World Jewish Congress fires chairman Israel Singer in surprise move!
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel Singer, one of the heads of the World Jewish Congress and a leading figure in the Jewish world for the past 30 years, was dismissed in an unexpected move Wednesday from all his posts in the WJC, Haaretz has learned.
The decision to fire Singer was announced by WJC President Edgar Bronfman and approved by the WJC steering committee. It was, however, received with great surprise by Congress officials around the world.
The development marks an all-time low in the history of the organization, which represents Jewish communities in more than 80 countries around the world
At Bronfman's initiative, the WJC steering committee held a conference call Wednesday, at the start of which Bronfman said that Singer was no longer associated with the World Jewish Congress or any of its affiliates. The steering committee is the organization's most senior decision-making body, and includes Congress leaders from all over the world.
After the announcement, Bronfman did pay tribute to Singer's efforts of the past 30 years to advance Jewish causes, including the emigration of Jews in the former Soviet Union.
"For his work on behalf of Soviet Jewry, the freeing of Mendelovich, Edelstein and [Natan] Sharanksy, exposing the Nazi past of Kurt Waldheim, securing nearly $20 billion in Holocaust restitution, and for being a leader for the Jewish dialogue with the Christian and Muslim religions, the Jewish world owes Israel Singer a tremendous debt of gratitude," Bronfman said.
Singer was one of the participants in the conference call but was not given the opportunity to speak, and declined Thursday to respond to the dismissal. His associates, however, said Wednesday that he was shocked by the news.
Haaretz has learned that several of the participants in the conference call, who are considered allies of Singer, wanted to express their objections to the decision, but were also prevented from doing so due to "technical difficulties."
The heads of the Jewish Congress in Europe and Israel on Thursday informed Bronfman that they were shocked by the decision, and threatened to pull their organizations from the WJC if he did not revoke Singer's dismissal and a series of other decisions they were informed of on Wednesday.
"I was shocked when you announced and informed the WJC steering committee via telephone that you have taken the decision to fire Israel Singer after 30 years of devoted service to the Jewish cause and this without any consultation," wrote President of the European Jewish Congress Pierre Besnainou. "I consider, at least, we need to get more explanation."
Members of the Congress said Wednesday that they believed the dismissal came against the background of Singer's refusal to back associates of Bronfman in their dispute with the Israel Jewish Congress over the nomination of its next director-general.
The secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress, Stephen Herbits, decided several months ago to fire the director-general of the Israel Jewish Congress, Bobby Brown, and appoint in his place Israel's ambassador to the European Union, Oded Eran. Herbits' decision was opposed by the treasurer of the World Jewish Congress, MK Shai Hermesh of Kadima.
Hermesh and the heads of the Israeli branch of the World Jewish Congress called the move damaging to the organization's efforts and branded it an attempt to transform the Congress from a democratic global body into one ruled by the American billionaire. In the wake of this dispute, it was decided to find a new director-general for Israel.
On Wednesday night, the WJC steering committee accepted Bronfman's request for the right to veto any replacement for Brown, and agreed that it had until March 31 to find a new secretary-general, after which Bronfman would make the appointment himself. The committee also okayed a suspension of funding for the organization in Israel due to "irregularities."
A spokesman for the World Jewish Congress on Thursday denied that Singer's dismissal was connected to the appointment of an IJC director-general, and claimed instead that he had tried to ease tensions between the WJC and its Israel branch.
The WJC also said that Herbits "has never insisted on a particular candidate" for the position. "Ambassador Oded Eran was appointed by the WJC Steering Committee in July 2006 to serve as a WJC Representative in Israel. He was never designated to be the director-general of the WJC Israel Branch," its spokesman told Haaretz.
The WJC also denied that the Wednesday conference call was beset by technical difficulties that prevented certain participants from contributing, but said that it had contacted the telephone company "to conduct and complete an investigation into the matter and to provide the WJC with a written report of what transpired."
The WJC also said that those who experienced difficulties during the conference call "could have contacted the Verizon [telephone company] operator to correct the problem, or Mr. Bronfman's office."
Singer began his work in the World Jewish Congress in 1972. He served as secretary-general of the organization from 1986 until 2001, and from 2001 until 2006 served as chairman of the Congress' administrative council.
