone called a spade a spade, and a mesumad a mushumad, and an apikores such as UOJ and apikores.

THEY SAID WHAT HAD TO BE SAID, FOR A CHANGE.

It is rare that they are on the correct side of an issue, but they must get credit for saying what this is: a smear campaign.

kudos to the Jeiwsh Press and down with UOJ and those of his ilk

Anonymous said...

The fact that the JP sees fit to give public exposure to this blog is clear evidence that UOJ is having a major impact and that feathers have been ruffled. Good, Very Good.

Jason Maoz, and your predecessor, Steve Walz and the Klasses; where have you been all of these years on this issue of sex predators in our midst?

Answer: Nowhere.

You paid lip-service (pardon the pun) by running an Op-Ed article on this issue several weeks ago by Elliot Pasik, ESQ. Very little, very late. Your current editorial fulminations against UOJ and this blog would carry a lot more weight if you had been more front and center on this issue from the get-go.

Still time to repent, Jason.

If not go back to your weekly Overview column and diss The New York Times. No one could care less. They are what they are and and still have the best stock pages, which is all our chevra care about anyway.

Anonymous said...

In this weeks parsha the Torah teaches us;

“Vichee Yuzid Ish Al Rayahoo Lhurgi B’urmah, Maim Mizbichi Teekuchenu Lumoos.”

The point of “Maim Mizbichee,” is that even if he is a Cohen doing the Avodah he is not Putoor for punishment for his sins. No matter how nice, ehrlich, choshuv and capable he may appear to be, and no matter how distinguished the institution that employs him, he must still face justice. As the Gemara says;

“Yeekoiv Hadin Es Hahor.”

Nor does Halacha recognize a time limitation which would allow the passage of time to blunt the impact of these issues.

The vilification of accusers by the accused is nothing new.

“Hereesem Ben Pooti Zeh Shpeetaim Avi Eemoi Agalim Laavodah Zorah.”

This is what the Bnai Shimon said about Pinchas after he killed Zimri. However, Pinchus’ Mesiras Nefesh was rewarded by Hashem. Chur was also killed by the Eirev Rav for being Moichah by the Maaseh Ho’egel. Hashem rewarded him by making his grandson Betzalel the Boneh Hamishkan. It is clear that true Avodas Hashem can only take place after there has been Mesiras Nfesh to cleanse Klal Yisroel from Avairos.

The Zohar states that in the days of Ikvasa Demeshicha the Eeirav Rav will be in leadership positions and will terribly oppress the rest of Klal Yisroel. It states further that they will build Butai Kenasiyos and Butai Midrushos and use the Sefer Torah itself as their Avodah Zarah. When we see agents of a Torah instution, rather than seeking the truth or justice, engaging in vindictive and vicious conduct, seeking to destroy more lives, attempting to sully the victims and bury the truth; we understand what the Zohar is talking about.

“Uz Nidbiroo Yiraai Hashem Ish El Rayaahoo Vayakshev Hashem Vayishma.”

Anybody who has true Yiraas Shomayim in his heart needs to step back and ask themselves “Haker Nu Limee Hochosemes Ulimee Hapseelim,” who is right and who is wrong. The victims, or the aggressor and his protectors. The sounds we are hearing today are the “Kol Dimai Acheecha Tzoakim Ailai Min Haadamah.”

Rather than engaging in unseemly attempts to silence these voices, we should unite to confront this problem head on. These voices will not be stilled and will not go away.

Anonymous said...

For those who don't take these accusations seriously. Watch this video and see how these predators affect our kids.
Very difficult to watch.

http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/offender/brykslq.rm

Anonymous said...

Yup, tzebrochen.

Remember Daniel Levin.

Anonymous said...

As Albert Einstein stated:

"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."

Thus, the Jewish Press excoriates the methods used to expose a child molester while remaining silent about the underlying issue.

Will the Jewish Press have anything to say after Kolko is proven guilty?

Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

The case of Daniel Levin (and the other victims of Ephraim Bryks) really illustrates clearly how it is possible for someone to get away with such horrific crimes when the evidence is so clear. Not only did the Board in the Canadian congregation/school refuse to fire him but the accusers were shunned and their children asaulted. As the video shows, Bryks is a free man who enjoyed a prominent position as a member of the Vaad Horabbonim of Queens and continues to live with blood on his hands.

It's no wonder Kolko and others like him get away with murder while people are suffering, in the face of many who label them crazy, while defending these murderers.

Anonymous said...

Gross;

You're right, truly incredible that this rotzeach bryks still walks with intact knee-caps.

Can you imagine if he was Italian? He would be lying next to Jimmy Hoffa, under the goal-posts in the Giants end-zone in the Meadowlands.

The CBC documentary on bryks and Daniel Levin's parents is heart-breaking.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

There's a great article by David Kelsey at Jewshool.com, he's proven to be a great friend and a no nonsense in your face guy!

Thanks buddy!!!!!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Correction:
jewschool.com

Anonymous said...

shithead;

You sure do have an elegant way with words.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,
webe and endouj admitted publicly that he was wrong to accuse of mechallel shabbos.

ok, we now have mechallel shabbos out of the way.
Seems everything UOJ said to date is true.
Noone believed he would send letters, he did.
Noone believes he wasnt mechallel shabbos, even webe admits he was wrong.
next: apikores.
Please explain how UOJ is an apikores.
Making fun of jewish institutions and leaders who are corrupt is not proof.

There is a basis to believe that the zohar and kabbalah is bunk. See r' yaakov emden sefer on his investigation of zohar.
If you believe in that basis, and nowhere does it say that the zohar is one of 13 ikkarim, then you believe that chassidus is probably bunk as well.
does anyone think that any current rebbe is a real tzaddik?
Let me ask you.
How many of you lakewood guys make fun of YU rabbonim, or Rav Kook, or other MO rabbonim.
Imagine if MO is the correct derech, then Lakewood is a den of apikorses.

Anonymous said...

Jeez. If you have never been part of the physically, psychically, emotionally and spiritually abused members of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Crooklyn, you couldn’t possibly understand, especially if you are male, that you don’t drop a dime on the tribe. Legitimate or not, that’s how they brainwash you from day one…Teacher is hitting you with a stick ’cause you don’t know your place in chumash? Who is an 8-year-old gonna call if no one notices his black and blue marks? Had your ears twisted? Your parents, when you were little and went to complain, were told by the principles of the little two-bit child molesters that they would never find a yeshiva willing to take their kids if they “moisered.” Ten years ago, I ripped the lid off of this can of worms, and interestingly, todays’s Jewish Standard has an article on this very topic.
The toughest thing to teach Orthodox women to do, some of them beaten bloody, was to get them to call 911. And then there’s the statute of limitations, too. Someone should ASAP call Ed Gluck in BP and get hold of the persons in Hyne’s office who handled the three boys from Bobov who gang raped a kid who then committed suicide. They should be able to put this on the criminal track–and BTW, this menuval’s name popped up years ago, but no one would come forward. Do you guys know who to call for publicity? I do.

Anonymous said...

Bryks has a very prominent relative. How could this relative keep on preaching as if he has the answers to everything and he has this child molester in the family? Why doesn't he preach about this subject?

Anonymous said...

Who could watch the CBC documentary and not get enraged.

In Winnipeg which is not a right-wing chareidi community the whistleblowers were shunned and spat on.

We all know the reaction in our community, it would be difficult to marry of kids because the whistleblower would be accused of having a dirty mind.

If you listen to Rabbi Nossen Kaminetky's speach at Beth-El, his grandchildren are having trouble with shidduchim because their grandfather's book was banned. He wrote a book about people who are dead a half-century. Point a finger at a molester, you're doomed.

Bryks father-in-law. Lives around the corner from TT. Respectable guy, klal mensch, molester. They are all over the place. It has to stop!

http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Brenner_Lewis.html

P.S. poor Mrs. Bryks - husband and father are molesters.

Anonymous said...

While I totally agree with your blog, in terms of pointing out the wrongs in the Jewish Community around the world and trying to get them to do what is right, how is the JP wrong about what they said?

To send out an anonymous letter, without showing any proof about it, is wrong imo. I think a letter demonstrating a lawsuit underway or an investigation about these allegation into the school and a teacher there might of been better.

Many people have probably dismissed/ignored or have enraged by the letter because there is no proof. For all they know you are trying to smear the persons name.

You should try and get some of these people to officially come forward and be able to take this publicly so therefore people cannot mistake what you are trying to do here.

Nothing the JP said was wrong, there might of been better ways of going about this.

Anonymous said...

UOJ:

Cutting through all the "noise", the main objection to the accusations on your blog is that despite the stories and first person accounts no substantiation of the accusations has been put forward.

To me the curious point is this: If the accusations are false, given the wide circulation the anonymous letter has had in Brooklyn, the heated discussions on this and other blogs (yeshivaworld, enduoj etc) you would think that out of respect for its parent body that RM and tt would put out an open letter to its parent body denying the accusations.

No denial has been put out as far as i know.

Can it be, that on the advice of his lawyers RM and tt cannot put out such a denial because if they do so and it is proven false they have exposed themselves to legal liability ?

Food for thought.

Anonymous said...

TT Parent:

Margulies, Applegrad and Kolko have been busy. Busy attempting to intimidate and sidetrack victims and witnesses.

The issue of Kolko’s guilt or innocence is not even on their radar screen.

They simply don’t care.

Anonymous said...

get with the program, no one has denied the accusations or called them libelous and false. No one has sued for defamation. People have a problem with two things: that the issue is raised at all, after all orthodox people don't sin or have sexual thoughts/activities; and that uoj didn't say his name. Of course if he did say his name they would point out that he once got a parking ticket and therefore lost his ability to accuse anyone else.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

TT Parent,

The accusations are irrefutable facts not speculation.

We have two very prominent attorneys putting their reputations on the line..this is getting international coverage.

Margulies knows his days are numbered, any more lies out of him will just increase his liabilty!

Anonymous said...

Just curuious, what do think their game plan is? Margo is not stupid, what you think his next step is ?

Anonymous said...

The next step for him is to look for a very tall building in NYC

Anonymous said...

While we wait for something to happen, let's get back to some other issues in the orthodox community.

Anonymous said...

May 18, 2009...
UOJ...Three plus years since this post...some things have changed...even my cousin doesn't still believe that Yuddy is innocent.

Thank you for what you have done and chazzak.

The Agudah ignores gedolim when it suits them said...

