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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

UOJ'S ROSH HASHANAH WISHES & FAREWELL!

UOJ ARCHIVES - SEPEMBER 17, 2006 - On the two year anniversary of my "retirement"!

A while back I "retired" from actively and publicly being involved in all the Jewish organizations I was affiliated with. I decided that I can do more for my brethren privately, without fanfare or publicity. I was right. I set up a free loan fund, (gemach) a Tomchei Shabbos type organization, and felt I was helpful to many that were in dire straits.

I did not buy the Jewish newspapers, kept my opinions most of the time to myself, and went merrily about my business. I thought that I would want to keep a personal diary of my experiences, so I started writing as " UOJ - The Un-Orthodox Jew"; simply stated, there was very little I did in my life that was "conventional" or within any particular framework, other than my own.

So I started writing on topics that were important to me and infuriating. The more I looked at the written word, the more upset I seemed to get...Wondering about the therapeutic value of what I was doing. People were contacting me and encouraging me to write on, and were commenting in a passionate manner, pro & con.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I love Judaism and can't stand to see what happened to it. The more I read about the goings on, the more I verified the despicable information coming across my desk, the more I realized the extent that "organized" Orthodox Judaism has been destroyed.

I choose to save whatever remnants of emunah (faith) that remain; any more time I spend looking into the corruption and utter destruction of authentic Judaism, I risk losing all of my emunah. So I say farewell; I do not want to read anymore Jewish newspapers, magazines or blogs, I do not want to hear more and more of the destruction we are wreaking on our children and ourselves, and do not want to verify what I already know; organized Orthodox Judaism is on the precipice of self-destruction.

This is my last post. I will leave comment moderation on until Rosh Hashanah, and will be available by e-mail: a_unorthodoxjew@yahoo.com - until after Sukkot.

Wishing all Jewish people of good will a K'siva V'chasima Tova!

UOJ

The UOJ diaries can be found on three blogspots.

1-unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com
2-unorthodoxjews.blogspot.com
3-theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com

151 comments:

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ,

Zei Gezundt

You don't owe anyone anything, and enjoy the respite. For one man, you've accomplished a lot without any personal accolades. Live your life well and enjoy the people around you. Take comfort and inspiration where you can in Judaism. Perhaps, in time, you will get involved one way or another. That's for you to decide. Meanwhile, enjoy the bracha that being alive in this world is.

Anonymous said...

Nice farewell..I seriously doubt you will be able to stop your bad habit ..As the Chofetz Chaim Says Loshon Horah is the same as Idolatry ....."The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions"

OUJ you have made it into an Easy Pass express lane.

Anonymous said...

Hey UOJ! whether your a friend or foe, protector or destroyer, loved or hated, all will agree you've been a hell of a soldier. I salute you. As Douglas McArthur said "old soldiers don't die - they fade away"

Anonymous said...

So now I guess it's back to business for all molestors, corrupt rabbis, etc. UOJ's blog was their only framework of accountability; now we will have nothing. To whom will we turn if another rabbi starts molesting boys? Who will stand up for the small guys? Please don't leave us........

Anonymous said...

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

-George Orwell

You've accomplished when "leaders" sat on their hands while trying to protect the little nest they've made for themselves at the Klal's expense. The truth will prevail in the end.

Best Regards to Ronnie, Boog and Kelsey. And Farshtoonkena Yid too!

Goodbye friend, keep in touch.

Anonymous said...

yes, ronnie, all the accolades. you share them too.

hamischabed b'kalon chaveiro.

the winner takes all.

Anonymous said...

UOJ, when you say you're quiting does that mean tour exposmolestersblog too?

Anonymous said...

uoj sucks wrote, "How about you remove some of the garbage you wrote and take it along with you."


Don't push it. Be happy he's leaving. Hopefully we won't hear from this creep again.

Anonymous said...

not sure what part of the country you live in or level of frumkeit now or past. Have only followed you for a short time. You may want to drop in to your local chabad house for consolation. You'll be welcomed with open arms I bet. Just pick a normal one, there are just afew that are loony tooned.

Just a thought since you sound down and lacking some emunah at the crossraods, and I don't blame you whatsoever.

You've done a tremendous feat for most in the frum world, most of course BUT and EXCEPT for the remaining vermin of dreck the frum nay-sayers and abusers of everything holy and unholy. Shame on them may they rot in Hell - mind you ELul or not!

You have nothing but reason to be happy and totally besimcha without fail. I promise you earned it.

ALl the best and stay well.

Anonymous said...

upload.ohshare.com/v/6172631/uoj2.pdf.html

Anonymous said...

Shem reshayim yirkav

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Something about the way you wrote, regards…

Anonymous said...

UOJ! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US!
TAKE A BREAK IF U NEED IT BUT
COME BACK! DON'T SURRENDER TO THE
ENEMY THAT SEEKS TO DESTROY THE
YIDDISHKEIT OF OLD!!
PLEASE UOJ!

Anonymous said...

I just want to make a private and public machaa against the anti-Ronnie poster. What is wrong with you? Why did you have to bring this up like that? Are you 6 years old? This is a public forum and Ronnie is a known individual. I believe that mevayash chaveiro berabbim does apply. Why can't you let other people live instead of constantly tearing them down?

Anonymous said...

How is this any different than "throwing in the towel" to which you said you "can't"?

Has UOJ's physical safety been threatened? I wouldn't put anything past Margo & his various bungalow putz thugs for hire who will take dirty cash to pay off their mortgage.

Douglas MacArthur also said "I shall return"

Anonymous said...

Phew!!

What a relief!!!!!

Anonymous said...

One thing I really don't get about this whole affair.

If Belsky's family was involved in the founding of Torah Vodaath, why the hell would Belsky defend Margo if Margo robbed the yeshiva?

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:04 PM wrote "This is a public forum and Ronnie is a known individual. I believe that mevayash chaveiro berabbim does apply."


You gotto be kidding me!! Take your "mechaa" and shove it. Did you happen to notice that you're on planet UOJ, and thats what goes on hear by the likes of Ronnie and the rest of the gang.

Where was your "mechaa" when all the others who are also "known individuals" were being nocked??

No offence to Ronnie, but if you're gonna give crapp you gonna have to learn how to take it.

Anonymous said...

did you get diagnosed with cancer?

Anonymous said...

Ohh and by the way it was Ronnies choice to post his name. However "anon 11:04 PM" you do bring up a valid point.

Ronnie, please forgive me?

UOJ, please delete the comment I posted about Ronnie at 10:53 PM. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE UOJ DONT LEAVE US! my heart is shattered into a million peices knowing that the next molester can do so with minimal fear for there is nobody who is willing to take on the fight for our beloved pure children who god forbid will go through the same corrupted yeshivah system we all did b/c nobody is going to change it w/o the constant pressure you so bravely applied this last year and a half PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG OF YOU CONTINUE THIS HOLY CRUSADE FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN LEIZEROWITZ VICTIM "FOREVER"

Anonymous said...

Just tell me when the coast is clear. I've been hiding under my bed for months.

Anonymous said...

Rabbeinu Nachman - UMAN UMAN ROSH HASHANAH.....

OY VEY!!

Anonymous said...

http://upload.ohshare.com/v/6172631/uoj2.pdf.html

Anonymous said...

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

Somebody please post a transcript of Rabbi Breslauer SHLITA's speach at the Yom Tefila gathering in Monsey at yeshiva spring valley. He is supposed to have hinted that this terrible treif incident in Monsey came about to prove the truth in a boy's testimony when he accused a known ben torah of molesting him and the Beis Din (Rabbi Breslauer was one of the three dayanim)refused to accept the boys statement on the grounds that the accused was an Ish Ne'eman like Finkel.

Had these rabbonim known the halachos of accepting a minor's testimony with regard to molestation the would have known that the Rambam and others clearly state that the child or woman is to be believed as 2 kosher mature witness.

The moral of the chicken fiasco is:

1) If your too "chicken" to view molestation the way real true torah judaism dictates, than get the hell out of the Bais Din business and stick to giving Hechsharim where u can make a killing feeding the Klal treifus.

2) The reason why so many molesters are to be found in the orthodox (unorthodox) community is that our minds have been effected by the treifos we have been eating in all of jewish america for the longest of time. Way back when Harav Yakov Yosef was chief rabbi in New York treife meats were already constantly being sold as kosher certified. And when he tried taking on the system (the Margos and Barfskys of olde) he died a hasty death at the hands of the strong men and thier minions.

Give it up frummies, u don't stand a chance in hell that g-d will forgive your sins perpetrated on the innocent children of the last generations (the lost generations). Yom Kippur will come and go and those so called rabbis will be as filthy with sin as they were before. How dare you all stand before g-d with your hands so soiled with the pedophiles seed and the blood of the victims. "Rabbis", u r the scum and the scurge of our generation.

While victims suffer, all the Margos Kolkos Belskys Scheinbergs Leizerowitzs Juravels Mondrowitzs Weinbergs et al will proclaim g-d to be king! I'm getting nauses of the thought!

Thanx UOJ, Boog, Ronnie, Leizerowitz victim forever and all the others for putting up a good fight. Let your voices and efforts not have been in vain. Not this year and not next year, for I smell victory in the air.

UOJ, I beg your forgivness at this time of atonement for slackening off at these criticil moments. U know I was distracted of late. I owe u so much for your help and yet have helped u so little.....

Bye Chaver

Anonymous said...

Shalom chaver. Goodbye friend.

Anonymous said...

Now vit dis pest UOJ out of da vay, vee can get back to business and bring back Yidi Kolko and da chamber of horrors.

Anonymous said...

Margo is a horrible, I mean honorable man. Now Margo wants me to make a cameo appearance at a party to celebrate UOJ's vacating the scene.

Anonymous said...