Singer and Bronfman became the most well-known pair in the Jewish world in the 1980s, when they led a public campaign to expose the Nazi past of former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. In the 1990s, the duo facilitated the long-standing negotiations with Swiss banks over compensation payments for Jewish proprietors of dormant bank accounts.
Over the years, Singer and Bronfman held hundreds of meetings with prime ministers, politicians and senior religious leaders around the world over the restitution of Jewish property, the struggle with anti-Semitism and Israel.
Singer's activities in the World Jewish Congress helped him achieve a long list of senior positions within the Jewish world, including as president of the Jewish Claims Conference and chairman of the Policy Council of the World Jewish Congress.
Singer's prestige fell after allegations of his involvement in financial irregularities within the World Jewish Congress. The allegations were brought for investigation by New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, who revealed that Singer had used some of the money for personal use.
The Belsky files can be downloaded here:
http://savefile.com/files/53776
(copy & paste)
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
96 comments:
SIW you putz, UOJ is right again!
tis is starting to get scary.
The Belsky files can be downloaded here:
http://savefile.com/files/53776
(copy & paste)
now he really will be honored at the aguda.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Responsibility
We have been lied to, cheated on, our kids sexually abused in our yeshivas and girls' schools, rabbis fornicating with members of their congregations,- STEALING OUR MONEY FOR THEIR PERSONAL USE,- and a thousand other crimes and distortions that are destroying us!
-----------------------------------
On Monday UOJ sends a signal to what's coming on Wednesday.
Twerski, Singer, whose next?
Singer's prestige fell after allegations of his involvement in financial irregularities within the World Jewish Congress. The allegations were brought for investigation by New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, who revealed that "Singer had used some of the money for personal use."------
Identical use of words to the Haaretz correspondent
UOJ, Good to see you picked up my link on Singer from the other thread.
Who's the next "Fall Guy"?
Belsky?
Zwiebel? (Get a new suit, tie, and hat already).
Margo?
Ichud "Molestas" Gur and Duvid Olefski.
Applegrad
Scheinerman
Ohel
Gornish
Kaminetsky
Kotler
Gorelick
Other (Nominate your candidate here). Must have serious credentials.
When we get to 50 candidates (shouldn't be a problem),we'll have a run-off competition to choose the winner.
Call it "Tinaf" Idol. Ratings should be through the Roof.
Boogy,
Humbly said: I knew this was coming for months!
I know.
Kol Hakovod, UOJ.
By the way, I have the perfect host for 'Tinaf Idol'.
Jerry Springer.
Boogy,
Jerry is great choice; I already offerred it to Belsky and Marg"ho"...we'll see if they call me back.
While Singer may well have deserved to go, this does indeed smell like a power grab by Bronfman, someone I don't trust. He's shown little fidelity to Judaism in his personal life and there is simply no way he can empathize with the average Jew who is not a multimillionaire.
Firing Singer may have been just, but this is just another case of a g'vir throwing his weight around.
When Bronfman and the other Jewish billionaires (there are at least 3 here in Michigan alone, Davidson, Taubman and Gilbert) create a billion dollar endowment fund so that parents get some tuition help, then I'll believe that he's truly interested in Jewish continuity.
I'm not sure if it was Edgar, his brother Charles, or their father Sam, but one of the Bronfmans was asked how do you make $500 million. The answer was that it takes luck to make a million dollars and it takes hard work to make a million into $50 million, but to turn $50 million into $500 million only takes time.
The rich are different. Yeah, they have way more money.
Disclaimer: I worked for DuPont during a period when the Bronfman's still owned Seagrams and Seagrams owned 20% of DuPont.
Ronnie,
Singer became a huge personal liability to Bronfman and the WJC. He used up every single favor he ever had with Spitzer to keep Singer out of Jail.
The inner circle wanted Singer out desperately (some are friends) and pressed Bronfman to understand the implications of keeping Singer.
The "rich" sometimes are slow to understand; in this case Singer was a smelly dish-rag that started smelling up Bronfman and his "company".
He understands money and power, when that starts getting tainted, time to let the gofer go.
But Singer aint going quietly, he's got loads of stuff on Bronfman; you heard it here first!
On your previous comment of Schroeder on Prager...
Dennis is a reader...
Hey Dennis; there's no more inarticulate sham scientist, putz ID proponent than Gerald Schroeder. He is laughed at in the scientific community, and is a ignorant, pathetic, stuttering, idiot. With all his titles!