The author of the book “Nishmas Avraham”, Rabbi Dr. A. Avraham, relates that he asked the illustrious rabbis of our generation, R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, R' Eliezer Waldenberg and R' Yosef Shalom Elyashiv about abuse, and all of them said that it is a mitzvah to report the abuse, and the person who does so is no “mosser.” Quite the contrary, the parents or family members or the teacher who commits the abuse, whether physical or sexual, is to be categorized as a “rodef,” an attacker, and one who reports a “rodef” is not to be classed as a “moser." Those same rabbis rule that even if, as a result, the child will be removed from his family and placed into a secular institution or adopted by secular parents, or – in cases abroad – even if he is placed in an institution of non-Jews – this is a matter of life and death. We must certainly strive to have the child not undergo such placement, but even if there is a chance it will happen, as noted, this is a matter of life and death (Nishmas Adam, Vol. 4, page 207).

R' Aron Schechter said...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DCGOA_RlajQ/ShFhtZVWB7I/AAAAAAAADoU/TgZOB8-CB2c/s1600-h/Telz.jpg

UOJ will love this!

I ignored the psak of R' Moishe Feinstein's beis din and now I tell the Telzers they are mechuyev to listen to beis din.

Joe Putz said...

I think Shafran is losing his grip on reality.

Because "Watchmen" the movie sounded so interesting after he seemed to be capitalizing on it's public recognition, I decided to see it.

The Rorschach character in the movie sports a torn, shmattah yeshivishe trench coat and an old dusty hat.

Didn't Shafran realize this will open himself up to even more ridicule?

Politically incorrect said...

Shmarya is very disturbed by the sefer quoting the gedolim to go to the police about child abuse. He is tying himself in knots trying to drey a "pshat" that the gedolim don't really mean that.

Chas vesholom that he shouldn't be able to continuing smearing true gedolei Torah as child killers.

Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi said...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3717637,00.html

Five residents of the Tlamim community in southern Israel were arrested Monday on suspicion of kidnapping and extorting Rabbi Nir Ben-Artzi, head of the "Talmei Geula" non-profit organization.

The men are accused of holding the rabbi against his will in Tiberias for three years.

The National Fraud Unit's southern district launched a covert investigation into the matter three months ago, after Rabbi Ben-Artzi had returned to his Tlamim home; during which, according to investigators, "credible" evidence was gathered.

The rabbi told police he was "exiled" from Tlamim to Tiberias by a number of "Talmei Geula" staffers as a "personal sacrifice to Israel".

The rabbi told police that while in captivity he slept on a dirty mattress, drank only water and ate stale bread.

"I wanted to see my wife and children, but they would not release me," he said after returning home. "Initially I thought it was all being done for the good of the Israeli nation, which is in dire straits, and that I was to pray and mortify myself for the nation. But it was unbearable."

"Talmei Geula" workers said Rabbi Ben-Artzi was suffering from a mysterious disease and asked to be cured through solitary prayer and asceticism. They claimed to be in possession of a signed document in which the rabbi allegedly admitted to asking to be "purified" after committing "illicit acts" while serving as the organization's rabbi.

Ben-Artzi told police he was forced to sign incriminating documents as a condition of his release.

The rabbi was a tractor driver from Gush Katif until 13 years ago, when he began to claim to have supernatural powers. He later became rabbi of the Tlamim community.

What's next for Paterson and Bloomberg caving in to Homos? said...

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/columnists/Bernard-Dineen-BBC-snub-for.5275900.jp

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering has issued The Pink Guide to Adoption for Lesbians and Gay Men, which describes anyone who believes children are best brought up by married parents as "retarded homophobes".

Jerusalem Post said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212387707&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter

Liberation from lust

May. 16, 2009

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich , THE JERUSALEM POST

The recent item in a Jerusalem Hebrew weekly that a downtown Internet café had opened a whole floor for young haredi men offering private booths for viewing pornographic videos was a titillating item for the average reader.

But for "Ya'acov" - an observant computer programmer living in the Jerusalem area who two years ago singlehandedly established a virtual "community" to help haredi men fight their addiction to porn - it brought only sadness. A happily married man with several children, Ya'acov had "personal experience among some family members" with this specific addiction and wanted to help sufferers.

His free English-language project, called Guard Your Eyes (at www.guardureyes.com and www.guardyoureyes.org), has already helped thousands.

THE WEB sites include 250 pages of information, all composed or collected by its founder. The site with the .com ending provided information such as how to filter out pornographic Web sites and Frequently Asked Questions, but the newer site is more dynamic and includes blogs and new articles. By the way, as his own sites sometimes use "forbidden" words, users may have to make it an exception so that filters allow access.

The project, says Ya'acov, has received the blessings of leading haredi rabbis who are aware of the problem in their communities. The project continues off tax-deductible donations and without help, but the man behind it says that despite the uncertainty, he is determined to reach more religious men and their families.

"I have seen the family problems that Internet pornography has caused. It is one of our generation's biggest tests. We have to learn to deal with it. Pornography available in a public place is much more difficult to obtain."

Ya'acov (who can be contacted by e-mail at eyes.guard@gmail.com) notes that nearly all modern Orthodox families are online at home. One rabbi Ya'acov quotes has stated that 80-90% of modern Orthodox men have been exposed to pornography. "But modern Orthodox don't make such a big deal of it because they are involved in the secular world, so it doesn't destroy the fabric of their community."

The rate of haredi (Lithuanian-style and hassidic) who have Internet access is difficult to pin down; he estimates a minimum of 25%. Since many haredi rabbis realize that Internet cannot be banned from homes merely by "prohibiting" it, efforts must be made to prevent its abuse and protect men from addiction; a small number of religious women are addicted to pornography as well, but it is much less attractive to them, Ya'acov says, as "women tend to prefer an emotional connection to men rather than only lust."

Pornography is "very powerful" and difficult to shake off for both religious and secular men, he continues. One can reach millions of images with a click of the mouse. "Once you start looking, you begin to think evil thoughts and become powerless. You can never get enough." Ya'acov says the pleasure centers in the brain and the secretion of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine are involved in the development of such addiction. "They can be more powerful than any drug. It doesn't happen overnight. Pleasuring oneself [masturbation] gradually blazes neuron pathways in the brain, causing a man to want repeated stimulation." Maybe, he suggests, genes are also involved.

If a man is raised religious and continues this way of life, says Ya'acov, he won't eat non-kosher food or violate Shabbat, but he could nevertheless get hooked on Internet porn. Men may let their curiosity get the better of them. After all, the Web has become a routine tool for obtaining information and also for Torah study. But haredim who develop an addiction to pornography "eat themselves up alive. They are sure they are dirty people and that God despises them. They had always considered themselves believing Jews, and here they are unable to control themselves. They feel like hypocrites, and may question their own faith. Sometimes they hide it from their wives for years."

THIS IS a "promiscuous generation," says Ya'acov, although he concedes that there is plenty of promiscuity mentioned in the Bible. "But the religious - and especially haredi - communities see the subject of sex as taboo and don't offer sex education to the younger generation until they are engaged. Many haredi youths have no idea how babies are made, even though their mothers are frequently pregnant. Sex is part of life, but Judaism recognizes it as kosher only in a holy context."

He says he "tries to use the power of the Internet against itself." So far, more than 700 people have become anonymous members of the "community" and automatically receive daily support (called hizuk in Hebrew) on how to cope with their addiction and eventually free themselves of it. About half of them are Israeli, with the rest from the US and other English-speaking countries. Ya'acov says he aims to make the information and support available in Hebrew and other languages. "We are building a forum in Hebrew for producing material for a Web site."

As the Web sites cater to the religious community, many of the "treatment" techniques are based on the wisdom of Jewish sages and the desire to get closer to God. However, says Ya'acov, his approach uses or endorses all the contemporary tools for breaking addictions, such as psychotherapy, medication to minimize libido, 12-Step groups, online filters and accountability partners. The sites also have a "Wall of Honor" for members (using false names) to be recognized for abandoning their addiction. An English forum (one for men and one for women) allows people to voice their feelings and offer advice. One man writes: "You can't wrestle with a pig and not get dirty. The thoughts will come - accept that. It doesn't mean anything. At those times, try to just acknowledge that they popped into your head, wish them a friendly 'Shalom Aleichem!' and then move on to try and do something else. Worrying about them or doing something with the express purpose of getting rid of them just won't work. Pray to God and say: 'I know it's my fault that I have these thoughts. I don't want them. Help me to distract myself.' "

"The 12 Steps isn't Jewish," Ya'acov explains. "It was launched in the 1930s to help alcoholics, based on moral principles that when implemented could turn their lives around." The technique can also be applied to pornography addiction. Abandoning the addiction is gradual, like "learning the Alef-Bet before learning Kabbala or Mussar [ethics literature]," he maintains. "We try to give people the tools they need to end their addiction. First you must become humble, want to make amends and take a personal accounting. Maybe addiction could turn out to be a gift from God, because you have to examine yourself from the beginning and start learning all over again."

IN ADDITION to daily support on the Web, GuardYourEyes also offers a variety of other services, including anonymous phone conferences and handbooks. Suitable psychotherapists are presented in a recommended list.

The site has begun to be used by religious community leaders and educators who can download handbooks and distribute them among yeshiva students, says Ya'acov. "I would be very happy if there were support groups in yeshivas for those who need them if it were done discreetly."

There are a few other sites, such as www. jewishsexuality.com, but it has only one page of material on pornography addiction. "There is nothing online like this," maintains Ya'acov. "It is a revolution. I have hundreds of testimonials from people who say they have been helped, and even that their lives have been turned around. They learn that they are not just weak-willed; they understand that it is an addiction, an illness, and they are anonymously introduced to people who are worse off. I know the service is important also because numerous Jewish sites have posted links to GuardYourEyes."

One member of his Web community wrote to Ya'acov: "I wasn't talked to about this until I was caught two years after I was already addicted. I bet most don't realize it's an addiction similar to alcoholism."

Another confides: "Over the years, I have tried nearly every conceivable method of trying to break this habit on my own, but none worked. So far, the thing that seems to be working best for me is just going on this site and browsing through the forums and posts, which are inspirational and infuse me with strength. There are other people who are going through the same trials as I am. God willing, we will all be successful." A third writes: "Your Web site is like a rope thrown to a drowning person. You've saved me from the depths."

Ya'acov would welcome suitable volunteers, and states that he won't rest "until every religious Jew with such a problem understands that he is not alone and can get help."

Requires Emergency intervention by UOJ! said...

What does this mean for Mondrowitz?

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212401445&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday rescinded the abuse conviction of a foreign worker in order to allow him to remain in the country.

The father of two was convicted of abusing a four-year-boy in a kindergarten he ran.

In the event of a criminal conviction, the Immigration Authority is obligated to deport the offender and his family, so Monday's court decision allows the man, his wife and two children to remain in Israel.

Dr. Yitzhak Kedman, director of the National Council for the Child, called the move outrageous and said it set a precedent to foreign workers to commit violence and other crimes.

Fartscroll said...

It's always great to start a "national event" that sells more of our books penned by molesters & thieves.