If you would come have come to me with a shayloh about stopping,I would pasken that you are obligated to continue.Technically--loh ta'amohd ahl dahm ray'echah.I can appreciate exactly how you feel--nevertheless,I would rule that a safek sakanah (your own) is not docheh the vadaiy of stopping what goes on under the guise of da'as Torah and your eventually making a real,lasting,difference.To stop now?Too early,too little accomplished of LASTING value.Why you?Sometimes one person is thrust into a role he didn't ask for or anticipate.You cannot ,you may not,stop.

Anonymous said...

UOJ

Tell us the truth. Did these SOB's get to you or is there intense pressure from family to back off?Were you threatened by chance? You have done so much good work to just let it all go to waste.
Please please do not give up. Think of all the people out there who support all of your valiant efforts.
Your emunah will be reinforced when your efforts start paying off big dividends.
You are so close to the tipping point of these evil people.
Your groundwork has been the result of so much time and effort.
Remember the old saying: For evil to triumph, good men have ony to sit by and do nothing.
I envy the rewards that await you after 120.
Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

Yiddy, I told you to be patient. You job and little kiddies are waiting for you with dropped pants, after Succos.
Lipa

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
uoj sucks wrote, "How about you remove some of the garbage you wrote and take it along with you."


Don't push it. Be happy he's leaving. Hopefully we won't hear from this creep again..............................Do you think that you have the balls to stand face to face with one of the victims of these scum the worst of the worst this world has seen rotten to the core perverts/child molesters
Simcha Adler
Yohannan Berkowitz, PhD
Rabbi Lewis Brenner
Rabbi Ephraim Bryks
Rabbi Moshe Eisemann
Rabbi Eliezer Eisgrau
Shmuel Juravel
Rabbi Solomon Hafner
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz
Rabbi Tovia Singer
Rabbi Ben Zion Sobel
Rabbi Mordecai Tendler
Rabbi Matis Weinberg Rabbi Yehuda Kolko Rabbi A M Leizerowitz etc... and tell them how you despise uoj why? were you ever victimized by these sick men? i have the answer for that one NO you were not for if god forbid you had been you would have spoken /thought diffrently on this issue by the way your probably one of those guys that yes everything is fine with the system who needs change its only going to bring headache so go on live your life in denial you putz were is your soul will you only awaken after some tragedy in your family happened is that what you want how glad i am for not being your son for my parents were broken to bits over what i went through with that sick man leizerowitz and they went to the rabbonim and did the best they could and i give them crdit for that but your kids god forbid will get the famous nah! it cant be he is an ehrlich yid go on live in denial....................................LEIZEROWITZ VICTIM FOREVER.

Anonymous said...

UOJ we need you. Please don't turn your back on those are the most vulnerable. I know how ugly this all can be. I also understand the need for a respite.

By not writing about the truth you are doing what causes the most damage to our children. Please don't give up!

Anonymous said...

If UOJ quits, then the Gerrorists & terrorists would have won.

Anonymous said...

i feel like the iraqi people felt after bush 41 left them once again to the hench men of saddams regime uoj please dont leave us so vulnerable the way we are leizerowitz victim forever

Anonymous said...

A very sad day, indeed. I am sure you are spent and definitely חייך קודמים לחיי חברך. Who will help us straighten out our ways? Who will help the opressed? We are sheep without a shepherd and wolves are aplenty. חזק ואמץ to all.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,
Please DO Not leave us .
We need the NACHSHON in you.
Please dont abandon us we are truly relying on you to change the orthodox system once and for all.
If you need a break we fully understand but please come back when you are done to continue your TRUE avodas hakodesh.
A true admirer

Anonymous said...

UOJ is quitting because Margo is opening up a shtieble for him in LA.
I think as a last shot before you go, give out all the names and the Yeshivas that you confirmed, so we the O'ylom can protect our kids from them.

Anonymous said...

Can we get Ben Hirsch to take over.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

Did someone say something about me? LOL
Whatever it was, I never saw it.

If any of you want to keep moving forward on the issues raised here, start your own blog.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,
yOU ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED.Take off time till after the yomim tovim.Do not let your great work go unfinished.

Anonymous said...

The sad thing is that no one has helped UOJ and that is why he is quitting!

Has anyone come out and said that they want to form a group of people to take on Torah Temimah and Ner Israel?

Is anyone interested or is it easier to read this blog and wait until UOJ does something for you?

Time for a Cheshbon Hanefesh!

The only way there will be change is if the CONSUMERS (us) demand it!

Margo knows this and is playing to what his CONSUMERS want. By not protesting, we are telling him that it is okay to continue the coverup.

Are you all so concerned about public opinion and shidduchim , etc.

Who is ready to protest in front of Torah Temimah with signs demanding that Margo leaves and that they admit their guilt and apologize to every victim???

I am, but we need real names to accomplish things in the real world - not a bunch of scaredy cats reading a blog that can, by its very nature, only accomplish certain things - but is limited.

UOJ has started the task but no one has continued what he has begun.

Stop crying about UOJ closing down and start doing something.

We need 100 brave men to protest in front of Torah Temimah. Let's begin right after Succos and not leave until Margo is out!

Who is going to join?

UOJ - perhaps as a parting shot you can help compile a list of interested people - names and all!

Whoever is interested, please e-mail UOJ with your identity.

Let's get started!

Anonymous said...

Leave and dont come back. Have a nice life.

Anonymous said...

You're doing the right thing. The blog should be retired, and you should enjoy the yom tovim.

When you're ready, you should consider starting an online newspaper, with genuine professional standards.

K'sivah v'chasimah tovah.

Rodefemes

Anonymous said...

First I think that I should make a shechayanu for writing on this blog since i never typed one word on this filthy dirtbags blog.

I must say that if i were you i would fast for a few years for calling R' Elchonon Wasserman HY"D a murderer.

Go to hell you are a truly demented unstable prick.

I will daven on yom kippur that a truck should run you over on Motzei Yom Kippur as you are running home to break your fast.

I hope you wont die but will survive with only one leg and one arm.

Then as you go for therapy for the next twenty years a fire breaks out and you have a near death while being burned over 85% of your body and your family does not recognize you anymore. And have to live therest of your life on Oxygen.

Two years later you are diagnosed with cancer and suffer like a sick DOG for three years until one day you are walking (or riding in your wheelchair) down the street and a gang of thugs jump you and baseball-bat you to death.

ROT IN HELL.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 4:39

Cursing is not a Jewish midah, it is Bilam midah, so now we know your yichus

Anonymous said...

Dear Un-Orthodox Jex

We have recently heard about your sabatical from your blog spot.

We hereby offer you a position a our tabloid, and feel you would be a tremendous asset.

National Enquierer

exposemolesters said...

Who am I to tell you what to do UOJ. You know my thoughts. I think it's imperative you not call it quits YET. I think you have 90% accomplished your/our goals. However, you are like the policman who patrols the streets and gives summonses to those who break the law. Once your presence is no longer there exposing the evil ones, they will be at liberty and without concern for you or others, be more willing to commit crimes. Please think about it. Ultimatley, I want what is best for UOJ. And if your decision to leave is one you choose to make, then i totally understand that. You have been a brave soldier my friend. You have been the modern day Rabbi Meir Kahane a'h. I envy your share of alom ahemes. Best Regards, and we will stay in touch i'h.

Anonymous said... UOJ, when you say you're quiting does that mean tour exposmolestersblog too? 10:39 PM, September 17, 2006

I'm here to stay for as long as this fight takes. I urge everyone to demonstrate in front of YTT like one commenter wrote on here. Once we do one yeshiva we'll move on to the next currupt one on the list YOB. All the posters who support the cause of saving jewish neshamos, i urge you to make your appearence at the designated time.

To Anon 4:39 PM, September 18, 2006 - Careful what you wish on others. G-D will do Mida Keneged Mida and cause you to have all those horrible things you wished upon someone else. Besides, you are a perfect example of what is wrong with people today, that UOJ has fought so hard to fix.

Anonymous said...

UOJ is leaving for this reason:

Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics, even if you win, you are still retarded.

Anonymous said...

annon 4:39


I have no words.


All I can say without a sliver of doubt is you are indeed a child molester, 1. either exposed or 2. yet to be xposed.

Your punishment my friend, not, is your little trinket shall be dunked in acid and it should burn without releif for a minimum of 12 years your in memory of the recommended age of your warped brain.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

May you rot in hell.

Isn't this contrary to the pasuk in Yechezkel 33:11?

אִם-אֶחְפֹּץ בְּמוֹת הָרָשָׁע, כִּי אִם-בְּשׁוּב רָשָׁע מִדַּרְכּוֹ, וְחָיָה:

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;

Froomies seem not to believe in the concept of t'shuvah. You don't want to see people improve, because you don't believe it's possible. You think that you are righteous and could never sin. You want people to be punished so you can feel superior.

Anonymous said...

SO HERE THEY ARE.

ALL THESE SICK YESHIVISH ANTI-UOJ LAP DOGS. THE KOOL-AID DRINKERS
WHO ARE PROGRAMMED ROBOTS AND
THINK WITH THEIR TOCUSUS B/C THEIR BRAINS DON'T REALLY EXIST.

MAY THE EVIL YOU WISH UPON UOJ -
A TRUE HERO WHO TRIED TO BREAK
THE 'BLACK-HAT' BROOKLYN-MONSEY
MAFIA- BEFALL YOU YOURSELVES!

IT MAKES ME NASCEOUS JUST THINKING ABOUT YOU!! BURN IN HELL!!
YOU DON'T REPRESENT THE GEDOLIM
AND JEWS OF EUROPE AND NEVER WILL!!

Anonymous said...

I must say that I am disappointed. There has been a lot of discussion on here about how threats and pressure are excercised in order to suppress the negative details of the wayward rabbis, teachers, etc. It is a shame to see that force hold any results here on an anonymous blog.
I guess one point has certainly been proven - any sort of threatening or unacceptable behavior is forced to be kept quiet by the powers that be. There is no possibility of speaking out, and because of that - this behavior is nowhere close to ending, but threatening to spread.
Farewell, and best of luck.