It hurt my ears to listen to him. RETARD!
Dennis: why the pass?
What do you have against Singer -hes accomplished many good things on behalf of jews everywhere!
Its corruption busting time
And shepherds we shall be
For Thee, my Lord, for Thee
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand
That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be
In nomine et spiritus sancti
Now you will receive us. We do not ask for your poor, or your hungry. We do not want your tired and sick. It is your corrupt we claim. It is your evil that will be sought by us. With every breath, we shall hunt them down. Each day we will spill their blood, 'til it rains down from the skies. Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace. These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost. There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth, not to push the bounds and cross over, in to true corruption, into our domain. For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we, and on that day you will reap it. And we will send you to whatever god you wish.
Hey UOJ:
Can you please go to www.vizu.com, make a poll of who your readers think should be the next fall guy, attach it here so we can vote, and then post the results?
Thanks very much and G-d bless.
uoj...
who tipped off steamroller about singer, and can someone please explain in detail what corrupted singer did.
He is laughed at in the scientific community
As the anthropogenic global warming farce is proving, scientists are hardly impartial. The research and findings generally go where the money is.
I know at least three *scientists, all way past the 99th percentile, who think highly of Schroeder. The both know much more about physics in specific and science in general than I do.
I've read Genesis and the Big Bang, the Science of God, and heard Schroeder speak and I never got the impression that he was an advocate of ID. He has an approach I find clever. Do I base my emunah on it? No, it's just something interesting and clever.
I will agree that as a radio talk show guest he makes a fine physics professor. Kinda tends to go off on tangents.
*One is a former boss of mine at DuPont who does chemistry research, one runs a private hydrogen r&d lab, used to teach nuclear chemistry and has his PhD from Princeton, and the third is a transplant cardiologist who has been the lead researcher on a number of experimental drug trials and did a residency at Mayo. His wife is also a transplant cardiologist and he likes to call her the "real" doctor in the family - she graduated first in her class at Harvard Med School. None of them are ignorant.
You're entitled to your opinion and we'll just have to agree to disagree.
BTW, I was almost on Dennis' show today during a different segment. I got thru the screener but couldn't stay on hold. He was talking about the dhimmi teacher in Hartford who had her high school students dress up in burqas show she could show what bigots Americans are. She wants to have more "cultural exchanges" with Saudi Arabia. I'd like to know if she'd ask her students to dress up like chassidim.
Singer has done some good. There is nobody that took care of his own personal interests first and foremost, more than Singer. The WJC was his vehicle for his own personal gain.
He "took millions" of dollars that he had no right to and transferred it to a secret Swiss account for his personal retirement.
I'm certain that if not for Bronfman's intervention, Singer would be sitting in jail, where he belongs.
With positions of responsibilty, comes responsibilty and accountability.
Israel Singer USED everyone and every cause to further himself!
That sort of sums it up!
BYE BYE SRULI!
This one is still the best of UOJ. Might get enshrined yet at the national archives in DC along with the constitution and the preUOJ bill of rights:
UOJ's Declaration of Independance & Bill of Human (thats minors too) Rights and Basic Decency. (Commit to memory to be deputized)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Responsibility
Every day I'm inundated with requests to investigate many different horror stories foisted on innocent people by evil people. The rotten stench of humanity fills my nostrils daily. The illness that has taken over our religion is horrifying. What kind of Judaism remains for the generations?
People that have been reading UOJ for a while should know that I take my work seriously and personal. How can you not? Orthodox Judaism is disintegrating in front of me. There is no credibilty by the called "leaders"; "every single opportunity they miss an opportunity"(Abba Eban) to do right for the Jewish nation.
They can't understand that they lost control of our minds................ Finito forever!....................
That's a great thing; because we have a new opportunity to fix the pure evil going on in the name of Torah. Can you imagine that? We have been lied to, cheated on, our kids sexually abused in our yeshivas and girls' schools, rabbis fornicating with members of their congregations, stealing our money for their personal use and a thousand other crimes and distortions that are destroying us!
The rebbe-molestation issue is burning thousands of children, many, now adults with their own children, both male and female!