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c44_a15748/The_Arts/Books.html

ArtScroll Announces Children’s Jewish Book Month

ArtScroll, a leading Jewish publisher, announced this week that it is starting Children’s Jewish Book Month. The event will take place each May, the month in which National Children’s Book Week is marked, and will feature related programs designed to get kids excited about book and reading. ArtScroll’s vice president, Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz, said in a release that Children’s Jewish Book Month would have the added goal of “introducing Jewish children to the many wonderful books out there that speak to their own culture and traditions.”

Archie Bunker said...

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/11179

Obama’s Jewish Problem

By Joan Swirsky

Monday, May 18, 2009

Assemblyman Vito Lopez said...

I'm the putz in bed with the Catholic Church & Agudah to fight to protect child molesters.

http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2008/12/vitos-lopez-incumbency-party-mayor-and.html

Bloomberg's Christmas Day visit to the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center lunch, where he was greeted at the door by Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez. . . . This was the second time in about a month that Bloomberg made the trek to Bushwick to pay tribute to Lopez *** Mis-used for self-gratification? Above is Vito's paper where every single story is about Vito Lopez, paid for by public funds ($230,000)

Mr. Lopez has built the prototype of the modern inner-city political machine, . . . largely by exploiting it's links to a social-service organization that Mr. Lopez founded and that is now the largest employer in his neighborhood. *** All in the Lopez family - Judgeships for family members appoints Vito's daughter to judgeship ***

The Above Mentioned Paper (where every single story is about Vito Lopez) is paid for by the Bushwick Senior Citizen Non Profit which Vito has funded with millions of dollars of member item funds - Vito was also a paid consultant for the Bushwick nonprofit at the same time he was funding them as an assemblyman *** Double Dipping Vito *** Vito Invites Seniors for Free Holiday Dinners at the Bushwick Center.

Three activists have filed a complaint with the Brooklyn DA, alleging Lopez used a fake address on his voter-registration form and doesn't live in his Brooklyn district ***

A last-minute campaign mailing is accusing Hasidic Jews and other "powerful interests" of opposing City Council member Diana Reyna . . . Vito Lopez sent out a letter to voters in the mostly Hispanic section of the Brooklyn district warning that their future is at stake because "many powerful interests, like the real-estate industry and the Hasidim community . . ." Fernando Ferrer compared the "disgusting" letter to the racially tinged campaign against him in the 2001 mayor's race" - NY Post, 9/9/03

Anonymous said...

MANHATTAN (CN) - A federal jury on Friday convicted former Ernst & Young partner James Gansman, an attorney, of passing inside information to investment banker Donna Murdoch, who reaped more than $300,000 from it. Murdoch already pleaded guilty and testified at Gansman's trial, in which he was found guilty on six of 10 counts.
Gansman obtained the inside information from Ernst & Young's work advising companies on mergers and acquisitions. He was the partner in charge of human resources consulting that Ernst & Young provided for the deals, prosecutors said.
Gansman, 48, of New York, N.Y., faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine on each count at his Oct. 1 sentencing.

Alter bochur molester said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/us/26juvenile.html

The New York Times has a story about Donald Schmidt, who sodomized and drowned a 3-year-old when he was still a teenager. California's juvenile justice system can hold prisoners until they're 25 -- or longer if authorities believe the person has a mental problem and can't control their behavior. Which is why Schmidt, 37, is still in a system built for teens.

Akiva Daniel Abraham from the Albany area said...

Colonie NY is where Rubashkin eidim Yanky Weiss was arrested for child molestation.

http://capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/369973/saratoga-winners-owner-arrested-for-arson/Default.aspx

COLONIE, N.Y. -- Police say the owner of Saratoga Winners is to blame for the fire that destroyed the former club last month.

Colonie Police have arrested Akiva Abraham, 43. He's charged with felony arson, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.

Police had suspected arson from the beginning and now forensic tests confirm a chemical fire accelerant was present both inside and outside the building.

Investigators say Abraham used a fraudulent mortgage loan to take an out an insurance policy before the fire.

Abraham is in the Albany County Jail. So far, he's been denied bail.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

I just confirmed that there has been 16 NEW allegations of child sex-abuse in various yeshivas in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel.

The UOJ team is on it!

Akiva Abraham is also a molester! said...

http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/news/2009/05/16/4183246.htm

Owner held in club fire: Police say troubled former gynecologist set blaze to collect insurance money

COLONIE, May 16, 2009 (Albany Times Union - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A month after acquiring Saratoga Winners, town police said its owner set it on fire to collect the insurance money.

This isn't the first time Akiva D. Abraham, 43, of 316 Miller Road, Rexford, is in the public spotlight. A former gynecologist, he lost his medical license in 2005 for sexual contact with a patient and other misconduct.

Abraham is charged with arson in the third degree, insurance fraud and falsifying business records in the first degree, all felonies. Police say he acquired the building for free from its former owners Nickole and Steven Sutliff, who were facing foreclosure. Abraham then claimed he had a $475,000 mortgage on the place.

"No money was exchanged," said Police Lt. John Van Alstyne. "He had that building insured for $475,000. It was vacant. There was nothing in it. His scheme was to get an insurance policy on a vacant and abandoned building for the purpose of setting the fire." The fire, which destroyed the former concert hall, was considered suspicious from the start. It began at 3:15 a.m. April 30 in a vacant building that had no power. Investigators using a State Police dog found accelerants had been used inside and outside the building, which laboratory tests confirmed, Van Alstyne said.

When police learned Abraham had such a large mortgage on the property, that added to their suspicions; Van Alstyne said $475,000 "for that building seems excessive, which was another indicator." Abraham was arraigned in Colonie Town Court Friday night and was ordered held without bail in Albany County Jail. He said nothing to Town Justice Andrew Sommers during the brief appearance.

The arrest is the result of an investigation by town police, Colonie Fire Services, State Police, the Albany County district attorney's office, the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, the Albany County fire coordinator, and the New York State Insurance Dept.

Abraham had operated an gynecological office in Clifton Park, but his license was revoked Aug. 2, 2005. State Health Department records list the reasons as "guilty of engaging in conduct which evidence moral unfitness; practicing fraudulently; filing false reports; failing to main accurate records; having a psychiatric condition which impairs the ability to practice medicine and negligence on more than one occasion." A ruling in the case by the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct states one doctor who examined Abraham described him "as a self-centered, deceitful, manipulative and amoral individual who has little or no capacity to empathize with others. She found he had a history of breaking rules and that he believed he was not bounds by the norms of society or his profession. Because of the longstanding, entrenched nature of the disorder, and because of Respondent's rigid personality, there is little chance for real change from cognitive psychotherapy." Police were aware Abraham had been stripped of his medical license, Van Alstyne said, but it is not relevant to the arson case. There were no charges involved, he said, and Abraham has no criminal history.

"We're aware of it but it really has no bearing on our current case," he said.

After he lost his medical license, police said, Abraham began to refer to himself as Daniel Abraham, using his middle name. He became owner of First Call Staffing, an employment firm in Clifton Park. A few days after the fire, a Times Union reporter found him in the office with papers piled and strewn in every direction.

Archie Bunker said...

I think this website is run by David Brock, a jerk with many similarities to Shmarya, who is a former Republican turned Left Wing Republican-basher. The Wall St Journal used to write about his lies all the time until it got boring

http://mediamatters.org/research/200905060036

O'Reilly smears hate crimes bill with false claim that pedophiles could be protected

Nissenbaum is from Flatbush said...

New York (May 11, 2009)

By WebCPA Staff

Two current and two former Ernst & Young partners were found guilty of tax fraud and conspiracy charges related to tax shelters.

The four men were charged in May 2007 with developing and marketing tax shelters for wealthy individuals who were making over $10 million a year. They set up a group at E&Y in 1998 to develop tax shelters known at first as VIPER (Value Ideas Produce Extraordinary Results) and later as SISG (Strategic Individual Solutions Group).

A Manhattan jury found the four men guilty on all counts after a two-month trial. They included former tax partners Robert Coplan of Plano, Texas, and Brian Vaughn of Calhoun, La. The other two partners are on administrative leave: Martin Nissenbaum of Brooklyn and Richard Shapiro of Rye Brook, N.Y.

Tomato Fresser said...

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=43407

Federal prosecutors announced another guilty plea Tuesday stemming from an ongoing probe into a conspiracy in the California tomato growing industry that authorities say drove up food prices across the nation.

Robert C. Turner Jr., 59, a former corporate purchasing manager at B&G Foods Inc. in Parsipanny, N.J., pleaded guilty to two counts of honest services mail fraud in connection with the investigation.

Turner admitted receiving about $65,000 in bribes from Randall Lee Rahal, a former sales broker at SK Foods, a Lemoore-based company that grows and processes products like tomato paste and diced tomatoes.

Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown said Rahal bribed Turner from at least 2004 to 2008, hoping to ensure his employer bought only from SK Foods and paid inflated prices for its tomato-based products.

Rahal also is the owner and president of New Jersey-based Intramark USA Inc., a wholesaler of food ingredients, including processed tomatoes grown in California. Prosecutors say Rahal worked with SK Foods to fix prices and rig bids across the country in violation of antitrust laws.

Rahal, the first person charged in the probe, pleaded guilty in December to racketeering, money laundering and antitrust charges. He also agreed to cooperate with investigators and forfeit more than $600,000.

As part of his plea agreement, Turner agreed Tuesday to pay $65,198 in restitution to B&G Foods and Nabisco Inc., where he worked as a purchasing manager in the 1990s and also accepted bribes, authorities said.

His attorney, John Azzarello, did not return an after-hours call for comment.

Turner is scheduled to be sentenced in August. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

In addition to Rahal and Turner, three others have pleaded guilty in connection to the probe:

— Jennifer Lou Dahlman, SK Foods' former records and business analyst, pleaded guilty in February to shipping moldy tomato products across state lines.

— James Richard Wahl Jr., a former Frito-Lay purchaser from Dallas, pleaded guilty in February to accepting $160,000 in bribes in exchange for steering processed tomato products contracts to SK Foods instead of its competitors.

— Robert Watson, a Kraft senior purchasing manager of White Plains, N.Y. pleaded guilty in January to accepting $158,000 in bribes from Rahal.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

I am pleased to report that the community of Ramat Bet Shemesh is organizing - to rid themselves of the plague of child sex-abuse. Recently, a group of 200 women gathered to hear a female child therapist address the illness infesting Jewish communities globally.

They are determined to address this issue vigorously by contacting the police immediately upon becoming aware of any allegations for them to investigate, confronting the alleged abuser (male and female), confronting the school employing the alleged perpetrator, and taking the police report to the secular media in Israel among other things.

CHAZAK RAMAT BET SHEMESH - L'MAAN ACHAI, PARENTS AND ACTIVISTS - RABBI AVROHOM LEVENTHAL!

CHAZAK U'BARUCH!

UOJ

Ahavah said...

I'm only surprised that the social terrorism in observant community still surprises people. It should be fairly common knowledge by now.