Anonymous said...

"Kosher Electricity-What's Next?":

Turned out the author was right: frum American Yiddn WERE eating TREIF from Monsey while spending time and energy for "kosher electricity".... History proved you right...

Anonymous said...

Gedolei Yisroel Call for Reinforced Efforts to Use Kosher Electricity on Shabbos

by A. Cohen

Gedolei Yisroel including Maran HaRav Eliashiv, shlita, signed a letter of encouragement for the askonim who are making marked progress toward plans to install a Shabbos generator for the entire city of Modi'in Illit.

The letter was written by HaRav Eliashiv and his signature appears along with those of HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, HaRav Nissim Karelitz, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and HaRav Shmuel Auerbach. "It is a great mitzvah," read the letters, "to assist the activists who committed themselves to this important matter of strengthening Shabbos observance by supplying the city of Modi'in Illit with electricity on Shabbos generated without chilul Shabbos, which is an act of kiddush Sheim Shomayim."

The gedolei Yisroel who signed the letter attach great importance to kosher electricity in every place with a large concentration of chareidi residents. "It is well known how [strongly] Maran HaChazon Ish zt"l [opposed] the use of electricity generated through chilul Shabbos Kodesh. And it is kovod Shabbos for the botei knesses and streets as well to be illuminated by electricity kosher for Shabbos."

The letters ends, "And may all of those helping toward this effort be blessed with the blessings of Shabbos, which is the source of all blessing. As is stated in the Talmud Yerushalmi, `"Bircas Hashem hi sa'ashir" refers to Shabbos' (Brochos, Chap. 2, Hal. 7), "and may the merit of the tzaddik [the Chazon Ish] protect all of those assisting in this matter to be blessed with all of the blessings written in the Torah."

The letter was written at the end of Tishrei following progress in setting up the electrical plant in Modi'in Illit. Recently the plan took another major step forward when City Council Head Rabbi Yaakov Guterman met with top officials including Electricity Authority Chairman David Assos, Electric Corporation's CEO Dr. Yaakov Ratzon and the assistant directors in charge of planning the generator project. At the meeting the two sides signed an agreement on the construction of the plant.

Electric Corporation heads said they were pleased over the letter by maranan verabonon, which was presented during the course of the meeting. They pledged to work to have the Shabbos power plant in operation as soon as possible.

The Modi'in Illit project is expected to serve as an example for other places with large chareidi populations.

UOJ Comments

The Charedis' coffers are dead broke.
The organizations are corrupt from top to toe, stealing, yes stealing from the government and fraudulently raising money for people and causes that are non-existent. Who is dreaming this shit up?

Do people stay up at night thinking what other chumras we can slap on to our followers? Boasting that R' Elyashiv signed his name to this "important" cause, tells us how OUT of touch he is with the reality around him.
He is suppose to pasken for us in America, when he is clueless as to what is going on in his own backyard???

Kosher electricity is on it's way to Monsey, Boro Park and Flatbush while we are probably eating non-kosher food.


I'm certain that's what the Chazon Ish had in mind.
Any more window dressing coming? Any more cover-ups of the real problems, by changing the subject?
This is sickening!

Chaval!!!

Anonymous said...

Now that you plan to retire from being a baal loshon hora and motzei shem rah, you should use your extra time to do teshuva.

(It is the perfect time of the year for this, B"H.)

Anonymous said...

Organization:
St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital

Topic:
Support Group for Adult Women Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Program:
Crime Victims Treatment Center

Description:
Thursday Evenings, 6 to 8 pm
Anticipated Start Date: November 2, 2006

This group is designed to provide a forum for women who have been sexually abused as children to understand the ways in which the trauma of early abuse has affected their adult lives and learn feeling management skills.

St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital
Crime Victims Treatment Center
411 West 114 Street #2C
New York, NY 10025
Danette Wilson-Gonbzalez
212-523-4725

Anonymous said...

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF MOISHIE FINKEL
WAS A MODERN ORTHODOX JEW?

THE YATED WOULD BE PARADING HIS NAME RIGHT ON THE FRONT PAGE FOR
YEARS!!!

EXCEPT FOR LAST WEEK'S PATHETIC
EDITORIAL WHICH DIDN'T REALLY
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT A PROBLEM EXISTED
THERE IS A DEAFENING SILENCE.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

CAN YOU IMAGINE IF MOISHE FINKEL MOLESTED CHILDREN FOR FORTY YEARS?

NOTHING WOULD BE SAID, NO TAANIS/FAST DAY; HE WOULD CONTINUE TO OPERATE WITH IMPUNITY.

NO RABBI WOULD SAY A WORD....OTHER THAN FRAUD BELSKY ISSUING A HAZMANA FOR MOTZEE SHEM RA!

Anonymous said...

To the jerk-off who cursed out the Yated:

Get you facts straight.

FOR THE RECORD: Rabbi Pinchos Lipschitz (Chief Editor of the Yated) has a father who is a Rov in Monsey for many many years. He personally THREW THIS PIECE OF SCUM OUT OF HIS SHUL YEARS AGO!!

Stop attacking the Yated.

Go do some research. Call Rabbi Lipschitz up.

Anonymous said...

uoj--you still have time to do teshuva. its the best time of the year for that.

Anonymous said...

Why dont you just close up shop already? Theres still some time before R'H to do teshuvah!!

Anonymous said...

I heard that Eli Greenwald was upset about the treif meat and made a comment about it to people in shul, so I was going to issue him another hazmana, but after all kinds of conferring with Margo in the background, Shea Fishman decided that the climate is not quite right at this point and another hazmana would only attract more negative attention to the "best" yeshiva, YTT. Margo also pointed out that Finkel can serve as a fall guy for everyone's frustrations.

Anonymous said...

Although there may not be 87 million people reading this blog, this entry is like the final Seinfeld episode. All of Seinfeld's friends and especially enemies turn out to say their 2 cents when the cast are on trial.

The irony is not lost on me that the crime in question was not providing assistance to a crime victim.

This is no "show about nothing". UOJ stood up for the unfortunate & downtrodden souls. When no else stepped forward to stop an avlah sheain kamowhoo, Hakodosh Boruch Hu sent a phantom shaliach who finally put an end to 40 years of Kolko's retzichos at YTT.

Do not leave UOJ or you will be guilty of not providing assistance to other victims who have not yet been redeemed.

Anonymous said...

2-A

Anonymous said...

1B

G-d bless you! When you're emunah is healthy again, please come back.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

Please don't post all morons' comments who are telling you that "you will be guilty of not providing assistance to other victims who have not yet been redeemed" if you leave. What have they done? NOTHING but post a few comments giving you mussar! You have done well beyond your share in lo samod al dam reyecha.

K'siva V'chasima Tova

Anonymous said...

why are you stopping?
maybe you should sell the password to someone and let them continue
anyways


zi gozunt

Jewish Survivors said...

UOJ,
Thank you so much for doing what you have done. I will miss you and the awsome work you have been doing. If it wasn't for you the crimes committed against our children by kolko would still be unknown. The same is true about the crimes committed by Eiseman. You are definately a hero to many of us.

Thank you so much for all the time you devoted to this important issue. Thank you for stepping outside the box. I'll miss you.

JS

Anonymous said...

Love him or hate him the guy made a huge difference. He'll be sorely missed. Like all lost loved ones, we never said we loved you while we could. Take care and know that you gave us hope that there are caring souls willing to take care of the blind and weak. That is the state of the union my friends.
With Great Respect,
Fellow Yid

Anonymous said...

UOJ

I always supported your work, though not the "way" it was done.

Perhaps you should ask forgiveness from the innocent "casualties" who were hurt by some of your postings.

A small retraction on those statements about Rav Shteinman Shlita and the Rebbe of Gur, wouldn’t hurt either.

Kesivah V'chasima Tovah!

Anonymous said...

The legacy of UOJ will continue to reverberate until the time of moshiach's coming. Never before has anyone stepped up to the plate and terrified the rabbinic establishment.

I believe that other blogs (and magazine and newspaper articles) will spring up and hold the rabbonim accountable.

UOJ has revealed the real face of our so called "gedolim". They are totally impotent and unable to face the tough issues. They are very good at protecting the image but not the weak and the helpless children.

UOJ, a big yasher koach for everything !! Take it easy for a while. This "movie" is not over yet. Enjoy and watch how things will soon be falling apart.

Anonymous said...

I DID NOT CURSE THE YATED. MATTER OF FACT I DO READ IT AND FIND MANY
ARTICLES INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE. SOME OF RABBI LIFSHUTZ'S OPINONS HAVE BEEN GOOD. HOWEVER, THE BLACK HAT WORLD HAS BECOME POLITICIZED
AND NO LONGER SYMBOLIZES EMES.

I ONCE HEARD FROM ONE OF RAV CHAIM
BRISKER ZTL'S GRANDSONS THAT HE PERSONALLY OPPOSED AGUDAH'S CREATION B/C "TODAY THE GEDOLIM ARE
MAKING THE DECISIONS AND TOMMORROW
THE SECRETARIES WILL MAKE THEM"
AND THIS IS REALLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED. FRUMKEIT HAS REPLACED YIDDISHKEIT. UOJ IS A MODEL EXAMPLE-

DESPITE HIS RAISING THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF CHILD MOLESTATION IN THE
YESHIVISHE WORLD, NOT A WORD- A
SINGLE SOLITARY WORD -ABOUT THE ISSUE HAS BEEN PRINTED IN THE YATED
EVEN IF ONLY TO PREVENT FUTURE
ABUSE. BELIEVE YOU ME- IF
RAV CHAIM BRISKER OR RAV ELCHONON
OR RAV MOISHE WERE AROUND HEADS WOULD BE ROLLING BIG TIME.