I get so much mail from the victims' wives (and husbands) describing the pain their spouses are suffering. It is heartbreaking to see the amount of lives that have been destroyed by people posing as rebbes and rabbis. (There are few good ones, too few - not all rabbis are criminals and rishaim)
People in teaching and "leadership" positions that are monsters are still there. Many rabbis that are worthless humans, are hiding under one rock or another. Every day I want to quit blogging. Every day I swear it's my last. But who will take over? During my brief hiatus, until the Agudah called; nobody took over the battle. Are there no other generals? Can that be possible?
Everywhere I look insanity and dishonesty disguised as piety is rampant. No honesty anywhere. Rabbis that are caught lying, would rather continue to lie than deal with the truth. What they don't realize is the incredible amount of hard evidence against them; like voice recordings, video recordings, expert witnesses, rabbis that will testify to the truth, and much more! They just don't learn until it's too late. Rabbis can't fool ALL of the people all of the time, it's going to come back to bite them very hard! Wise guys that break and mock the law can't hide behind attorneys and use the "law" to protect them! Technology is so advanced today that every move can be monitored, and it is!
Fanatacism has taken over in many enclaves of Judaism. Regardless of what the "sociologists" are telling you about the expansion of Charedi-ism, I'm telling you it's the Titanic heading for certain death.
But I'm here to stay! I will continue this battle and keep exposing the corruption and hunt down the rishaim wherever I find them.
I have a responsibilty to continue what I'm doing, and will continue to expose the fraud and the fraudsters in every corner, under every rock, and wherever else they think they can hide.
I've learned patience, strategy and game-plan from Samuel Reshevsky. Pounce on your adversary hard when they least expect it! And that, my friends, is what I intend to do!
UOJ, is it possible for u to expound as to why and how u were involved with getting rid of Singer? I don't recall u mentioning much about him and I don't think I missed a word you have written for the last year. I'm all UOJ and the more we know of your actions the more we r proud of u, UOJ, our tactical leader.
P.S. I always live in fear that u will take another hiatus. Can u explain why u took that confounded break for some time and left us looking for some hint of when u would return? Those days were painful,man.
On the original site before it was hacked:
unorthodoxjew.blogspot.com-Dec.2005
____________________________
WJC Probe Explores Possible ‘Slush Fund’ For Israel Singer, Bronfman's Gofer
Spitzer investigation uncovers e-mail suggesting Singer had personal account from Bronfman.
Gary Rosenblatt
Attorney General Elliott Spitzer’s investigation of the World Jewish Congress has focused of late on statements attributed to Israel Singer suggesting that the chairman of the group’s governing board had a personal $2 million “slush fund” provided to him each year by Edgar Bronfman, the WJC president.
The subject came to light recently through an e-mail written Jan. 9, 2002 by Larry Cohler-Esses, then an investigative reporter with The Daily News, to Singer, who was then secretary general, the top professional post at the WJC.
At the time Singer had offered Cohler-Esses the position of head of the North American section of the WJC, the international defense agency currently under scrutiny for alleged financial improprieties.
In the e-mail, Cohler-Esses summarized his prior meetings and conversations with Singer, and asked him a series of questions.
One of the questions: “Are there any skeletons in WJC’s closet of which I should be aware before I take this position?”
Apologizing for any possible perceived “impudence” in the nature of the questions, Cohler-Esses wrote: “As we discussed on Friday, WJC officials publicly describe their annual budget as approximately $5.5 million, but its 1999 IRS tax report lists a budget of $11.1 million on income of almost $12 million. Of this, $8.1 million is listed as going to program services; about $741,000 to administration and management; and $2.2 million to fundraising.
“When we spoke on Monday, you mentioned that Edgar [Bronfman] has established a ‘slush fund’ of about $2 million for use at your personal discretion. If you subtract this sum and the amount devoted to fundraising, that leaves about $6.9 million, or still an extra $1.4 million.”
Cohler-Esses then asked if Singer’s “personal discretion fund” explained “some of the extra money,” where the rest of the money went, and if Singer was certain the funds were handled and reported legally.
The correspondence was shared with The Jewish Week recently, but not by Cohler-Esses, who was a Jewish Week staff writer from 1993 to 2000. He was hired by The Daily News in 2000 and left the paper earlier this year. He is now editor at large at The Jewish Week.
Cohler-Esses’ copy of the correspondence was subpoenaed by the Attorney General’s Office, and he was questioned about it and his relationship with Singer for more than 90 minutes on Sept. 30. Cohler-Esses appeared before Gerald Rosenberg, head of the charities bureau, and Carolyn Ellis, chief investigator.