Archie Bunker said...

Here goes Shmarya again.

After I was blocked from posting on his blog for several months, I "snuck back in" as he put it. One of his supporters angrily yelled at him that he is an opportunist who only let's me on once in while since my posts generate a lot of activity from anti-religious readers, which is good for his bottom line. Shmarya then leveled several "warnings" at me which amounted to a whole new set of rules, enforceable against Archie Bunker only, that are not part of his 5 rules for any other reader and which get me kicked out for saying anything he decides he doesn't like.

Since it was inevitable that he would kick me out for speaking the truth, here I am again, banished from Failed Messiah for the umpteenth time.

Tzadekes in Pelz said...

A nurse's aide at a West Babylon nursing home was charged Monday with abusing an 80-year-old female patient by tying her legs together during an eight-hour shift, without supervision or authorization, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.

The aide, Candice Pelzer, of 15 Melody Lane, Amityville, who was working at the Berkshire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, surrendered to investigators from Cuomo's Medicaid fraud unit, and was charged with endangering the welfare of a physically disabled or incompetent person and violating the public health law, the attorney general said.

Pelzer pleaded not guilty Monday at arraignment in District Court in Central Islip and was released without bail, a spokesman for Cuomo said. A woman answering the phone at the nursing home said the management had no comment.

Ralph Herzka said...

I hope this isn't the same Alan Fishman who worked for me at Meridien.

http://consumerist.com/5239939/brooklyn-cab-driver-convinces-you-he-has-a-hedge-fund-steals-20-million

Oh look, another Mini-Madoff! Meet Alan Fishman, 49, a livery cab driver from Brooklyn, NY who convinced people he was a hedge fund mastermind.

From the Daily News:

Alan Fishman, 49, was arrested Thursday night along with Daniel Ledven, 37, of Cresskill, N.J., on securities and wire fraud charges in a scheme that dates back to 2003. A third defendant, Gary Gelman, 39, of Brooklyn, remains on the loose.

Prosecutors say the trio raked in millions by conning victims into believing that A.R. Capital Group, which once had offices at 39 Broadway, was plowing their hard-earned cash into international real estate ventures and leveraged trading.

The swindlers apparently hooked investors with cold calls, doctored statements showing big returns, and fabricated biographies touting their investing experience.

Shea Fishman said...

No relation

http://www.hedgefund.net/publicnews/default.aspx?story=10016

A New York City taxi driver and an associate were arrested and charged with bilking investors out of $20 million for a fraudulent hedge fund operation.

Alan Fishman, 49, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Daniel Ledven, 37, of Creskill, N.J., were arrested Thursday and charged with securities fraud, the New York U.S. Attorney said in a statement. Gary Gelman, 39, who is Fishman’s nephew, was also charged with the same scheme, but is still at large.

Each of them faces 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine, if they are convicted.

Arthur Gershfeld, an attorney for Fishman, told HedgeFund.net because of the ongoing nature of the case, he could not make a statement at this time. An attorney for Ledven did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Fishman set up A.R. Capital Group in 2002 with his nephew. Although fund sales brochures said that the fund invested in “currency trading, distressed securities, short selling, real estate investments, market neutral, special situations, debt obligations, multi strategy and funds of funds,” the only investment was in three Ukrainian companies and a Ukrainian money market fund.

Fishman also told investors that managed a “successful transportation business” before setting up his hedge fund and had a college degree in finance. Although it was true that he was a cab driver, the college degree in finance was a fiction, prosecutors charged.

At least from the two investors that the FBI spoke to get information for the criminal case, it appears as though A.R. Capital targeted retirees from around the country. One investor was a retired 65-year-old from Ohio, while the other was 73 and lived in South Dakota, according to court documents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated A.R. Capital in 2006 and issued a subpoena for records on Sept. 7, 2006. The fund abruptly shut down, investors lost all their money and the owner disappeared, the government said.

What happened between the SEC investigation and the criminal charges is unclear. An SEC spokesman wouldn’t confirm or deny the earlier investigation, in keeping with the agency’s policies.

Sec Chairman Mary Schapiro has said that her office is actively investigating 150 hedge funds. Last week, the SEC brought two fraud cases against hedge funds: one against Ruderman Capital Management in Beverly Hills, Calif., the other against Stamford, Conn.-based Ponta Negra Group. On Friday, the FBI arrested Ponta Negra Group’s founder, Francesco Rusciano, 27, and charged him with criminal fraud.

Boog gets results said...

ALBANY — The distribution of federal stimulus money by Gov. David Paterson is being criticized by Republicans and good-government groups, who warn that the process lacks transparency and public oversight.

The state is expected to receive $24.6 billion in federal stimulus money over the next two years, and Paterson has launched a Web site that allows the public to track how the money is spent. He has also created a Cabinet to oversee the funds.

But some groups say the announcements about projects come after the decisions are made, leaving the public with no clear understanding of how a project was selected. Paterson has toured the state in recent weeks to announce millions of dollars in federal funding for local projects.

Alter Kacker said...

Insurance agent, 71, admits robbing bank

WHITE PLAINS — A 71-year-old insurance agent has admitted he stole $5,900 from a suburban bank. Police say he wore Groucho Marx-style glasses as a disguise.

Edward Solomon pleaded guilty Wednesday in Westchester County Court to third-degree robbery. He likely will receive time served and probation.

Solomon lived in a large house in Ossining and used his Lexus SUV as a getaway car after the Jan. 16 heist in Peekskill.
When he was arrested, Peekskill police Chief Eugene Tumolo theorized many people with comfortable lifestyles would resort to "extreme measures" in a recession.

Defense lawyer Barry Warhit says the crime should be viewed in the context of family tragedy. A relative of Solomon's had committed suicide a month earlier.

7.8 Earthquake said...

Not only did Agudah honor Mr. Gay Pusher Bloomberg to speak at the dinner, but fawning Zweibel got Pro Gay Shmucky Chucky Schumer to speak from the podium of the convention.

They spoke LOUD AND PROUD. While the Agudah's Moetzes sat there in SILENCE.


Here are some quotes from Yeshiva World:



“Honorable” Chucky Schumer was a surprise guest speaker at the Agudah’s annual dinner last night.

Besides for making an utter fool of himself as he tried to show off how many Hebrew words he knows, he mentioned the unforgettable “Rabbi Moshe Sherrer, shlit”a”. Ha.

Then Chucky had the gall to go on and tell the crowd that his last name is really “Shomer”, (which was Americanized in Ellis Island or something). He mentioned this tidbit of his family history in order to point out that he is a “shomer”, a watchman of the Jewish people and will stand up for us.

Well, Mr Schumer, NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND UP FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE! HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS US LAST NIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GEDOLEI YISROEL AND OUR LAY LEADERS AND PROCLAIM THAT YOU ARE A SHOMER WHEN YOU GO AND UNDERMINE THE MORAL FABRIC OF THIS COUNTRY ON A DAILY BASIS WITH YOUR FAR LEFT WING AGENDA?

You make me sick.

(And I am dissapointed in the Agudah, an organization I have the utmost admiration and gratitude for, for inviting both Schumer and Bloomberg to the dinner. Both are Jews that are both pushing for to’eva “marriage” which is an anathema to us as Jews. How can we pay homage to the people who pose a grave threat to our society? When do we stand up and say no, we will not honor you, even if it means losing your support and help with programs, bcause this is a key issue for our community?!)

***********************************

Agudas Yisroel has aterrible conflict of interest, with respect to Government programs in the millions of dollars.

Since these programs are secured through politicians, like Schumer and Bloomberg, the Aguda feels compelled to repay these politicians in the political currency of free publicity and honors at their dinners.

They are guilty of the same scandalous behavior as the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic college, who invited Obama to receive an honorable degree at its commencement exercises, despite his open promotion of partial-birth abortion, a procedure that is anathema to religious Catholics.

It’s about time tht the leaders of Aguda stopped embarrassing the Gedolei Yisroel by seating these low-life politicians next to them at public events.

Aguda should take care of its business with Lieberman, Schumer, Silver, and Bloomberg in their Government office. They will get what’s coming to them, because they represent a solid and growing community of Orthodox Jews.

There is no need for groveling and sychofancy.

**********************************

Why do you say he “SOLD OUT”?

The exact opposite is true.

At the fact that the ENTIRE MOETZES was sitting on the dais, and said NOT ONE WORD OF PROTEST to Rabbi Zweibel allowing this unscheduled speaker, shows aquiesence to Mr. Schumer’s vocal position on this issue.

Mr. Schumer “BOUGHT IN” to Agudah’s feelings on this matter. The Chillul Hashem is astounding. This Chillul Hashem will surely be repaid, and rear its ugly head and bite us.

Why should the Kessin family protest to Mr. Schumer? Call the Agudah office first.

An embarrassing day to be a frum Jew.‎

***********************************

THE SPLIT IN AGUDATH ISRAEL HAS BEGUN!!!

FINALLY!!!!

Flatbush SY Putz Thieves said...

http://www.fox44.net/Global/story.asp?S=10257580

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is suing a New York City-based home warranty company that he says cheated customers in at least 32 states out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cuomo has a temporary restraining order against National Home Protection Inc. and 3 of its principals - Leo Serrur, David Seruya, and Victor Hakim.

They sell home warranty plans promising to repair or replace consumers' household appliances and systems if they break. Pending court action, the company can't sell any more out of New York.

Cuomo isn't sure how many people are affected. But he says customers often spent hundreds of dollars on a warranty and then had to pay for repairs when National refused to honor contracts.

The company didn't return calls Monday.

For more information call the consumer fraud hot line at 800-771-7755.

Yehudah said...

Dear OUJ, if what you write is true, may Hashem bless you in all of your endevours.

But,where is the proof that Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky, Rav Pinchas Scheinberg, Rav Elya Svei, Rav Dovid COhen aided child molesters?

Do you have any proof? Witnesses?

I'm not a gedolim worshipper, but I would like a little bit of proof before declaring these revered Rabbis frauds.

If you have some, I will. So please furnish some proof, sir.

Kindest regards,
Yehudah

Malach HaMovies said...

Latest Agudah Screed ...



"The challenges and pitfalls of one generation are not those of another." And with that introduction, the Rebbe chose the occasion of Agudas Yisroel's 87th anniversary dinner to address two painful social issues facing the observant Jewish world at present.



First, however, he reminded his listeners that what makes Agudas Yisroel special is that "it seeks the truth of Torah" and discerns it in the understanding of Gedolei Torah. That determination to divine what is proper for Klal Yisroel "resists even well-meaning daas baalei batim," Rabbi Perlow proclaimed, and certainly "the bloggers and the picketers, presumptuous promoters" of the notion that "they know better what is good for the Jews."