BUT THE YATED IS PROBABLY AFRAID
OF INSULTING MONEY-MAN MARGO WHO
AS WE ALL KNOW IS AN "HONORABLE
PERSON" OR R. SCHEINBERG WHO WAS
UNFORTUNATELY INVOLVED. EVEN AFTER
KOLKO WAS SEEN CHAPARONING CAMP KIDS IN A WATERPARK WITH HIS SONS-THUGS AFTER ALL THE PUBLICITY AND HIS "DISMISSAL" -NOT A WORD.

UOJ- YISHAAR KOACH. YOU HAVE OPENED
THE EYES OF SO MANY NOT ONLY TO
ABUSE BUT TO THE CORRUPTION THAT IS
THE BROOKLYN-MONSEY COVER-UP MAFIA.

PLEASE AT LEAST COME BACK OCCASIONALLY WHEN THERE'S A CRITICAL ISSUE TO ADDRESS.

TODAH CHAVER!

Anonymous said...

It behooves us all to bear in mind that, warts and all, UOJ rid us of a dangerous pedophile and exposed his protector.

We owe him our gratitude.

Good bye and good luck.

Anonymous said...

More important than the issue of molestation (which is merely a symptom of the malaise in the "frum" world), is the total loss of world perspective (which I have seen you write about in earlier times)

The "frum" world. has collapsed onto and into itself like a dwarf star. Secular knowledge, even as a means of earning a livelihood has become taboo; how much more so, the acquisition of such knowledge for its own sake.

In the early 70's, I'd write little essays, which were circulated amongst a small circle of friends (no blogs 35 years ago) decrying, in similar terms to your articles, the "matzav" of the Orthodox community. I distinctly recall the condemnation of R. Meir Kahane ZTL, for his endorsements of rallies and protests re: Soviet Jewry. At the time, I wrote, "who cares about the political opinions of Roshei Yeshiva, most of them couldn't find the Soviet Union on a world map."

The situation has gotten much worse since that time. We are breeding a generation of illiterate, dependent, and useless people. When was the last time a Yeshiva boy (or girl), won a Westinghouse scholarship? The Daily News spelling Bee?

Gone is the generation that began to pave the way for yarmulkes in Med schools, Law schools, etc. The future of Centrist Orthodoxy is now virtually confined to Yeshiva University and its pathetic imitators.

In my business dealings with the community (although, I must admit, they have been fairly honest), simple contracts are unintelligible to the typical Yeshiva student / graduate(sic!). A genius, who was commenting to me on the "Indian Sheiel" scandal (!) asked me if India was in the Carribean!

The future is bleak, and getting bleaker.

I saw a brief ray of hope, when I came across your blog about a year ago. Someone else was noticing the futility and self destructive nature of the Orthodox future. Someone else, besides me, noticed that a man (yes he is a man!) who wears 37 pairs of Tzitzit, is not a tzaddik, but a "looney toon" And...... that looney toon is the standard by which greatness is now judged!!

Someone else besides me, noticed that the so called "kollelim" are strangling the community. Precious dollars are squandered on young men, who by the age of 25, should be out and about, while tuition costs for the true "Tinokot shel Bet Rabban" are soaring!!

Alas, I feel the total darkness descending again. Our brief ray of hope wants to retire. If that is your final decision, may G-d grant you everything for the good you've already done. I feel, however, that there is much to do. Someone, somewhere, will eventually finish your job. I hope that it will be you, who will perform the G'mar M'lacha.

K'tiva Va Chatima Tova!!

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

I'm sorry, but you've started a movement that can't just be ended like this. It is essential for the existence of Klal Yisroel that you continue, or at least appoint a sucessor. Perhaps a team of volunteers can continue this sort of blog to expose all of the filth and corruption in our communities. The mushchasim and minuvalim in this world are now peeking from under the rocks where they've gone to hide, wondering if it's really safe to come out and play.
We must keep them burried until they exist no more, or at least until a child molester realizes that he is literally taking his own life in his hands if he acts on his perverted compulsion. UOJ, you've got them on the run - let's keep them there!

" A winner never quits, & a quitter never wins. "

" All it takes for evil people to prevail in this world is for good people to do nothing. "

" A Rabbi whom the community does not wish to drive out of the city is no Rabbi; but a Rabbi who is driven from the city is no man. " - R' Yisrael Salanter

There are a whole host of quotes and cliches that can be noted, but I think the point is clear: We need a few good men( or a lot of them! ) to keep fighting this Milchemes Mitzvah. My personal belief is that this problem will get much worse before it gets better.

Ks'ivah Vachasimah Tovah to all,


Nutin' but the Emes

Anonymous said...

we will miss you!

Anonymous said...

Ksiva Vechasima Tova Brave One!!!

Anonymous said...

To Contemporary:

You've said it all and very well. It's bad and going to get much worse.

To UOJ: Very sad to see you close shop although I'm encouraged to see that Vegas has you 3-1 coming right back after Succos.

G'Mar Chatima Tova!

Anonymous said...

1 A !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Unorthodox Jew Blog Going Into Retirement?

I was just made aware that the Unorthodox Jew (UOJ) will be retiring.

I remember the first time UOJ sent me an e-mail regarding the Kolko case. This was prior to the famous New York Magazine article. I was apprehensive about what he was doing. He was a virtual unknown entity at the time. I had no idea if what he was saying for real or not.

As time progressed UOJ proved himself. He was definately doing what he could to advocate for those who were sexually victimized by Rabbi Yehuda Kolko.

UOJ definately is a HERO! Besides exposing the Kolko case, UOJ was instrumental in exposing the case of Rabbi Moshe Eiseman and advocating for him to be kicked out of Ner Israel. I don't think anyone else could have been so successful.

I wish there was a way of talking UOJ out of his retirement, yet I totally do understand his need to leave. This kind of work is extremely demanding, frustrating and sickening. UOJ will definately be missed. He is definately someone who deserves everyone's upmost respect. If he entered a room, he would definately be someone I would stand up for.

I just found the following comment on another blog that talks about UOJ's retirement, which you can find below?


Rabbi Yosef Blau on UOJ
UOJ brought to the attention of the broader public the problem of sexual abuse, particularly from rabbis and teachers, in the Orthodox community. The rabbinical leadership has not been effective in dealing with serious accusations in the past. What is being done to protect the young and the vulnerable.

I agree that anonymous postings are a license for irresponsibility. That is no excuse for denying a real issue and for not developing serious mechanisms to prevent further abuse. Now that the establishment does not have to show that they are not responding to UOJ will they acknowledge that our community is not immune to a scourge that exists in all societies.

Will the response be again that there are no two witnesses to the abuse. Or that the boys or girls were not halakhicly minors. Anyone in contact with survivors of abuse is aware that they rarely get any support when they complain to rabbis. How many teachers have been fired from one school only to be hired by another. The true reason that they were let go was not revealed because the fellow needs to make a living and the scandal will hurt his family. Proper considerations but where is the concern for new victims and their families?

I am troubled by the gloating that perhaps would be in place if the real crisis had been resolved. The true losers are all of us as we allow the existing chillul hashem to continue.

Yosef Blau (my real name)
posted by Jewish Survivors Of Sexual Violence at Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Rav Yosef Shlita,

You of course know that the excuse the so called "Establishment" gave, that they were not going to respond to an anonymous blogger is a bag of lies and nonsense.

The hazmanas and notices came from attorney Elliot Pasik and Jeffrey Herman. There were four hazmanas in total, in addition to calls from rabbis to Torah Temimah.

Ner Israel was getting hundreds of calls from the parent body and friends with names.

Yeshiva Of Brooklyn was contacted by the victims and a local rav.

I personally spoke to the Grand Rabbi from Ger (Moshiach's friend and confidante) about Leizerowitz, and told him that I would get the police involved in conjunction with his visit to the U.S.A.

They ALL knew that this was an ongoing problem and refused to deal with it lest their "businesses" would be negatively impacted.

These guys are shakronim (liars) to a murderous degree, every single one of them. Sheftel Neuberger swore to many people that he never heard about the accusations against Eisemann! Who is he kidding?

Just because I'm retiring from the blogosphere that DOES NOT MEAN that I will not fight against corruption and sleaze!

Take note shgatzim, I'm NOT retiring from helping my fellow Jews in distress. If you screw around with people, you will hear from me, I promise!

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

How can we contact you after Succos?

Anonymous said...

Reb UOJ,

Maybe you can post announcements in the future as to what you're up to and give notice to the various scumbags you are going after. Since running a regular blog is very time consuming, you can shut down the comments section instead of the closing up shop completely.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the piss puddles you've caused to appear under the chairs and pant legs of the so-called leaders of the phony frumme establishment. It was great fun hearing about self-serving, self-righteous assholes in connecticut and elsewhere who were actually considering doing the right thing, lest you destroy their donor base. Shame you have to go. I didn't always agree with your methods, but who cares what I think....you made a difference. Don't appologize for a thing, except maybe for leaving the stage at this point. I pray the difference you have made continues making a difference in the way things are being done.

Anonymous said...

Leshana raah techasev vesechasem lealter lemesah meshunah besifran shel reshayim gemurim

Anonymous said...

Special High Holiday Feature!!!!!!!

Go to Jerusalem and pray in the Gurer Shul with the Gurer Rebbe and Mondrowitz & Leizerowitz and g-d only knows how many other pedophiles Gur has spawned. Are they some secret society that engages in homosexual activity like a cult? Do they all practice this behavior? How far do they go? All the way, or as far as Tzitzis Scheinberg alows? (Remember that guy? Famous for his lumdishe psak that basicaly says "No penetration without lubrication" or something like that)

And the world remained silent. Because the rabbi's couldn't profit from this scandal. Whereas the chicken business was good for them both in the terms of monies and prestige. And these scum bags are gonna show u how to repent these days. When your done I have a bridge to sell u.

TREMBLING IN AWE BEFORE G-D hours before the new year. Fearful for the fact that NOT ONE heimishe Rabbi said a single blasted word on behalf of the victims to bring them comfort and get them help AND STOP THE MOLESTERS. Not 1 freakin rabbi said a thing to the public or did anything substantial other than try to silence the victims.