Cohler-Esses said he affirmed the contents of his communique, a copy of which the Attorney General’s Office already had, as accurate. He said the questioning by the investigators was “very focused,” and that they were “keenly interested” in his references to the possible discrepancy in the WJC’s tax report and the mention of the “slush fund.”
“They wanted to know what I thought Rabbi Singer meant by that term when he used it,” Cohler-Esses said, “and I told them his use of the term concerned me and I wasn’t sure whether he used it facetiously, jokingly or subconsciously.”
Cohler-Esses said he subsequently turned down the WJC job offer.
Singer, through spokesman Hank Sheinkopf (Mordecai Tendler's spokesperson), told The Jewish Week he denied receiving a letter and said there was no such fund. Singer acknowledged that he had met with Cohler-Esses about the position at the WJC, but Sheinkopf said that “no such letter exists in the WJC files, nor did Singer receive such a letter.”
Sheinkopf added that the Attorney General’s Office “has inquired about this document, and we have responded appropriately.” He would not elaborate.
Sheinkopf said “no inquiry was initiated by the IRS [Internal Revenue Service], and there was no such [slush] fund.”
Darren Dopp, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, would not comment on the specifics of the investigation, which began early this year, but said it was “moving toward conclusion.” Dopp said he expected the probe would be completed next month or, at the latest, by the end of December.
In June, sources close to the investigation said it would demand reforms in the WJC’s financial control and board oversight, for which critics of the group have called, though criminal prosecution is seen as unlikely.
The controversy over the WJC began in 2004, precipitated by the discovery of a Swiss bank account that raised questions about accountability at the venerable organization.
In recent years the WJC has been known for its success in gaining hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution funds from Swiss banks for Holocaust survivors.
The most outspoken critic of WJC practices, Isi Leibler, was ousted as senior vice president of the WJC earlier this year. Bronfman, who had pledged to step down as president after 24 years, decided to run again and was re-elected, and Stephen Herbits, a close business aide of Bronfman’s, was elected secretary general.
UOJ comments
Anytime you see Hank Sheinkopf opening his LYING FOR HIRE mouth, and secret Swiss
bank Accounts, well you know the rest of the story.......
That poll is not fair, you should have at least a 5 course menu, for example swept under the persian rug "matt soliman" and was it not scheinerman that said NO VIOLATION W/O PENETRATION, or "BIG DAVE OLEWSKI" that promised a parent years ago that he will take care of these allegations, and last but not least the "BORO PARKER RABBI that does not want to MIX WITH FLATBUSH ISSUES" NOVIMINSKER putz.
UOJ! FIX THE POLL.
Excuse me please if I miss something. I understand that Mr. Singer IS corrupted, but what does that have to do with UOJ?
When Gilligan gave that dumb speech in Queens where he couldn't make up his mind about molesters & enablers, I heard JJ Goldberg speaking on the audio that Dennis Prager is a Reform Jew. Is it any surprise then that he would allow wild theories in kefira on his show?
Where's that guy now that was heatedly debating UOJ last year about Israel Singer? Even last year when he lost the argument, he took a swipe at all frum Jews while bowing out.
Boog, what do you have against Malkiel Kotler and Abba Gorelick? I can't say I've ever heard major complaints against them in the way of corruption.
UOJ and Pasik are behind this! I just know it!
http://www.nysun.com/article/50084
Religious nursery schools in New York City that have long been exempt from certain child care regulations may face new requirements under a Health Department proposal.
The Health Department's board yesterday voted to open for public comment several measures to improve safety at child care facilities, including one measure that would require some 500 child care services to obtain city permits and conduct criminal background checks on employees. Currently, faith-based nursery schools that are attached to elementary schools are exempt, thanks to their "No Permit Required" status.
Advocates said the proposals are in line with efforts over the past few years to improve safety at child care centers. "When a parent makes a choice about child care, whether they are choosing to have them in institutions run by a religious organization or whether its one run by a community organization, those programs have to meet the same safety and health requirements," the executive director of the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Gail Nayowith, said.
Still, some religious officials said that while they are committed to safety for their children, implementing the regulations could be challenging. In particular, they focused on the facility requirements and educational qualifications for child care staff. "Many of our schools have, in fact, their own training systems outside of the traditional colleges that would approach these issues from, perhaps, a more faith-based perspective," an executive vice president at Agudath Israel of America, David Zweibel, said.