"A serious issue" has arisen in our community, the Rebbe went on. "Individuals have been hurt and deserve redress, acknowledgment and empathy." There is a need, the Rosh Agudas Yisroel continued, "for tikkun ha'ovar" - correcting the past - and for addressing the future, "creating means to guide against wrongdoing to children."



Not many people, Rabbi Perlow noted, know of the countless hours spent by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel and the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah over the past two years discussing the many complex facets, including the implications "for mosdos haTorah."



"No one really knows the sensitivity that went into this entire process," over the course of many meetings regarding "this painful parsha."



He called his listeners to carefully read and comprehend the joint statement that was issued several weeks ago by Agudas Yisroel and Torah Umesorah, reflecting the conclusion of the rabbonim at their helms. "It was carefully drafted," he averred, "and is not to be misread or treated cavalierly."



That statement made clear that the signatory organizations fully acknowledge the horror of abuse, "the devastating long-term scars it all too often creates," and the fact that "for too long many victims have suffered alone." It declared that Agudas Yisroel and Torah Umesorah would have "no objection to legislation designed to give victims of abuse greater recourse against perpetrators. Nor would we object to extending statutes of limitations for criminal proceedings against perpetrators." But it objected to legislation that, due to its proposed year-long total suspension of the statute of limitations for civil suits against institutions, could, with the proliferation of lawsuits that might come in its wake, "destroy schools, houses of worship that sponsor youth programs, summer camps and other institutions that are the very lifeblood of our community."



The second contemporary issue addressed by the Rebbe at the Agudah dinner involved an issue born of the constant balancing a Torah-faithful community has to undertake when living in a larger culture with very different ideals, some of them even "repugnant to our sacred values."



"We live in a malchus shel chesed," Rabbi Perlow asserted, "and we appreciate all that it has done for us." At the same time, though, he continued, "we must proclaim Sheim Shomayim loud and clear," and must declare "our opposition and strong protest" against efforts to "change the meaning of marriage" - the agenda of legislation currently before the New York State legislature.



The Rosh Agudas Yisroel then turned his listeners' attention to the terrible loss the Torah world had suffered mere months earlier upon the petira of Reb Elya Svei, zt"l, the Philadelphia Rosh HaYeshiva and long-time elder member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. The challenge facing the Torah world today, he said, "is now greater," as Rabbi Svei had so deeply invested himself in, and felt achrayus for, inyonei tzibbur.



The need now, he continued, is for further investment of the olam haTorah's kochos into work on behalf of the klal, and an invigorated sense of achrayus on the part of all who carry the banner of Torah for undertaking efforts on behalf of the tzibbur. Reb Elya, zt"l, the Rebbe noted, undertook his responsibilities at the Agudah "as a link" to the great Lakewood Rosh HaYeshiva Rav Aharon Kotler, zt"l, and "a bridge" to a "pristine" past. "Tzaddik ovad, lidoro ovad." - "The loss of a righteous man is his generation's loss."



The Agudas Yisroel dinner began with remarks by Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel - his first at an Agudah dinner in his position as the organization's executive vice president. Rabbi Zwiebel took note of the constant growth of Agudas Yisroel as a force for kiddush Hashem nationwide, referencing not only the group's Washington Office but regional offices in states across the country. He then focused on New York City, where Agudas Yisroel is headquartered, pointing out how the personal histories of the parents or grandparents of so many in the room - himself included - are bound up with the city. And how New York has today become home to over 240 elementary and secondary Jewish schools, servicing more than 88,000 children, "kein yirbu."



Acknowledging that Agudas Yisroel has had, and likely always will have, "disagreements, even serious ones," with local governmental officials, "on balance, we've been able to work with leaders" of city government to benefit both the Jewish community and New York itself. With that, Rabbi Zwiebel introduced Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York and the evening's guest speaker, pointing out how helpful to the Orthodox Jewish community Mr. Bloomberg has been, on issues like the protection of bris milah, aid to private schools and security for religious and educational institutions.



Mayor Bloomberg began his remarks by imagining his elderly mother's reaction when he calls her to tell her that he sat on a dais with members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah that evening. "Wow!" was his guess. He imagined that his late grandfather, a rabbi, would have been similarly impressed at the venue at which he was speaking.



With Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu set to meet with President Barack Obama the next day, Mayor Bloomberg recalled the President's comment during the presidential campaign that "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."



"I hope," said Mr. Bloomberg, "that the President's remark will be in his mind tomorrow."



The New York Mayor went on to speak about the state of the city, and how, despite the "tough times" it is undergoing, "I find it hard not to be optimistic." He recounted the drop in the crime rate and contrasted the Crown Heights of two decades ago with what he called "a safe neighborhood" today. He also proclaimed accomplishments and determination in the realm of affordable housing - an issue of great interest to the observant Jewish community - and economic opportunity plans.



Acknowledging that some of the Orthodox community's needs "are unique" and may not always fit into the existing structure of governmental responsibilities, "if there is any way we can help, we will."



Honorees at the dinner included: Rabbi Avrohom Halpern, who received the Rabbi Moshe Sherer Memorial Award, for lifelong devotion to Klal Yisroel; The Jewish Observer, which was honored as the recipient of the Hagaon Rav Aharon Kotler Memorial Award, for distinguished service to Torah; Irwin Mehl, z"l, whose family accepted the Reb Elimelech Tress Memorial Award in tribute to Mr. Mehl's role in preserving the legacy of the Shearis HaPleitah; and Binyomin Berger, who received the Moreinu Yaakov Rosenheim Memorial Award, for distinguished service to Agudath Israel.



Avodas Hakodesh awardees were Ronald Coleman, Yankie Klein, Yosef Rapaport and Dovid Winiarz. Rabbi Raymond Haber was the recipient of the Wolf Friedman Leadership Award. Shimon Lefkowitz serves as dinner chairman, and Meir Lichtenstein as co-chairman.

Anonymous said...

A New Jersey man has been sentenced on a sex assault charge, but not before being pummeled in a courthouse corridor by the mother of one of his victims.

The woman attacked 39-year-old Pascual Gonzalez of Roxbury in the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown on Monday, tearing the buttons off his shirt before being restrained by sheriff's officers.

Gonzalez was not injured and shortly afterward was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl last year and harassing a second 14-year-old girl. He must also register as a Megan's Law offender and is subject to lifelong parole supervision.

The woman has not been charged.

Mamash Hilarious said...

http://libn.com/politbureau/2009/05/18/rabbi-unhinged-at-anti-gay-marriage-rally/

Rabbi Yehuda Levin at an anti-gay rally organized by State Senator Diaz. Shmarya and and his pro-gay blogger friend who posted this are of course going nuts.

Capitol Hill yenta said...

Days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., charged that she was misled by the CIA in 2002 about the use of waterboarding, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, says he wants her to provide evidence that the agency did so or apologize for her accusation.

Moetzes Resign! said...

British MP's Demand Speaker Resign

New York Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

By SARAH LYALL

LONDON - Battered and in grave political peril after a series of humiliating disclosures about the liberties they take with their expense accounts, members of Parliament vented their frustration on their own presiding officer on Monday, ...

NY State State Commission on Public "Integrity" imitates the Agudah said...

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/director-of-state-ethics-panel-resigns/?hp

Herbert Teitelbaum, the executive director of the State Commission on Public Integrity, is resigning.

His decision follows a stinging report last week from the state inspector general, Joseph Fisch, which accused Mr. Teitelbaum of leaking sensitive information about an investigation of the Spitzer administration. The report called for his resignation.

The governor also asked for Mr. Teitelbaum to step down, along with the 12 sitting commissioners, who have refused. Since they serve fixed terms, their refusals have led to a standoff. Looking for a way out, the governor proposed on Monday to overhaul the commission itself, but he would need the support of the Legislature.

Mr. Teitelbaum, whose resignation is effective June 24, does not go quietly. In a four-page letter, [pdf] he urged the commissioners “to continue their principled stand in opposition to the governor’s call for their wholesale resignation.”

Rubashkin claimed the same thing about 13 year old Mexican workers said...

Newspapers in China last week carried reports on a government official who was let off with a fine simply because he claimed he had not known that the 13-year-old girl he paid to have sex with was underage.

The man, Lu Yumin, a local tax bureau official in Sichuan province's Yibin county, was arrested on charges of child rape, but was convicted only of visiting a prostitute and fined 5,000 yuan ($730).

Central Imbecile Agency under Obama said...

Filed at 8:02 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- CIA Director Leon Panetta said Monday the United States does not know the location of all of Pakistan's nuclear weapons but is "confident" the country has them secure.

Yudi Kuklo said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/business/19surgeon.html

May 19, 2009

Senator Seeks Data on Doctor Accused by Army of Falsifying a Product Study

By BARRY MEIER and DUFF WILSON

A top Republican lawmaker has opened an inquiry into a former Walter Reed Army Medical Center doctor whom the Army has accused of falsifying a medical study involving a product made by Medtronic, a company for whom he works as a paid consultant.

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, released letters Monday seeking information about the physician, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo. The letters were sent late Friday to Walter Reed officials, two medical journals and the head of Washington University in St. Louis, where Dr. Kuklo works as an associate professor in the medical school.

The New York Times reported last week that a British medical journal had retracted an article by Dr. Kuklo earlier this year after learning from Army officials that he had, among other things, forged the names of four other doctors he cited as the study’s co-authors.

Army investigators determined that Dr. Kuklo’s article had overstated the benefits of a Medtronic bone-growth product, called Infuse, that was used at Walter Reed to treat American soldiers who had suffered severe lower leg injuries in Iraq.

Army officials also cited discrepancies in the data cited by Dr. Kuklo, saying he had described more injuries than Walter Reed records showed.

Dr. Kuklo, who worked at Walter Reed from 2003 to 2007, has declined to respond to numerous telephone calls and e-mail messages seeking comment. Officials of Washington University have also declined to say whether they are investigating Dr. Kuklo

Obama and Pelosi want to tax you to death said...

May 18 (Bloomberg) -- New taxes on employer-provided health insurance and items such as sugar-sweetened drinks may be needed to pay for a U.S. health-care overhaul, according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Other possible tax increases include an extension of the Medicare payroll tax to all state and local government employees, and new limits on -- or outright repeal of -- the flexible spending accounts that allow individuals and their employers to set aside tax-free income to pay for some out-of- pocket medical expenses.

The Senate committee is also looking to boost government revenue by curbing the 25 percent tax deduction for claims and some other expenses now allowed to Blue Cross-Blue Shield health plans. The committee could cut the deduction to 10 percent or end it altogether, Baucus and Grassley said.

Wall Street Journal said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124260067214828295.html

MAY 18, 2009.

Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich

Americans know how to use the moving van to escape high taxes.

By ARTHUR LAFFER and STEPHEN MOORE

With states facing nearly $100 billion in combined budget deficits this year, we're seeing more governors than ever proposing the Barack Obama solution to balancing the budget: Soak the rich. Lawmakers in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon want to raise income tax rates on the top 1% or 2% or 5% of their citizens. New Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn wants a 50% increase in the income tax rate on the wealthy because this is the "fair" way to close his state's gaping deficit.