Anonymous said...

I wuold pay $100/month to have UOJ continue telling us the truth and protecting Yiddishe kinderlach from molestors. Why contribute to MASK, Priority 1, JACS, etc. if we can get the refuah before the machlah?

Anonymous said...

I was at a wedding this week and Margo was barely able to walk. His smug smile was gone and looked like he was a dead man standing.

I would be interested to see which clown will be willing to eulogize him; should be soon from what I saw.

Anonymous said...

I would b'n put in 25 a month. UOJ
- why don't you open a subscription
section? I'm sure your fan base could bring you thousands a month!
And u could devote yourself totally to your holy cause!!!

Anonymous said...

#1-B to uoj from LEIZEROWITZ VICTIM FOREVER

Anonymous said...

(Remember that guy? Famous for his lumdishe psak that basicaly says "No penetration without lubrication" or something like that)............................TO to the above anon it goes like this {NO PENETRATION NO VIOLATION}

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

Aleh Vehatzlach!

K'siva V'chasima Tova!

Anonymous said...

Vegas Tote Board now showing UOJ's return
after Succos at 2-1

Anonymous said...

We're taking even money that UOJ will return between now and the end of the calender year.
One major screwup by the "hats" and he'll be back.

Anonymous said...

L'Shanah Tovah
© (5767) by Tali Zahara
Jewish Survivors of Sexual Violence Speaks Out - September 21, 2006
http://jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/2006/09/happy-new-year-by-tali-zahara.html

Happy New Year is what I should be saying, but I can't. I am so angered and sickened by the way our rabbis and community leaders have been handling cases of sexual abuse I don't want to have anything to do with Judaism any more. I can't imagine myself entering my shul to daven.

My rabbi left a message on my voice mail inviting me to come to his home for a meal. A few years ago I would have jumped at the chance. I would have felt so honored. This year I feel completely different. I'm having an extremely difficult time wanting to do anything related to being a Jew. I no longer say my daily prayers. It's very seldom I say bracha's prior to eating or doing anything.

I hate to tell you how many times in the past I went to my rabbi and other rabbis looking for help. I hate to tell you how many times a rabbi told me they did not believe me that I was sexually abused as a child. I'm sick and tired of feeling that our rabbis care more about protecting sex offenders or their own assets then they do about helping those of us who have been sexually victimized. I'm tired of the ignorance. I can't even imagine walking into my shul. I can't imagine davening with people I no longer can connect with. I think I will feel better if I just go camping

TechnoYid said...

UOJ,

As I've stated before, while I am uncomfortable with your methods, they appear to be the only methods that work.

Other blogs have stated that now responsible folk can take care of the issue. My fear is that the so-called responsible folk will be cowed by the inordinate power the evil-doers amongst us wield.

Have a chasimah v'chasivah tovah, and remember that if you indeed do begin again, we will all be here waiting for you.

Anonymous said...

I was at a wedding this week and Margo was barely able to walk. His smug smile was gone and looked like he was a dead man standing.

I would be interested to see which clown will be willing to eulogize him; should be soon from what I saw.
_________________________________________
I am praying he lives a long time. Margulies deserves to reap the rewards for what he did to all the victims.

Anonymous said...

Tali-

Please don't forget that G-d is
still pure truth and he is the one you should continue to have faith in despite the fact many Rabbis have been politicized. Also, in the
Modern Orthodox there are many
Rabbis who are always committed to
the truth- Rav Yosef Blau for one.
I suggest you contact him for
advice and guidance. He has an office in YU. Please do not
lose faith!!!

Anonymous said...

For whatever it's worth, I want you to know how much I admire you, both for what you've done, and how you've done it--selflessly, with
sensitivity and passion and courage and humility, and also great wit (where others would be hard pressed to find it). You have helped more people than you will probably ever know, and in countless ways. I wish you all good things, for you deserve
them, and more.

Anonymous said...

הלכות דעות פרק ו

אבל בדברי שמיים--אם לא חזר בו בסתר--מכלימין אותו ברבים ומפרסמין חטאו ומחרפין אותו בפניו ומבזין ומקללין, עד שיחזור למוטב: כמו שעשו כל הנביאים לישראל.

Anonymous said...

FINAL PRE-HOLIDAY REMINDER OF MASSIVE ORGY GOING DOWN!!!!

Special High Holiday Feature!!!!!!!

Go to Jerusalem and pray in the Gurer Shul with the Gurer Rebbe and Mondrowitz & Leizerowitz and g-d only knows how many other pedophiles Gur has spawned. Are they some secret society that engages in homosexual activity like a cult? Do they all practice this behavior? How far do they go? All the way, or as far as Tzitzis Scheinberg alows? (Remember that guy? Famous for his lumdishe psak that basicaly says "No penetration without lubrication" or something like that)

And the world remained silent. Because the rabbi's couldn't profit from this scandal. Whereas the chicken business was good for them both in the terms of monies and prestige. And these scum bags are gonna show u how to repent these days. When your done I have a bridge to sell u.

TREMBLING IN AWE BEFORE G-D hours before the new year. Fearful for the fact that NOT ONE heimishe Rabbi said a single blasted word on behalf of the victims to bring them comfort and get them help AND STOP THE MOLESTERS. Not 1 freakin rabbi said a thing to the public or did anything substantial other than try to silence the victims.

Anonymous said...

T-Minus ONE WEEK TO THESE RABBIS SHABBOS SHUVAH DROSHOS.

Remember to keep your Black Hats on during the entire discourse.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

....................... "The honor of the rabbis is dear to me too. But, the honor of the Torah which is lying in the garbage, and the honor of the truth, which is trodden under foot, are dearer to me. Where there is chillul Hashem we do not impart honor to a rabbi......"

Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz

Anonymous said...

I was sitting here thinking and this thought struck me ...... After all that time and money spent during the election, what actually was the outcome? ..... Another black family living in government housing!

Anonymous said...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPtm1yvXGJVcqVpQdQfpQLY8L-cwD94I2ABO1

Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama with racial epithet

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF and LEE KEATH – 1 hour ago

Anonymous said...

http://www.vosizneias.com/22719/2008/11/19/new-york-parshat-chayei-sarah-the-age-of-rivkah-at-her-wedding-3-years/

New York - How old was Rivka when she was discovered by Avraham’s servant and brought to Canaan to marry Yitzchak?


You are a graduate of a yeshiva education and you still say “three years old.” And you justify this by saying that “three-year-olds were more sophisticated in those days.”


[The views and opinion of this article is solely of the writer Rabbi Avi Billet, that was printed in this weeks newspaper the Jewish Star, and doesn't represent in anyway the views of VIN News, we merely bring the writings of Rabbi Avi Billet - feel free to debate this issue in the comments section.



Or you never really came across this question and you say, “Hmmm. I never thought about that. How old was she?”


We do not know the answer because the Torah doesn’t tell us. The Torah also doesn’t tell us how old Yitzchak was when he was bound on the top of a mountain by his father. Yet we seem to have that one clear as well. Unequivocally, he was 37 years old.


Right? Wrong! At least about it being “unequivocally” a certain number.


Based on the midrash, Rashi ties together the Akeidah (binding of Yitzchak) with Rivka’s birth and Sara’s death –– all because they take place in the same few verses in the Torah. Since we know Sara was 127 when she died, simple mathematics produce Yitzchak being 37 at her death, and Rivka’s birth at that time. Since Yitzchak marries at age 40, Rivka becomes three at her nuptials.

Advertisement:

Please do not misunderstand: there are no hard feelings against Rashi. I believe there are many ways to look at things and Rashi does not always have to be the bottom line. There is a reason why we have other commentaries and approaches which are considered valid, and we cannot continue to be satisfied with only one approach. Especially if that approach, at its core, really bothers us. And if it doesn’t bother us, it should either bother us, or we really do not understand it.


We ignore the fact that years can pass between verses. For example, in one pasuk Avraham is 86 as Yishmael is born (16:16), and in the very next pasuk (17:1), Avraham is 99 and about to circumcise himself. That’s a 13 year jump, and no one questions the validity of the change in years. So why do we accept that there wasn’t a gap between the Akeidah and Sara’s death? Ibn Ezra, for example, believes Yitzchak was 13 at the time of his binding. This would make Sara 103 at that time, a good 24 years before her death.


Where were we? Rivka’s age at her wedding.


The Talmud (Yevamot 61b) mentions Rivka’s marriageable status, and Tosafot quote a Sifrei (Devarim 397:7) that indicates Rivka was 14 at the time of her marriage. The Midrash puts Rivka in the category of pairs of people that lived to the same age, and she is partnered with Kehat, who lived to be 133. Working backwards, the conclusion is that Rivka was 14 on her wedding day and 34 when she gave birth to her twin sons.


While in our times we do not approve of girls marrying at age 14, we know it was once a reality. We are certainly aware that 14-year-olds in our society (hopefully not in our community) do things of a marital nature –– including having babies –– even if they are not emotionally mature enough to understand or foresee the outcome of their decisions.


On the other hand, some 14-year-olds may look and act like very mature adults.


I have yet to meet a three-year-old who fits into this category, and I never want to meet a three-year-old who fits into this category. To think that Rivka is three years old and understands the idea of offering water to camels, can physically shlep water back and forth tens of times to feed 10 camels, is given respect to make her own decision whether she’ll go with Avraham’s servant, is viewed as a marriageable prospect, and is appreciated by Yitzchak, as his wife, to fill the void in his life left by his mother’s passing is, unequivocally, untenable to my line of thinking.


Put her at age 14, however, and it makes a whole lot of sense.


So why are we so fascinated with age three? Why do we also accept blindly that Avraham was three when he discovered G-d? These midrashim are fascinating and very deep and I would not presume to say I understand them, nor would I suggest taking them solely at face value.