Let's see if the pseudo-journalist putz Steve I Weiss can get away with ignoring this huge story. He may try to spin it as another nonsensical attempt to discredit UOJ.
Hey, I'm Steve's sister. I have no comment on Sruli Singer either. I'm just trying to be a putzette and fight for the "right" of women to make shul announcements, even though there's no precedent or reason for it.
UOJ;
2 candidates does not even scratch the surface.
Use Polldaddy.com
You can easily find 20 All-Star candidates to put up just based on the bloggings on this site.
"executive director of the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Gail Nayowith"
Maybe these people can be of assistance to Elliot Pasik and friends.
So you think they fired him because of you? Wow.
Singer was fired because of Singer, not because of me.
My role was simple, HAMMER away at the people that could fire this thief! DAILY!
I brought people together that were able to put two and two together, got journalists the information they needed, and had a key Swiss person document the theft over a long period of time and how it was done.
The Wall St. Journal harassed Enron for two years before the Feds got involved; that's sort of my model!
Blogger Posek Belsky....I'm all over you!
You lose your cred when you harp on Singer. Stick to molesters. What's your connection to Singer? Did he beat you up in elementary school or something?
Oh no! I'd better warn Belsky about this. He had been getting advice on how to deal with UOJ from Paul Krugman. Krugman was an advisor to Enron!
"
My role was simple, HAMMER away at the people that could fire this thief! DAILY!
I brought people together that were able to put two and two together, got journalists the information they needed, and had a key Swiss person document the theft over a long period of time and how it was done.
"
Now we know. You've finally become delusional. You seem to lose clarity on this topic. What's your REAL beef with Sruli Singer.
Do you expect us to beleive you when you say things like: "I brought people together that were able to put two and two together, got journalists the information they needed, and had a key Swiss person document the theft over a long period of time and how it was done."
Are you disconnected from reality that you can take credit for the work that isi leibler did? If I were him, I'd be angry that some dumb american was taking my credit. Can you maybe tell us some more details on how you did it? We are all very curious.
I agree. UOJ should stick to child molesters. That way crooks and trickster treif mochers can breathe easy.
UOJ, are you willing to address allegations made this year on Rav Salomon blog that you were related to Singer in a previous marriage? Would you deny, confirm or not comment on this allegation?
Now we know. You've finally become delusional. You seem to lose clarity on this topic. What's your REAL beef with Sruli Singer.
10:07 AM, March 16, 2007
Its actually very simple, its as boondock saint put it "corruption busting time" in any form or way it happens, no matter where or how,if you are in a high leading position and are corrupt your going down, its only a matter of time.
What is the deal with Gorelick and Kotler?
Ronnie Greenwald
Dr. Rabbi Yaakov Greenwald
Sidney Greenwald
Full,
Deny, Deny, Deny! The "allegations"
including the premise is false!
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173823735876&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
I wonder if the Agudah will make him their next punching bag because of this article.
"The tension that exists between rabbis and their flocks is legendary in Jewish history."
Rebbeim tell yeshiva kids that there was no rov in Vilna because of a sense of anava that no rabbonim felt on par with the Gaon. Berel Wein writes a different story here:
In the 18th century in Vilna, during the lifetime of the famed Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Eliahu Kramer, a bitter dispute between the rabbi of the community, Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor, and the lay leadership occurred. The issues that led up to this struggle were in retrospect minor and mainly personal. Nevertheless, Avigdor insisted upon asserting his rabbinic authority prerogatives and the community leaders refused to accede to his instructions and wishes. In the ensuing escalation, both sides issued bans of excommunication against each other and the entire situation spun well out of control.
This struggle lasted for decades, with the behavior and tactics employed by both sides deteriorating into the bizarre. After more than 30 (!) years of dispute, the parties finally reconciled, at least on a pro forma basis, but Avigdor died soon afterward, exhausted by his battle to assert his rabbinic authority over a difficult and rebellious community undergoing the changes wrought by modernism and the Haskala.
The lay leadership took its revenge on Avigdor - and rabbinic authority generally - by refusing to name another official rabbi in Vilna for the next 170 years until forced to do so by the Polish authorities in the early 1920s. As a further act of disgrace, they placed a large rock on the official seat of the rabbi in the main synagogue of Vilna, signifying the permanent rejection of rabbinic authority over them.