Chad Crowe .
Mr. Quinn and other tax-raising governors have been emboldened by recent studies by left-wing groups like the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities that suggest that "tax increases, particularly tax increases on higher-income families, may be the best available option." A recent letter to New York Gov. David Paterson signed by 100 economists advises the Empire State to "raise tax rates for high income families right away."

Here's the problem for states that want to pry more money out of the wallets of rich people. It never works because people, investment capital and businesses are mobile: They can leave tax-unfriendly states and move to tax-friendly states.

And the evidence that we discovered in our new study for the American Legislative Exchange Council, "Rich States, Poor States," published in March, shows that Americans are more sensitive to high taxes than ever before. The tax differential between low-tax and high-tax states is widening, meaning that a relocation from high-tax California or Ohio, to no-income tax Texas or Tennessee, is all the more financially profitable both in terms of lower tax bills and more job opportunities.

Updating some research from Richard Vedder of Ohio University, we found that from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. We also found that over these same years the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.

Did the greater prosperity in low-tax states happen by chance? Is it coincidence that the two highest tax-rate states in the nation, California and New York, have the biggest fiscal holes to repair? No. Dozens of academic studies -- old and new -- have found clear and irrefutable statistical evidence that high state and local taxes repel jobs and businesses.

Martin Feldstein, Harvard economist and former president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, co-authored a famous study in 1998 called "Can State Taxes Redistribute Income?" This should be required reading for today's state legislators. It concludes: "Since individuals can avoid unfavorable taxes by migrating to jurisdictions that offer more favorable tax conditions, a relatively unfavorable tax will cause gross wages to adjust. . . . A more progressive tax thus induces firms to hire fewer high skilled employees and to hire more low skilled employees."

More recently, Barry W. Poulson of the University of Colorado last year examined many factors that explain why some states grew richer than others from 1964 to 2004 and found "a significant negative impact of higher marginal tax rates on state economic growth." In other words, soaking the rich doesn't work. To the contrary, middle-class workers end up taking the hit.

Finally, there is the issue of whether high-income people move away from states that have high income-tax rates. Examining IRS tax return data by state, E.J. McMahon, a fiscal expert at the Manhattan Institute, measured the impact of large income-tax rate increases on the rich ($200,000 income or more) in Connecticut, which raised its tax rate in 2003 to 5% from 4.5%; in New Jersey, which raised its rate in 2004 to 8.97% from 6.35%; and in New York, which raised its tax rate in 2003 to 7.7% from 6.85%. Over the period 2002-2005, in each of these states the "soak the rich" tax hike was followed by a significant reduction in the number of rich people paying taxes in these states relative to the national average. Amazingly, these three states ranked 46th, 49th and 50th among all states in the percentage increase in wealthy tax filers in the years after they tried to soak the rich.

This result was all the more remarkable given that these were years when the stock market boomed and Wall Street gains were in the trillions of dollars. Examining data from a 2008 Princeton study on the New Jersey tax hike on the wealthy, we found that there were 4,000 missing half-millionaires in New Jersey after that tax took effect. New Jersey now has one of the largest budget deficits in the nation.

We believe there are three unintended consequences from states raising tax rates on the rich. First, some rich residents sell their homes and leave the state; second, those who stay in the state report less taxable income on their tax returns; and third, some rich people choose not to locate in a high-tax state. Since many rich people also tend to be successful business owners, jobs leave with them or they never arrive in the first place. This is why high income-tax states have such a tough time creating net new jobs for low-income residents and college graduates.

Those who disapprove of tax competition complain that lower state taxes only create a zero-sum competition where states "race to the bottom" and cut services to the poor as taxes fall to zero. They say that tax cutting inevitably means lower quality schools and police protection as lower tax rates mean starvation of public services.

They're wrong, and New Hampshire is our favorite illustration. The Live Free or Die State has no income or sales tax, yet it has high-quality schools and excellent public services. Students in New Hampshire public schools achieve the fourth-highest test scores in the nation -- even though the state spends about $1,000 a year less per resident on state and local government than the average state and, incredibly, $5,000 less per person than New York. And on the other side of the ledger, California in 2007 had the highest-paid classroom teachers in the nation, and yet the Golden State had the second-lowest test scores.

Or consider the fiasco of New Jersey. In the early 1960s, the state had no state income tax and no state sales tax. It was a rapidly growing state attracting people from everywhere and running budget surpluses. Today its income and sales taxes are among the highest in the nation yet it suffers from perpetual deficits and its schools rank among the worst in the nation -- much worse than those in New Hampshire. Most of the massive infusion of tax dollars over the past 40 years has simply enriched the public-employee unions in the Garden State. People are fleeing the state in droves.

One last point: States aren't simply competing with each other. As Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently told us, "Our state is competing with Germany, France, Japan and China for business. We'd better have a pro-growth tax system or those American jobs will be out-sourced." Gov. Perry and Texas have the jobs and prosperity model exactly right. Texas created more new jobs in 2008 than all other 49 states combined. And Texas is the only state other than Georgia and North Dakota that is cutting taxes this year.

The Texas economic model makes a whole lot more sense than the New Jersey model, and we hope the politicians in California, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota and New York realize this before it's too late.

Mr. Laffer is president of Laffer Associates. Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for the Wall Street Journal. They are co-authors of "Rich States, Poor States" (American Legislative Exchange Council, 2009).

steve said...

That determination to divine what is proper for Klal Yisroel So the Agudah rabbis through some nevuah or ruach hakodesh determined that it is proper to continue covering up for sexual molesters. They heard a bas kol from shamayim that told them that the victims must be muzzled for another generation. Us Baalei Batim and bloggers aren't privy to such diviantion. All we have to rely upon is the good old Torah, halacha and our G-d given logic, all of which demand justice for the victims and jail time for the child molesters. No, that is not in the best interest of the Jewish people. The Agudah rabbis divined that this is all wrong. They know better than all of us. They know what is good for us. Child molesters running freely in our yeshivos is GOOD for us. Victims exposing these molesters are BAD for us. Throw out the Torah, all of it. Throw out Lo Taamod Al Dam Reecha. Throw out Navi Yeshaya in its entirety. Throw out the Shulchan Aruch. Throw out all the psaks of the rabbis including Rav Elyashiv. The Agudath Israel of America together with the Catholic Church are proposing a THIRD TESTAMENT. All the laws will be rewritten based on these revelations by our leaders of today: Rabbis Perlow and Zwiebel together with Timothy Dalton and Bill Donahue. Together they are selling a new religion to their congregations and to the NY State Legislature. This religion is based on these divine revelations, where what seems logically to be bad is actually good, and vice versa.

How many people are buying into this nonsense? They "divined" what is proper for the Jewish people? It says that since the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, prophecy was given to fools!

Meanwhile the hypocrisy continues. How can he talk about "tikkun haovar" while at the same time he is advocating the continuation of these policies? What is the tikkun? What exactly are you trying to remedy if you divined that you have been following the correct path all along?

That intelligent people can listen to this garbage and agree with it based on blind faith, is beyond belief. How gullible can we be? Who appointed and annointed these characters to be our leaders? Isn't it obvious that when they run out of excuses and explanations, they resort to this "divine determination" nonsense? At least give us some halachic reference. At least quote a Rambam or a R' Akiva Eiger to back up your pilpul. After all, you are supposed to be rabbis! Nothing! Just the old "trust us, we know what's good for you". How naive, how stupid, do they think we are? It's about time some of our real leaders step forward and put an end to this garbage that these pretenders have been dishing out. We need to put an end to this miserable organization that shamelessly aligns itself with the enemies of the Jewish people-the Catholic Church-, to protect the enemies of G-d- these child molesters. I am ashamed and embarrassed to be identified with such an organization. They sure as hell do not represent me, they sure as hell do not represent Judaism and they sure as hell do not represent the Torah. The only people they represent are the child molesters and their enablers.

Boruch said...

I still find it difficult to suspend my disbelief that intelligent and educated people regard government as altruistic. Government is a business without a commodity. It is a service oriented business. It doesn't sell services, as a bank would do, it provides services. Therefore government has to assess its population a prorated share of the burden through taxes and fines. Whether Patterson or Obama taxes the population is irrelevant, the taxes will be levied to fund the services. The services will go to the groups who are the loudest demanding them, those services beyond the basics. It is notable that in the Appalachians and other poor areas you still can find places without running water and sanitation without a complaint. Screw around with garbage pickup in NY and watch feathers fly. Mr. Laffer and Mr. Moore are correct economically. Politically people live on the coasts because that's where the power has been historically centered. It was a whim when trains were supposed to allow for greater population transfers and then planes. But people still want to stay as close as possible to their families and political bases. Could you imagine a segment of Satmar going to Oklahoma? No way. Could you see Chaim Berlin going to Mississippi? No. Why, because the political fallout - read the money available from programs - would be enormous. It has always been a pipe dream for economists to shift populations from epicenters to less dense areas based on tax models. It works but not the way they envision it and there is no incentive to pull up roots and pioneer anymore.

Lakewood Talmid said...

The Agudah statement is a chutzpah noraah. Misguided baal habatim & blogs redden zey??? What about all the rabbonim who said they are full of it? Maybe they want to write off R' Yosef Blau and even R' Doniel Eidensohn as moderne, but what about R' Moishe Shternbuch who said in no uncertain terms that they should stop uttering shkorim about "gezeros min hashomoyim" and get off their rear ends to do something to stop child abuse?

Nit nor a bushah un a cherpah! Tze doch a toyeavah!

Boruch said...

It pains me to see arguments over fallacious premises that are rooted in the melodramatic. The organizations that pander to money and its sources will not understand any grass roots protests. They will ruminate over their deep considerations and pontificate about their great wisdom. In short, they bullc$)*. Let them, it's pandering to a shortsighted bunch of neanderthals who need ego stroking. The difference is made in the voting booth. Your apathetic bottom feeders who can't make it to vote yet can find hours to shop on 13th Avenue are a bigger cause for concern. And more than this, we look to the lowest common denominator to represent us or the biggest idol. Yes, American Idol has come to American politics. It started with Billy the Bobble Head and is in it's ultimate glory with Mussolini caricature BamBam. Next will be the cover of whatever magazine is in vogue and maybe a guest emcee role on Survivor. We, the American public, need strong stomached and gutsy people to run for office. We need to realize that American is not running away, it's being robbed from us. Maybe it's time for principled people to take a page out of the book of the deceptive and use it to get into power.

Lakewood Talmid said...

Boruch,

Laffer & Moore are correct as far as secular enterpreneurs who are highly mobile, taking their taxable wealth & job creation with them. But I'm not sure they realize that NY State has a very sneaky provision in the tax code that demands money from those who move away as long as they still own property in New York and spend even a small part of the year there.