Perhaps they are meant to teach us at what age our children ought to be when we begin teaching and inculcating in them important knowledge and lessons about life and the religion to which we commit ourselves.


Or perhaps we want to be inspired by the sophistication of our Avot and Imahot even at such a young age. I, for one, am happy to be inspired by a 14-year-old, as I prefer for the three-year-olds to remain just as they are: cute kids.

Anonymous said...

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AH1CE20081118

Primary care doctors in the United States feel overworked and nearly half plan to either cut back on how many patients they see or quit medicine entirely, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

And 60 percent of 12,000 general practice physicians found they would not recommend medicine as a career.

"The whole thing has spun out of control. I plan to retire early even though I still love seeing patients. The process has just become too burdensome," the Physicians' Foundation, which conducted the survey, quoted one of the doctors as saying.

The survey adds to building evidence that not enough internal medicine or family practice doctors are trained or practicing in the United States, although there are plenty of specialist physicians.

Health care reform is near the top of the list of priorities for both Congress and president-elect Barack Obama, and doctor's groups are lobbying for action to reduce their workload and hold the line on payments for treating Medicare, Medicaid and other patients with federal or state health insurance.

The Physicians' Foundation, founded in 2003 as part of a settlement in an anti-racketeering lawsuit among physicians, medical societies, and insurer Aetna, Inc., mailed surveys to 270,000 primary care doctors and 50,000 practicing specialists.

The 12,000 answers are considered representative of doctors as a whole, the group said, with a margin of error of about 1 percent. It found that 78 percent of those who answered believe there is a shortage of primary care doctors.

More than 90 percent said the time they devote to non-clinical paperwork has increased in the last three years and 63 percent said this has caused them to spend less time with each patient.

Eleven percent said they plan to retire and 13 percent said they plan to seek a job that removes them from active patient care. Twenty percent said they will cut back on patients seen and 10 percent plan to move to part-time work.

Seventy six percent of physicians said they are working at "full capacity" or "overextended and overworked".

Many of the health plans proposed by members of Congress, insurers and employers's groups, as well as Obama's, suggest that electronic medical records would go a long way to saving time and reducing costs.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404716130&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Can gays be 'cured' after all?

Nov. 12, 2008
david benkof , THE JERUSALEM POST

A prominent opponent of "change ministries," Wayne Besen, calls them "the only effective form of ex-gay therapy." At least one gay man says they have been helpful in curbing his appetite for gay sex. Is this a miracle cure for homosexuality?

Not exactly.

One measure that so far has not really been a part of the "cure-for-homosexuality" debate is injections to reduce the libido - the same treatment administered to some serial rapists and child molesters. I know a fellow Orthodox gay Jew who like me who is interested in following Jewish law about sexuality and asked a doctor to prescribe the injections to help prevent him from pursuing gay sex - and they've been successful. So I asked several rabbis, therapists and others what they think about this plan for Orthodox gay Jews having a hard time following Jewish sexual laws on their own. The reactions were decidedly mixed.

One of the world's leading experts at medicine and Halacha is talmudist-biologist Rabbi Moshe Tendler, professor of medical ethics at Yeshiva University. He said he would need to know more about the pharmacology of the treatment, but that if it could be used "safely and intelligently," then "by all means surely that should be looked upon as the will of God." Tendler said that if a person was seriously tempted to commit a grave sin such as gay sex, "in such a circumstance, it would be permissible to take an injection in order to prevent it." It would not be obligatory, however.

Still, he said, if you "feel you're losing control and this is a method that would give you control, by all means it should be done."

Rabbi J. David Bleich, who teaches Talmud, law and ethics at Yeshiva University, said the injections approach "sounds reasonable" and is "absolutely permissible" if administered by a medically responsible physician - ideally with the person's rabbi and doctor working together.

On the other hand, he said, "I don't think this is the ideal way of dealing with this, but it may be the way that works, particularly in the short term." He suggested therapy as the best way of dealing halachicly with same-sex desires.

But in my experience from talking to dozens of gay Jewish men who have tried, therapy is not very successful in making a gay man straight. However, it can help someone (as it helped me) bring his behavior in line with his values.

I spoke to a few experts in psychotherapy, including Dr. Nachum Klafter, the director of psychotherapy training at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Of the injections, he said, "I personally don't feel that's how I want to help people; that's not the type of treatment I provide. In general, I see my role as helping a person attain a greater level of behira [freedom] over their lives. To simply turn off someone's sex drive from my way of thinking is not a form of treatment."

Adam Jessel, a therapist in Jerusalem who often works with men struggling with unwanted attractions and runs groups for men who are "struggling with homosexual attractions and related issues," said he hadn't heard of this particular use for injections to slow the libido. He objected to the idea of the injections, because he said "it's like saying there's no way to increase your attraction to women or reduce your unwanted attraction to men," although he was sympathetic to the idea of using the pharmacological approach to give "a breather to give time for therapeutic interventions to work."

Besen is the executive director of a group called Truth Wins Out, which responds to the claims of people like Jessel. He said that the injections show "how unnatural it is for people to give up sex and why it is psychologically unhealthy... However, it is the only effective form of ex-gay therapy, as the traditional Christian version does not have a good track record." He did, however, say that he thinks "fully informed individuals should be able to make this choice for themselves."

I agree with Besen's comments about individual choice. But I fear that if this solution spreads within the Orthodox community, people will lose autonomy if they feel pressure from parents, rabbis and teachers to have the injections. People's ability and right to make halachicly acceptable decisions about their own bodies is important, and it would be wrong to urge someone to undergo a medical procedure because of their same-sex attractions. Still, for someone who is having a hard time keeping his pants on, the injections should be an option, as long as the decision is made fully in consultation with both doctors and rabbis.

DavidBenkof@aol.com

Anonymous said...

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/31969/

A New York City community organizer is fighting back in court after her parody website challenging redevelopment efforts in New York City's historic Union Square was shut down with bogus claims of copyright infringement and cybersquatting.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing Savitri Durkee, an activist concerned with preserving the character of Union Square and Union Square Park. As one part of her education campaign, Durkee created a website parodying the official website of Union Square Partnership (USP), a group backing extensive redevelopment of the area. In response, USP sent Durkee's Internet service provider a notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act improperly asserting that her parody site infringed USP's copyright, leading to the shutdown of the site. USP then filed a copyright lawsuit against Durkee and later filed a claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) seeking to take control of the parody site's domain name.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/11/18/2008-11-18_court_clerk_indicted_in_mortgage_scam.html

Wednesday, November 19th 2008, 1:13 AM

An accused sex tour operator and a high-ranking Brooklyn court official were among nine people indicted Tuesday in a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme that featured stolen identities and an elaborate series of masquerades.

In the scheme, con artists using fake IDs to conceal their participation bought and sold two Queens properties and one in Brooklyn and then took out the mortgages, authorities said. The three deals were done over an eight-day span last year, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The victims included a Jamaica woman who owned her home outright and now faces foreclosure; and a New Jersey woman, whose identity was stolen and is now fighting off banks over mortgages fraudulently taken out in her name, said Brown.

John D'Emic, chief deputy county clerk for Kings County, allegedly was the paid attorney for the fraudulent buyers and sellers in the transactions and prepared false letters instructing how the mortgage proceeds should be distributed. D'Emic, who was in private practice at the time, was appointed to the $96,910-a-year court clerk's job in January. D'Emic, 59, was suspended from his job without pay. He did not return calls.

The suspected sex tour operator, Norman Barabash, also a certified public accountant, is charged with claiming he had prepared five years' worth of tax returns for one of the buyers and preparing false letters for the mortgage applications.

Barabash, 63, of Bellerose, L.I., is also under indictment for using a Queens travel agency to book sleazy sex tours to Southeast Asia.

Anonymous said...

Wayne R. Bryant, the former chairman of the New Jersey State Senate’s powerful Budget Committee, was convicted of bribery and pension fraud after an eight-week trial.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/business/economy/19bankruptcy.html?em=&pagewanted=print

November 19, 2008

Advantage of Corporate Bankruptcy Is Dwindling

By JONATHAN D. GLATER

Anonymous said...

Oil just sank to $53

Anonymous said...

In an op-ed essay in Wednesday's editions of The New York Times, Mitt Romney, a candidate for this year's Republican presidential nomination, wrote: "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."
Romney, who was born in Detroit and whose father was an auto industry executive, wrote: "Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check."

Anonymous said...

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/wall-street-said-to-turn-cold-shoulder-to-cuomo-party/

Andrew M. Cuomo is turning 51 in two weeks. But Wall Street executives don’t seem eager to bring him presents, despite being invited to his party.

The New York Post reported Wednesday that Mr. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, has invited several top financial executives to help him celebrate the occasion — for a hefty fee. Coincidentally, the $1,000 guest fee (or $10,000 to $50,000 dinner fee) are payable to “Andrew Cuomo 2010″.

The newspaper said that the financial executive who gave it the party invitation was “outraged” over Mr. Cuomo’s coming hat in hand for money from Wall Street at the same time he is attacking the industry.

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122705663771939523.html

NOVEMBER 19, 2008

Obama Hears a Giant Sucking Sound

His legacy is spent before he gets his hands on it.

By HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR

Anonymous said...

The Auto execs just got a lashing in the Senate hearings for flying to Washington on private jets at 20k a flight.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404742174&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Dudi Zilbershlag, haredi founder of Meir Panim, a nonprofit charity that provides food and necessities to all sectors of Israeli society, forecasts the deterioration of the yeshiva world. "Dozens of kollelim will cease to exist. And when there is an economic slowdown, there will not be many job opportunities for haredi men, even if they wanted to work."

Sociologist Menahem Friedman, professor emeritus of Bar-Ilan University, is convinced the financial crisis will be a mortal blow. "For decades, the haredi community has not been training itself for this world, only for the world to come. Even if haredim wanted to join the labor market, they would not be able to because they lack the necessary skills. With the US economy in the grips of a crisis, we will see haredi society in real turmoil."