The rabbis in pre-World War I Lithuania had a unique means of enforcing their authority - they were allowed to slap an insulting offender in the face, usually forcing that person to leave town in shame. In a biography of Rabbi Avraham Kook, a story is related that when he was a young rabbi in Boisk, Lithuania, a young man publicly insulted a visiting great Torah scholar during synagogue services. Kook slapped the man, who thereupon left town in disgrace.
Decades later when Kook visited the US on behalf of the rebuilding of the ravaged yeshiva world of Eastern Europe, this man appeared before him, kissed his hand and thanked him for the slap. He told him that because of that slap he immigrated to America and became a very wealthy and successful businessman. He then slyly offered his other cheek to Kook and said: "Rabbi, you can slap me again whenever you wish."
In our world today, rabbinic authority stems not from slaps or pompous egoism, but rather from great Torah knowledge, loving behavior, infinite patience and a deep abiding faith in the people and God of Israel.
Ronnie Greenwald took a lot of heat for his role in the Tendler scandal. Who are the other two Greenwalds?
OK, UOJ you wise guy. Did you tip off anybody as to my whereabouts?
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2007/03/jerusalem_gay_p.html
He's really lost it. He's now telling everyone to join the Jerusalem "gay pride" parade and counterdemonstrations against every segment of Orthodoxy.
I have no problem with hearing the truth if that's what it is. I too heard from rebbeyim in mesivta that there was no rov in Vilna out of respect to the Gro and that even R' Chaim Ozer had a title slightly different than usual.
I am troubled however by Berel Wein's sign off with the Rav Kook mayseh. Is he saying that Rav Kook's frask stemmed from pompous egotism? The Rambam poskens that a mevezah talmid chochom befarhesya has a din Apikorus, so he was certainly within his rights and should be commended for defending kovod Hatorah.
I don't think that Shmarya has lost it. I think it is a great way to tell our rabbinic leaders that gay is found in the yeshivish world. Gay Mondrowitz and Gay Kolko and . . . are still out there. The rabbinic authorities have done little re the above yet they ban the gay march which will do less harm than Eisenman and all the other frum gay guys
Travis
Greenwald
Gorelick
Kotler
Belsky
Kaminetzky
Berel Wein is NOT the ultimate authority at all in Jewish history!
Many of his "stories" were found to be absolutely made up by him.
If you want real honest to goodness Jewish history, no nonsense; the only source is Dr. Shneuer Leiman!
to the above anon 12:24
how can you forget GAY LEIZEROWITZ that got to israel ahead of the big pride parade in jerusalem in november of 06.
Anon 12:24 is a big liar and lowlife.
R' Malkiel Kotler is not gay. That was a silly piece of motzee shem ra that Chaim Shaulson ym's said in Ponim Chadashos / Yiddishe Vochenshrift (Vochenshmutz?) and probably didn't expect anyone to take seriously. I have never heard gay allegations against the others either you jerk.
The slapperei with rav Kook reminds me of a more recent story. There is a loser from Boro Park called Rabbi Shia Director who spends his life trying to "shlog up" every psak of R' Moishe Feinstein. Before he completely discredited himself, he was allowed in to rabbonishe assifos. He once started being mevazeh an adam godol there. It was either R' Yaakov or Rav Gifter, I don't remember who exactly that started looking at him funny like something happened to his eyes. When Director took off his glasses to check his eyes, he got a very hard slap across the face.
Wasn't Rabbi Leiman also one of the only ones in the early days who tried to stop Kolko and Margo?
Please explain, uoj. Why was he fired now if this is about news from over a year ago. Also, the articles you refer to seem to suggest that its about a power struggle in israel. And the article in the forward says "Herbits said the reason for the decision to cut off Singer did not have “anything to do with the former set of allegations. These are things that developed separately.”
Singer declined to comment. Sources close to him said that the move to oust Singer was part of an internal power struggle."
The jpost goes to great lengths to describe the power struggle.
What does any of this have to do with you?
I'm generally a fan, but I find your taking credit for this as though it were a consequence of anything you did rather strange.
I'm generally a fan, but I find your taking credit for this as though it were a consequence of anything you did rather strange.