Avrohom Fruchthandler said...

"Could you see Chaim Berlin going to Mississippi?"

Dos veisst men nit ober ich hob gehert fun R' Aron there's a good facility in Jamaica that specializes in subduing errant little yingelach.

More Craziness said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/business/19credit.html?hp

Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.

Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.

“It will be a different business,” said Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, which has been lobbying Congress for more lenient legislation on behalf of the nation’s biggest banks. “Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems.”

Boruch said...

Lakewood Talmid,

There are no sneaky provisions in the tax code. The tax code is a boor filled with snakes and has been purposefully hijacked. It is our silent acquiesence to the political whores who worship in political brothels run by Napoleonic mysoginists that enable this and other shams. The problem is that normal people fear the scrutiny of the idol worshipping media whose agendas are skewed from any reason and therefore scare the daylights out of people who are fed up but won't run. It's time to take their tactic and turn it on them. Moving to the nether regions will not bring you any relief. Gonovim aren't stupid and they will learn to do as other states have done. If the states don't do it, BimBam, Peligrosa, and the homophiles will.

Boruch said...

"Who appointed and annointed these characters to be our leaders?"

We did by not enabling real leaders or insisting that real leaders stand up. These men's clubs and social organizations aren't much different from the bundist off-shoots they used to deplore. Mixed dancing wasn't the biggest issue but they fought like lions to ban mixed dancing. Drugs, illicit relationships, chlorine in the mikvah in quantities great enough to cause lung damage are overlooked as well as the underlying causes. It's easier to pick on the anonymous internet and bloggers because they are anonymous. The internet can't fight back.
Yiddishkeit has never been a one size fits all. I was taught that the shailos and teshuvahs seforim were to be used as guidelines; the situation and the persons in the shailah are not universal representations but a specific instance. Sadly it appears that one size fits all is easier and less tumuldig.

Agudah Fresser said...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05112009/news/regionalnews/bklyn_gas_stop_a_kosher_delight_168616.htm

Mamash gevaldig! Now we don't have to stop fressing even when filling up for gas!

Viener Fresser said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/11/jewish-austria-hotel-racism

Hoteliers in a holiday resort in the Austrian Tyrol have reacted angrily to the owner of a guesthouse who turned a family away because they were Jewish.

The family of five were told they could not book rooms at Haus Sonnenhof, in the resort of Serfaus, because the hotel had had "bad experience" with Jewish guests in the past.

The owner, Irmgard Monz, has confirmed that she sent the family a letter saying: "Based on our past bad experience in 2008 with Jewish guests, we no longer want to put them up."

When the Austrian press contacted her, Monz refused to elaborate, saying only that she reserved the right to host whomever she wanted.

The mayor of Serfaus, Georg Mangott, defended Monz's right to refuse guests, and said the incident should not be interpreted as antisemitic.

But other hoteliers and tourism representatives in the resort town, which has become a popular destination for Orthodox Jews in recent years, are up in arms about Monz's response, made public when the family reported the incident to the Jewish cultural committee in Vienna.

"This is not acceptable," said Joe Margreiter, head of promotion for the Tyrol region, adding that the incident had the potential to undermine the efforts of recent years to attract new groups of tourists to the region.

Orthodox Jews have travelled to Serfaus and surrounding resorts in increasing numbers in recent years, drawn by the area's clean, mountain air and its child friendliness, as well as hoteliers' efforts to cater for their dietary and other religious needs. Chefs have learnt to cook kosher food, and at least one local bakery produces kosher bread.

The man who tried to book the holiday said he now had no intention of going to Serfaus. "I don't want to take my holiday in such a racist nest," he told the Tiroler Tageszeitung.

Mendlowitz and Belsky don't mix said...

http://www.ou.org/news/article/ou_kosher_comes_to_monsey_600_people_attended_first_shiur

More than 600 people were in attendance Sunday night as the Orthodox Union’s Harry H. Beren ASK OUTREACH program came to Monsey for the first in a series of shiurim, “How to be Menaker and Other Meat Issues,” held at Yeshiva Ohr Somayach. The OU’s experts included Rav Yisroel Belsky, OU halachic posek; Rabbi Nosson Goldberg, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator for meat; and Reb Shimon Mendlowitz of Monsey, an expert menaker (deveiner).

Agudah Fresser Flu said...

Weird that the anti-Lubavitch blogger Shmarya who is every bit as kooky in the opposite extreme didn't pick up on this story.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/05/in_swine_flu_cr.php

In Swine Flu, Some Crown Heights Lubavitchers See Signs of the Messiah

By Elizabeth Dwoskin

Sara Kanevsky, a Hasidic woman we wrote about last summer, believes that swine flu may signify the hailing of the messiah.

For Kanevsky and thousands of others in Crown Heights who believe the late Lubavitch rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (pictured) is the messiah, swine flu is yet another sign of redemption on earth. According to Jewish texts, in the time of redemption, all things that are unkosher (traif is the more-common yiddish word) will become holy.

"Why is the pig getting so much attention right now?" Kanevsky asked a Voice reporter. "There is great significance to this."

Only animals that chew their cud (the digestive process by which cows and other animals regurgitate their food in order to digest it twice) are considered kosher. Kanevsky says she plans to begin making a round of phone calls to local farms to see if pigs have begun to digest differently.

Disgusting said...

http://gawker.com/5245068/sensitive-gay-porn-technology-smuggled-to-israel

You might recall Michael Lucas as the Russian-born gay porn actor who shot various adult films around New York, including one inside the Marc Jacobs store ("the gayest movie on record," we once raved).

Lucas is now headed to Israel, where he plans to become a citizen under the Law of Return, and shoot what blog Transracial describes as "the first-ever gay porno using only Israeli models." Which means Lucas perhaps referenced the wrong organ when he recently gave the quote, "I believe your motherland is where your heart is."

Lucas would be well-advised to temper some of his hottest passions during filming. Not the gay sex —- sounds kosher to us — but the sort of vaguely anti-Islamic sentiments like the ones the passionate neocon Zionist was quoted giving last year in the New Republic:

"It totally escapes me how gay people can side with burqa-wearing, jihad-screaming, Koran-crazed Muslims... What's the point to respect their culture, or supposed culture, when they have a strong contempt for mine?

Lucas later clarified with to the magazine that his problem is with the religion of Islam, not Arabs per se. Err, uh, OK?

Just no uncomfortable Arab stereotypes, please. It hurts sales

During 2006’s Lebanon War, Lucas visited Israel to “cheer up the gay troops” as he said at the time, and shed light on the dangers faced by gay soldiers at the hands of Hizbullah

Rorschach from Watchmen said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkixR4fXaqA

Avadda I was wearing an old dusty hat in the movie. I borrowed it from Shafran alein. It has a very small brim because that's how bochurim wore hats in Baltimore when he was growing up.

Musser shmuz for Shafran said...

R' Yaakov Kaminetzky said it's a chilul Hashem for yeshiva bochurim to wear dusty hats and that if they are too lazy to clean them periodically, they should wear a gray hat.

Nisht a Boro Parker said...

It was very demeaning to abuse victims that the Novominsker mached them aveck as "picketers" as if they are a bunch of grubba mentchen in the gass.

So much for the Agudah phonies and Pinny Lipschutz and their new-found "sensitivy".

Anonymous said...

Shmais.com

The secular-religious divide in Israel reached a new low this week when parents of children at the city-run Elroy kindergarten in Katamon, Jerusalem, complained about a substitute teacher who allowed Chabad volunteers to distribute flyers about last week’s Lag B’Omer parade.

The flyers advertised a fun event with prizes and stated that the children would recite the Twelve Pesukim.

“Involving little children in such a publicity stunt is a scandal,” one mother told local newspaper Zman Yerushalayim. “It’s chareidi advertising inside our kindergarten.”

The incident occurred on the Friday before the parade when Chabad volunteers walked into the kindergarten undisturbed and handed out flyers to the children in front of the substitute teacher.

The flyer advertised a program for Lag B’Omer that included a circus, a juggler, a lottery offering big prizes, and a gift for each participant. It stated that all the children needed to do was recite the Twelve Pesukim. “Yechi” appeared at the bottom of the flyer.

When the Chabad volunteers asked the substitute teacher to explain what was written on the flyer, she did so. The children brought the flyers home to their parents, many of whom have since complained about the incident.

“It was very hard to explain to the children why we didn’t want them to go to the parade,” said the parents. “The children thought it looked like fun, and they would get prizes, so why not? But we won’t allow them to get involved in something like this. We won’t let our children to get pulled into such things.”

The Education Ministry has said that the schools’ inspector will investigate the incident.

Is Leib Pinter involved? said...

Could be because I don't think the putz has reported to prison yet.

http://www.forward.com/articles/105678/

Home-bound seniors on Manhattan’s West Side are complaining that the quality of kosher meals being delivered to them took a sudden turn for the worse this spring when new city contracting policies took effect — a situation some elderly Jews found so unpalatable that they actually decided to switch to receiving non-kosher meals.

“It was a lot of valueless calories,” said Edith Speizer, 78, who is receiving home-delivered meals as she recovers from knee surgery and a shoulder injury. She had been perfectly satisfied with her meal service until New York City reorganized its program and she began getting food from a new contractor in March.

The vegetables, she said, were watery, mushy and sometimes unidentifiable; the fish portions were smaller than a business card (she measured them and wrote down their dimensions); the chicken was dry and miniscule (“I didn’t know chicken came that small,” she said); the powdered milk was unwieldy to mix and didn’t last all week; and the bread sometimes showed up moldy. Speizer gamely cut the mold away and tried to doctor the vegetables with herbs to give them more taste, but she still found that the new meals left her hungry.

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer said that she heard about the problem from Speizer and many other Jewish seniors who were similarly dissatisfied with the kosher meals. “The food is horrible,” Brewer said.

Until recently, a variety of Jewish groups and community organizations had received city funding to provide kosher meals to the home-bound elderly on Manhattan’s West Side. But this spring, the city moved to consolidate home-delivered meal services in order to save money, awarding contracts to one provider in each geographic area and standardizing payment for both kosher and non-kosher meals.

Yaakov Honig said...

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090507/NEWS03/905070454&template=printart

Cow head, entrails, found in boxes inside Ramapo yeshiva classroom

Jane Lerner
jlerner@lohud.com

RAMAPO - A cow's head, entrails and other parts were found in boxes inside a yeshiva classroom used by young children, according to documents released yesterday detailing what police discovered when they went to the school after neighbors reported seeing an animal being slaughtered and hung from a tree in the yard.

The cow's head and innards as well as butcher knives and rope were in separate cardboard boxes inside the classroom, near where yellow toy trucks and other playthings were stored, photographs taken by Ramapo police show. Tables in the classroom were covered with clear plastic.