Anonymous said...

Washington - Attorney General Vetted To Serve In Obama - "Cabaint" - Might Get Shot Down Over His Role In Pardon Of Fugitive Marc Rich

Arthur said...

Well worth viewing.About the "bailout"

http://www.funnieststuff.net/viewmovie.php?id=1009

Arthur said...

Editorial by John Ziegler
John Ziegler Responds to the Attacks Provoked by www.HowObamaGotElected.com

11/18/2008

While I am gratified that hundreds of thousands of people have viewed (and throughly enjoyed) the youtube video that I created for www.howobamagotelected.com I have been distressed by the general nature of the liberal response I should probably hold off on sharing the over-the-top profanity-laced e-mail I have received (for now), but just go to the comments section of the video and see for yourself!

While I guess I should not have expected much from the followers of a false Messiah virtually installed by an adoring media, even I have been a bit taken aback by the absurdity of much of the reaction to the video and the Zogby poll that I commissioned.

Here are the major complaints and my response to them.

"You should have polled McCain voters and they would have been just as dumb."

I only polled Obama voters because I was trying to test the media's impact on the election. Since Obama won, it would be pointless (not to mention twice as expensive) to poll McCain voters.

On Fox News Monday night I challenged anyone to commission the same poll of McCain voters and if McCain voters as badly, or worse, I will pay their expenses. If not, they have to pay mine. One serious inquiry has been made, but I doubt they will have the guts to follow through. Gee, I wonder why.

"Your questions were biased/wrong"

These questions were carefully chosen to try and identify which news stories broke through the clutter and reached the average Obama voter. Ironically, one of the main reasons that the questions enrage the left is that many of the questions were based on news stories that the left-wing media ignored. In other words, because the left-wing ignored the negative aspects of Obama's past, they weren't reported and therefore weren't significant (or didn't really happen)and so any mention of them is evidence of a right-wing agenda lacking in credibility. Holy circular argument Batman!!

"You were just out to make Obama voters look stupid and you are probably a racist"

Nothing could be further from the truth. We went out of our way to find articulate people who thought they were informed about the election. I did not even choose the subjects (for whatever it is worth, they were chosen by a black female). The reason there are slightly more blacks than whites in the video is that we went to a "black" area of town in the morning when we had more light and then it got dark faster than I expected in the "white" area.

The point of all this is to direct the finger at the news media, not so much the voters. There are plenty of idiots on both sides of the political divide, but my concern here is that the news media coverage failed to make the electorate educated enough to produce a legitimately informed vote.

"The Zogby Poll was "Pushing Polling" and illegitimate"

This pile of horse manure was pushed by a guy, who until today, I thought was pretty credible. Nate Silver runs a website devoted to political polling. He pretends to be objective in his reporting but I learned today that he is a total left-wing hack who has no idea what he is talking about. He wrote this bogus column (which, of course, was picked up by most of the usual "nutroot" websites) laughably claiming that the Zogby poll was a "push poll." A push poll is usually thought of as a tactic used to spread negative information through polling by one campaign to do damage to another, or to get a desired result . It is rather obvious that Silver (whose website is devoted to polling!!) doesn't even understand what a "push poll" is!

There are many questions people should ask about the Zogby poll, but as John Zogby himself pointed out, whether it is a "push poll" is not one of them (unless you have no idea what you are talking about, kind of like Nate Silver).

I was so angered by Silver's hit piece on me and the Zogby poll that I asked for him to interview me. He agreed and finally called me a couple of hours later. Neither of us had the ability to record a phone call so we agreed that he would transcribe the conversation and post it in its entirely on his website.

Frankly, I was stunned by his lack of basic knowledge he possessed and the lack of research he had done regarding this issue. I learned that he wrote this hit piece without even knowing BASIC FACTS like whether the Zogby poll was done by phone or on the web (it was clearly done by phone) or having even read the actual questions which were laid out on both websites for all the world to see.

His agenda was so obvious and his credibility so laughable that as the interview wore on I stopped caring about my responses and really just let him have it. Finally when he started quizzing me about little known U.S. Senators (questions I got right, btw) I decided to end the interview. If he deserved any respect I would feel badly that I acted unprofessionally in ending it with a profanity, but he obviously does not, so I don't.

Here is the (significantly altered though still mostly accurate) transcript that Silver ended up posting. For the record, his transcript leaves out huge chunks of the ending sequence (including him acknowledging that his basis for claiming that I was misleading people was only that he disagreed with me politically), but I was surprised it wasn't even more of a hatchet job.

"You are a conservative who doesn't like Obama so this is not credible"

This is my "favorite" liberal canard in these situations. They don't like the answers so they go all "Joe the Plumber" on the questioner. What my political beliefs have to do with the answers that Obama voters gave to simple questions that were recorded by cameras and independent pollsters is beyond me. So I guess the only way this experiment would be credible is if I were a liberal black lesbian??

The bottom line here is that this poll proves that this election (like perhaps all of our elections) was illegitimate and based almost entirely on the news media deciding it wanted (for various reasons) Barack Obama to be President. I plan to prove that with my next documentary "Media Malpractice... How Obama Got Elected"

Anonymous said...

Citi's sinking

Shares get crushed in afternoon trading, with credit-default swap spreads widening and the bank shuttering another hedge fund.

Anonymous said...

St. Louis bankers spoke firmly against a federal bailout of Detroit automakers at a conference Wednesday at Webster University.

“Putting $25 billion into auto companies doesn’t address their labor costs, which are twice that of Japanese automakers,” said Bob Witterschein, chief executive of Southwest Bank. “Chapter 11 bankruptcy may be more appropriate.”

A bailout “would just be a Band-Aid,” said Allan Ivie, president of the PrivateBank in St. Louis, who agreed that bankruptcy and reorganization is the better alternative.

Dwight Erdbruegger, executive vice president of Commerce Bank, acknowledged that auto suppliers will be hurt, but he cited the government bailout of Chrysler in 1979. “Chrysler was successful for 30 years, but now they’re back again,” he said, “so a government bailout isn’t the best solution.”

Tom Chulick, chairman and chief executive of UMB in St. Louis, said the Detroit business model is flawed. “GM is built for a 50 percent market share, but they are down to a 25 percent market share,” he said, noting that foreign automakers building cars in the U.S. fare better.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Some "democracy" we live in!
***
Yahoo! Alerts Yahoo! News - My Alerts -
Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 1:54 PM

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) California Supreme Court agrees to hear legal challenges to voter-approved gay marriage ban.

Anonymous said...

The Threats Against Rabbi Nochum Rosenberg: Was He Really Shot?

Part 2

The threats, along with a clarification of how he got that head wound:

Anti-Abuse Rabbi Says He’s In Danger

Rabbi Nuchum Rosenberg claims that threats against him culminated in his being shot in the forehead last month by unknown assailants.
by Hella Winston And Larry Cohler-Esses

A Williamsburg community activist who has spoken out frequently against child sexual abuse in the Brooklyn Orthodox community claimed Monday that his life had been threatened multiple times as a result.

Rabbi Nuchum Rosenberg claimed that the threats culminated last month when he was “shot” on Berry Street, near the Williamsburg Bridge by unknown assailants.

Speaking at a press conference outside the 90th Precinct Police Headquarters in Williamsburg, Rabbi Rosenberg complained that police were unable to protect him. He pointed to a scarlet wound seared in the middle of his forehead to indicate the spot where he was hit.

But in interviews he gave before and after the press conference, Rabbi Rosenberg said he was actually uncertain just what hit him on the forehead, saying it could have been a pellet gun or even a rock.

“A car flew by as I was walking, and I felt something hit me,” he told The Jewish Week. “I didn’t see what it was.”

Anonymous said...

I think oil closed down at $52.

Anonymous said...

Having known Moish Finkel for close to twenty years back from our days of terror in Mir-Brooklyn, I seriously doubt that he ever molested anyone. In fact, even though his uncle Yitzchok is the menahel at Torah Temimah, he said he would rather send his kids to Mir instead to avoid the Hungarian perverts there. I’m sure he was an enabler and thug, but a molester? I don’t see it.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/11/19/2008-11-19_online_dating_service_eharmony_agrees_to.html

Online dating service eHarmony is adding another personality trait to its 29 dimensions of computability.

The California-based company will begin providing same-sex matches under as part of a settlement with New Jersey's Civil Rights Division.

RELATED: TAKE THAT, PROP 8! CONN. JUDGE LEGALIZES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Garden State resident Eric McKinley filed a complaint against the online matchmaker in 2005.

Under terms of the settlement, the company can create a new or differently named Web site for same-sex singles. The company can also post a disclaimer saying its compatibility-based matching system was developed from research of married heterosexual couples.

The new service, called Compatible Partners, will launch by March 31, 2009, according to an FAQ sheet the company released Wednesday. Registration will be free for the first 10,000 users who sign up after the launch.

Neither the company nor its founder, Neil Clark Warren, admit any liability.

In addition, eHarmony will pay the division $50,000 to cover administrative costs. It will pay McKinley $5,000 and give him a free one-year membership to its new service.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/11/19/2008-11-19_estimated_82000_finance_jobs_will_be_eli-2.html

Estimated 82,000 finance jobs will be eliminated, Tri-State area governors ask for bailout

Anonymous said...

As for allegations that the Rubashkins have stashed money away somewhere - they were not sophisticated enough to do something like that and this is part of the reason for their downfall.

They were a mom and pop operation that could not really deal with modern regulations and financial instruments and strategies; they grew too big without professional management.

Whatever came in was either reinvested into the business or spent or given away. Had they known what they were doing none of this would have happened and they would have been even more successful than they were at the best of times.

Combined with the old (and now, in retrospect, understandable) Russian attitude that the government is your enemy, their old ways meant disaster in this modern business environment.