The brown-and-white spotted cow, minus its head, was hanging from a yellow rope strung between two trees in the school's yard, the photographs show. Blood covered the ground outside.

The photographs and police reports were obtained yesterday by The Journal News under the Freedom of Information law.

Police were called to the Bobover Yeshiva at 6:42 p.m. Monday by horrified neighbors who witnessed the slaughter and saw the dead cow hanging from a rope. The yeshiva, in a Colonial-style house that town officials maintain is being illegally used as a school, is in a residential area.

The neighbors said they saw a crowd of teenage boys looking on as the cow was killed.

When police arrived, they spoke to Jacob Honig of Monsey, who was butchering a cow, according to the report.

Honig told officers that he was learning to be a kosher butcher and was practicing on the animal, which he purchased at Rubin's Livestock in Monticello, N.Y., according to records.

Honig told police that he had gotten permission to use the school on Route 306 from Shlomoar Bochner of Monsey, who is on the yeshiva's board of directors.

Bochner was at the school while the cow was slaughtered, but had left before officers got there, according to the report.

Police were able to contact Bochner, who confirmed that he had given permission for the butchering to take place at the yeshiva.

"Bochner stated that he didn't see any problem with it and didn't think anyone would be able to see it," the report said.

The men also told officers that the actual slaughtering was performed by Herscel Vekete of Monsey, who they said was a certified kosher butcher. Officers tried to reach Vekete, but could not, according to the report.

No criminal charges were filed, but police warned the men not to butcher cows there again.

"Honig and Bochner were strongly admonished about performing such an act where the public could possibly view it and to make sure that everything was removed and cleaned properly," according to the report.

Mark J. Kurzmann, a lawyer for the Bobover Yeshiva, had no comment yesterday.

Kurzmann said Tuesday that school officials were unaware of the incident and did not give permission for the slaughter to take place on school grounds. Rabbi Gershon Bornfreund, operator of the yeshiva, has been unavailable for comment.

Yesterday, Ramapo town officials issued a violation letter to Congregation Chasidei Bobov of Monsey, which operates the school, and Bochner, charging them with violating town regulations by "use of the property in a manner that is detrimental to neighboring properties and dangerous to the comfort, peace, enjoyment, health or safety of the area or community."

Town codes do not permit animal slaughter, said Michael Klein, the town's attorney.

The congregation faces a $5,000 fine, he said.

On Monday, Ramapo police also notified the Rockland Department of Health, Ramapo town officials and the Hudson Valley Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, according to the report.

The Department of Health officer on call told police that no one was available to inspect the site that evening, the report said.

Health inspectors did go to the school the next day and found no evidence of blood, entrails or other cow parts, said Thomas Micelli, director of environmental heath for the Rockland County Department of Health.

"Apparently they cleaned it up," he said yesterday. "There were no violations."

The Rockland sanitary code does not address the issue of animal slaughter.

Inspectors reported the incident to the state Department of Health, which has the option of notifying the U.S. Department of Agriculture - the agency that regulates animal slaughter, Micelli said.

If inspectors had gone to the school Monday evening and seen the blood, they would have ordered school officials to clean it. If they failed to do so, they could have faced a violation, he said.

The yeshiva has a permit from the Department of Health to serve food. Micelli said inspectors found no evidence that meat from the slaughtered cow was served to students, which would have been a violation.

The Bobover Yeshiva is in a continuing dispute with the town over variances to allow the construction of a building on the property to serve 250 students ages 7 to 13 as well as a nursery school.

Ramapo officials have said the yeshiva began using the existing building as a school illegally.

A hearing on the request for a variance will be held May 14.

The yeshiva was fined $2,000 in February by the Rockland County Board of Health for operating a school without getting a permit for a public water supply. That violation has not yet been corrected, Micelli said.

Bobover Yeshiva will appear before the Ramapo Zoning Board of Appeals.
When: 8 p.m. May 14
Where: Ramapo Town Hall, 237 Route 59, Airmont

Toayvah in Eretz Yisroel said...

2 sickening reports in Yediot Achronot that have been edited of the most prusta parts:

Gay tourism leaflet promotes sex shops in Tel Aviv

City Map brochures distributed throughput Europe in bid to attract gay tourists to Tel Aviv advertise sauna bars and znus shops

Yoav Zeitun Published: 05.18.09

A Tel Aviv city map that was distributed throughout Europe in recent weeks in a bid to promote gay tourism to the city contains lewd adverts for znus shops and sauna bars.

The map was jointly commissioned by the Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association, the Tel Aviv Municipality and the municipal center for the gay community.

The map, which is written mostly in English, advertises 50 businesses that cater to the gay community, including gay-oriented nightclubs, Israeli travel agencies that specialize in "gay tourism", pubs and restaurants.

At least four of the businesses are part of the znus industry.

One of the largest ads is for a sauna bar, which offers visitors a dark room, private booths and "(too prust to mention)."

Another ad promotes a sauna which offers similar services. The ads also contain provocative images of muscular, bare-chested men.

Additionally, the map contains two ads for znus shops.

The leaflet's front cover features a photo taken during the local Gay Pride Parade, while the back cover shows four men playing on the beach. Photos of lesbian women are nowhere to be found in the publication, except for in advertisements.

The Tel Aviv Municipality said in response: "To the best of our knowledge these businesses are not illegal, and therefore should not be prevented from advertising."

Article 2:

El Al appeals to European gays

Israel's national airline markets special travel packages targeting European gay community in hopes of flooding Tel Aviv with tourists ahead of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in June

Yoav Zeitun Published: 05.06.09

Israel's national El Al Airlines officially began marketing travel packages targeting Europe's gay community on Monday, in cooperation with the Tel Aviv Tourist Association and the city's Rov Hair faction.

The special packages include a round trip from Europe, and a three-night stay in a Tel Aviv hotel, starting from the attractive price of €250 ($332).

According to tourism branch sources, this is the first time El Al takes such a direct and upfront approach to gay tourism, that is courted around the world by travel agencies and airlines due to the great profit potential found among this population.

On average, gay tourists spend more time vacationing than non-gay tourists and are known to be bigger spenders.

The special packages will be marketed in a no less unique way: Thousands of Israelis surfing a gay Israeli dating website were urged to invite their homosexual friends from Europe to vacation in Israel and enjoy an array of events taking place during Gay and Lesbian Pride Month this June.

The events will peak in Tel Aviv's pride parade, that will be bigger and better than ever this year as part of the city's centennial celebrations.

If the campaign is successful, hundreds, if not thousands of gay tourists from Europe are expected to flood the city for the first time since the pride parades started.

Tel Aviv's gay community welcomed the joint initiative with El Al. Travel agent ******, who specializes in bringing gay tourists to Israel, said on Tuesday, "Since the campaign was launched yesterday, I've received many positive responses from gay tourists from Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Greece, and I didn't believe there would be such quick responses.

"So far, gay tourists have avoided coming to Israel because of the expensive flights and because there were no long weekend packages available, only week-long or 10-day packages. Thanks to this campaign, I believe that many gay tourists will come to vacation in Tel Aviv, and we certainly welcome El Al's taking on the task."

El Al's spokesperson's office said the company "is cooperating with the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Hotel Association in a variety of offers for various crowds, in order to promote tourism to Israel".

Tel Aviv City Council member Rabbi Naftali Lobert said in response to the report: "This is a disgrace. Just as El Al was sensitive to the ultra-Orthodox community and refrained from flying on Shabbat and serves kosher meals, it shouldn't take part in this. And in general, this whole pride parade – it would be better to watch a show at the circus than this parade."

Bobover yeshiva feeding bucherim unsafe well water said...

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090516/NEWS03/905160368&template=printart

May 16, 2009

Kitchen closed over unapproved well water

Jane Lerner
jlerner@lohud.com

RAMAPO - The Rockland Department of Health has ordered the kitchen at a yeshiva where a cow was slaughtered and strung from a tree shut down effective today.

The county delivered a letter Wednesday to the Bobover Yeshiva informing officials there that the school's permit to operate a kitchen would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the day yesterday.

County officials took action against the school because it has been using water from an unapproved well since it began operating without a permit more than two years ago, according to records obtained by The Journal News under the Freedom of Information law.

The school opened two years ago in what had been a single-family home on Route 306 bordering the villages of Pomona and Wesley Hills without getting approval from town or county officials.

Also last week, Bobover officials pleaded not guilty in Ramapo Town Court to charges that the school violated Ramapo zoning regulations by allowing the cow to be slaughtered on their property, town attorney Michael Klein said.

Health officials didn't know the school was there until they were notified when the building's septic system failed a year ago.

They inspected and discovered that the school was operating a kitchen without a permit and using well water from an unapproved source.

Health officials told the school more than a year ago that they needed to hook into the public water supply.

"We gave them a year to do it," said John Stoughton, a public health inspector. "They have not complied."

Inspectors will visit the facility to make sure that the kitchen is not in use.

The Rockland Board of Health fined the Bobover Yeshiva $2,000 in February for using an unapproved water source. The yeshiva has not yet paid the fine, according to documents.

The county will not issue a new permit to any business or organization that has unpaid fines, Stoughton said.

Rabbi Gershon Bornfreund, director of the yeshiva, could not be reached for comment.

Lawyer Terry Rice, who is representing the yeshiva in its attempt to win a zoning approval to build a facility to accommodate 250 students, said yesterday that he was unaware of the Health Department action.

Stoughton said that school officials indicated to the department that they would have food delivered to the school to avoid using the kitchen until the water issue is resolved.

Neighbors who were outraged when they saw young men with knives slaughter a cow in the yard of the school last week, said they were glad that the county has taken some action at the school.

"I'm glad that someone is finally doing something," said Carol Friedman, who lives nearby. "They never should have been allowed to use water from the well."

Residents of private homes are permitted to use well water from unapproved sources, according to Daniel Miller, head of the Bureau of Public Water supply for the Rockland Department of Health.

But unapproved water sources cannot be used if they serve the public, including schools, he said.

"Public water supply sources are held, by the New York State Department of Health, to higher standards than are private wells at least in part because by definition they regularly supply water to more people," Miller said. "Water quality problems can potentially result in more widespread illness."

There is access nearby to a United Water New York pipe, but the school has to pay to hook in, according to records.

The school is due in court at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to face zoning violations related to the cow slaughter. The school could be fined up to $5,000.

Bobover officials have apologized for the incident, which they said was the result of miscommunication by a member of its board who mistakenly gave permission for a person studying to be a ritual slaughterer to use the property.

Bim Bam said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124260113149028331.html

MAY 18, 2009

Tax Audits Are No Laughing Matter

A president shouldn't even joke about abusing IRS power.

Professor Ryesky said...

The only reason the Jewish Press (Yellow journalism with blue ink) came out swinging on behalf of the agunot was because Rabbi Klass's own daughter was being denied her get.