Of course, today's lefty multiculturalism only excuses the dusky drug dealer for his actions; it does not give any break to a decent family that does business according to the ways of another culture and makes errors of judgment accordingly.

Anonymous said...

Oil just dipped to $49 a barrel!

Anonymous said...

He was obviously plotting to sneak across the Canadian border and get to Israel with the help of Chabad shluchim.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-slaughterhouseman,0,3257556.story

Federal prosecutors ... told a federal judge at a hearing for Sholom Rubashkin that after he was arrested last week on bank fraud charges, agents found about $20,000 in cash and silver coins packed with passports in a travel bag in his bedroom.

"You honor, if you were going to leave in a hurry, this is exactly what you would pack," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan.

Defense attorney Baruch Weiss said Rubashkin kept cash, passports and birth certificates stashed in a travel bag because he has a 15-year-old mentally disabled son who might destroy the items if they weren't secured.

Weiss said that since the raid and the plant's ensuing financial trouble, Rubashkin has used the cash to pay bills. As evidence, he showed a $1,700 receipt for a bill to the Ford Motor Co., paid in cash.

The prosecution also claimed Rubashkin is likely to tamper with evidence if released, and entered into evidence an affidavit that quotes an unnamed account clerk from Agriprocessors. According to the affidavit, Rubashkin told the clerk on Oct. 30 to "clean out your desk," an instruction she took to mean she should destroy evidence of checks that had not yet been posted.

Deegan, the prosecutor, said the clerk shredded a spreadsheet that listed checks that had not yet been posted to customers' accounts, and that Rubashkin also took a computer drive containing check records.

Deegan also said Rubashkin was implicated -- but never convicted -- in a check-kiting scheme from March 2004 in which one woman was ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution to her bank. The defense objected to the exhibits, but the judge overruled them.

Weiss, one of Rubashkin's lawyers, said 30 families had offered their homes as equity to free Rubashkin until trial. A nephew and in-laws in New York also have offered property as equity. Weiss said the total would be about $2 million, in addition to the $500,000 Rubashkin has already posted as bond.

Anonymous said...

Dow Jones futures down 200 points.

Anonymous said...

Saudi Prince al-Putzaweed bought $300 million worth of Citigroup last night yet the cynical market sends Citi tanking from high $6 to $5.45 so far this morning.

Anonymous said...

The background on Rubashkin's latest lawyer Baruch Weiss takes the cake.

His father is Weiss-Halivny from Chovavei and his shver is a big shot at JTS - two groups that copped out of the lame Rubashkin "boycott". Baruch himself graduated from JTS.

He gives a Gemara shiur at the National Synagogue where anti-Rubashkin Rabbi Herzfeld is the rov. Nat Lewin is also a member of that shul who publicly attacked his own rov.

He was a deputy of Rudy Giuliani who tried cases in front of then-judge Attorney General Mukasey.

He was then chief counsel at ICE so Rubashkin is obviously trying to sway ICE agents by pitting them against their former boss.

His wife is Washington Post reporter Laura Blumenfeld.

In private practice he has defended a long list of high profile scumbags like Don King.

Anonymous said...

The Dow just fell into the 7700s breaking through the recent lows.

And Deutsche Bank says oil is headed down to $40.

Anonymous said...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3625292,00.html

Economic crisis prompts anti-Semitism in Europe

Dramatic surge in violent attacks against Jews registered throughout Europe in recent months, as neo-Nazis once again blame Jews for global crisis

Eldad Beck

BERLIN – The global economic crisis, which is beginning to be clearly felt across Europe, has brought with it another concerning phenomenon – a rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic assaults throughout the continent.

This week a pig's head was hung on a Magen David at the entrance gate to the Jewish cemetery in the city of Goethe in East Germany, with a banner saying "Six million lies" placed alongside it. In other countries synagogue windows were smashed, Jews were attacked on the streets and calls not to buy from Jews were made.

Since the beginning of the year, 800 anti-Semitic incidents have been registered in Germany, a rise of dozens of percents compared to last year. The head of the Jewish community's council in the country said that not a week goes by without a Jewish cemetery being desecrated.

'Violence becoming a routine thing'

In Hungary, one of the countries which were particularly affected by the financial crisis, the rise in anti-Semitism has been dramatic and the number of hate crimes against Jews grew by dozens of percents this year, according to Israel's Ambassador to Hungary Aliza Ben-Nun.

'Juden Raus' Graffiti in Vienna (Photo: Daniel Kirshner)

When the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht was marked last week, the windows of a synagogue in Debrecen, the second largest city in the country, were smashed. During the High Holidays, bands of uniformed members of Hungary's extreme right gathered around synagogues in Budapest and intimidated shul-goers by their presence.

"Such violent incidents are becoming a routine thing," Ben-Nun said. "The members of the far right are becoming more and more confident. There are many more incidents of graveyard desecration, spraying anti-Semitic graffiti and verbal and physical assaults."

The increase in violent attacks against Jews, as well as immigrants, can be seen throughout Central Europe. Three men were arrested in Prague in the beginning of the week on suspicion they threw rocks at a Jewish resident. In Basel, Switzerland, a sign was posted on the window of a kosher grocery store reading, "Swiss, protect yourselves, don't buy from Jews."

Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the scientific advisor of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum: "I can say that once there is an economic crisis, the anti-Semitic images of the greedy, exploiting Jew surface. This is a regular pattern, according to which at a time of financial hardship, anti-Semitic stereotypes begin to put down roots."

The Anti-Defamation League has recently published a report indicating that there has been "a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy."

According to Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary-general of the European Jewish Congress, "There has indeed been a general rise in anti-Semitic attacks in all of Europe in recent months ... the attacks are certainly more violent today than hey used to be."

Anonymous said...

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c58_a14047/Food/Wines.html

Single-malt frum: A few of the many Orthodox Jews who attended WhiskyFest last week.

Since its inception in 1997, WhiskyFest has always attracted a sizable number of Orthodox Jews, and the festival has offered a kosher meal plan since 1999. At this year’s WhiskyFest, approximately 10 to 15 percent of the male attendees were wearing yarmulkes or black fedoras, and during the course of the evening there were at least three impromptu Maariv minyanim.

According to Joan McGinley, a manager of publications and events at Malt Advocate and one of the organizers of WhiskyFest, the Orthodox Jews at WhiskyFest tend to “be very knowledgeable . . . they know their whiskey and they are always looking for something new to try.”

Indeed, WhiskyFest is the venue were many distilleries choose to showcase both new and rare whiskeys, and spirits poured at the festival retail for as much as $400 per bottle. Howard Kilgman, one of the Orthodox attendees, who was attending the festival for his eighth time, said he attends WhiskyFest each year because it gives him a chance to “taste some of the more expensive Scotches that I normally would not get a chance to taste.”

Anonymous said...

Do these guys go to Hell, Michigan?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAGBRAI

RAGBRAI is an acronym for Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081120/NEWS09/811200372/-1/BUSINESS04

Rubashkin gets style points for hat

If you're going to get your prisoner-walk picture in the Register, take a tip from Sholom Rubashkin: A RAGBRAI hat is a nice touch. The former manager of Agriprocessors, the beleaguered Postville meatpacker, was being escorted into federal court in Cedar Rapids on Friday after his arrest on bank-fraud charges.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/11/20/2008-11-20_presidentelect_barack_obama_promised_cha.html

President-elect Barack Obama promised change, but is picking insiders

Anonymous said...

More than 100 "Blue Chip" stocks now cost less than $10.

Anonymous said...

Citigroup sinks to $4.76 this morning!

Anonymous said...

GM trading at $1.70 this morning.

Ford trading at $1.01.

Anonymous said...

BREAKING! THREATS MADE AGAINST RUBASHKIN FAMILY – Workers Said To Plan Robberies Of Local Businesses

According to audio of KPLV disc jockey Jeff Abbas interviewing an Agriprocessors' worker a few minutes ago.

Homeless ex-convicts who worked for Rubashkin have been staking out Jewish women who shop in downtown Postville and plan on robbing them and harming them. They have weapons and also plan on attacking laying armed siege to homes of Rubashkin family members.

I'm told the cheder and yeshiva (Jewish schools) have evacuated all students. If this has not been done, it should be done immediately.

All members of the extended Rubashkin family should immediately take precautions. If you need help doing this, call the mayor.

Anonymous said...

FM is reporting that Postville Police have requested reinforcements from surrounding towns. State Police are also on their way.

There are also fears of a full scale riot at the food pantry. The Mayor, Robert Penrod, who is widely viewed as inept, has not requested help from the National Guard. People are trying to convince the Gov. to declare an emergency and send in the Cavalry by executive order!

Anonymous said...

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/3db566979e57a951a0d07f415e732d17.htm

Rubashkin was implicated but never convicted in a check-kiting scheme from March 2004 in which one woman was ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution to her bank. The defense objected to the exhibits, but the judge overruled them.

Anonymous said...

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/20/news/companies/gm_shares.ap/index.htm

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of General Motors Corp. plummeted to a low not seen since the days of the Great Depression as hope that the automakers could receive a financial bailout from Congress before the Thanksgiving holiday continued to fade.

That marked the company's lowest share price since June 4, 1938, when they fell to $1.69, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes.

Efraim Levy, an analyst for Standard & Poor's Ratings Service, on Thursday backed his "Sell" rating for GM's shares

Anonymous said...

This is Archie Bunker.

There are frum men, women & children who could be killed chas vesholom.

Please contact the court appointed receiver for Rubashkin's Agriprocessors. Flood their office with requests to get the checks for back wages in the pipeline before violence erupts:

Getzler Henrich & Associates, LLC
295 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212.697.2400
Fax: 212.697.4812

Some non-Jewish residents of Postville are trying to help frum neighbors dismantle their sukkas before the armed criminals use them as markers to target them.

Anonymous said...

Rubashkin, you PUTZ!

Take the money that Chabad is laundering into your "legal defense fund" and pay the workers before they kill anyone.