___________________________________
I said clearly above that Singer got Singer fired!
Twerski got Twerski FIRED from Hofstra, I just "helped" it happen!
David Framowitz fried Kolko and Margulies, I just HELPED him make it happen.
KAPISH????
But you also say above that you "helped it along", by getting "the people in the know" together, etc. I'm wondering again (and I dont think your tone of "kapish" is necessary - I'm a cautious supporter asking honest questions) what you had to do with his being fired if its a political firing as the newspaper says, and if it has nothing to do with prior events as the baal dovor herbits says in a quote? Also, why now as opposed to last year? these are questions any thinking person will ask if they read even one of these newspaper articles. Do you have answers (if you're as involved as you say you are?) I hope you dont expect us to squelch any legitiamte questions in our minds - thats not consistent with the free thinker you usually are...
once again, I'm not attcking you, I'm looking for answers. I hope you ahve some to provide.
Anon 1:37,
Sorry...
Look, this is the way it works in the big leagues:
Twerski "left for health reasons"...
Singer "left for political reasons"...
Kolko "was put on administrative leave"
Eisemann" Was planning on retiring"
Leizerowitz "was moving to Israel as planned"
Nussbaum " was too busy on his shatnez business"
I can't say anymore...I hope you understand!
UOJ, are you going to be passing along the same info about Tort Putz Twerski to Brooklyn Law School and the law firm at 40 Wall St?
You said it yourself that these pieces of dirt can run but they can't hide :o)
thats all well and good for an "official line", but what about all the people in israel and france who say he was thrown out as a power struggle? They have no reason to toe a party line, and they suggest there's more here than meets the eye. Kolko, nussbaum and twerski dont have independent people being quoted in the papers saying that they were thrown out for political reasons.
also, why now and not last year? I dont understand, which is why I'm asking. I just dont feel comfortable indicting someone with a nudge nudge wink wink answer. I would like a little more info before I make my mind up. I hope you understand.
Again, I ask because I think you do good work, and dont want to se you led astray. I am concerned about the facts in this issue - they seem to be presented across the board by the press in an entirely different light than you construe them, and I'm wondering what you know that makes you think differently than the story that seems to be quoted by every paper from the times to the jpost to haaretz to the forward. If you know something, I'd love to hear it, and I'd love to be convinced. But I reserve the right to ask skeptical questions - these are life and death matters you discuss here, after all, right?
There was also some BS finessed excuse why Ryan Karben left political office and "resigned" from his law firm. And on and on.
UOJ, you got it wrong. In the real world they check into an alcohol treatment program. ha ha
What's with this dope that keeps arguing with UOJ? He obviously expects instant results and has no clue about political processes. I once got the UJA to pull funding for something. It took them many moons and strategy meetings until they acted.
dope arguing with uoj. save your brilliance for seder night.
What happened with Hynes? I hope he was taken to Maimonides where he would get the worst care possible.
Why do you guys only beat up on Hungarians? Some Franks are pretty slimy too.
Has anyone heard lately from putzo Marvin Schick? Maybe he's afraid to open his mouth with UOJ on the prowl.
Next one on the list:
Ichud "Molestas" Gur and Duvid Olefski.
BTW, where the H is the Gerrer Dayan,
Reb Moshe Fogel in all of this.
lvf, is he part of the big cover up?
Bob Kolker, NY Magazine wants to know.
boog..
if bob wants to know he will find a way to contact me.
GUT SHABBOS!
lvf;
What about Moshe Fogel?
Belsky is history, just watch.
If the OU chucks Belsky, he still has the Igud Haganovim to call home.
At the very least, UOJ could draw up a scorecard to grade politicians running for office. Even better would be if a UOJ Party could field candidates at the local level for Councilmen, Assemblymen & State Senators.
We will stop Hynes from winning reelection in 2009. Hopefully he will be impeached before that. He'll be taking a cold shower with Irish Spring soap.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2006/03/machmirim-matzos-rest-of-story.html
I don't know why Yudel Shain is so upset at me. Margo told me he was feeling nostalgic for Romania, so I arranged to bake some matzos for him over there.
http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=2766
Does UOJ stick up for underdogs even if they are Lubobs?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/us/16jewish.html
NY Times reporting that the IRS is still investigating Singer.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3361883,00.html
Missing money in the Swiss office and a power struggle between Bronfman & Ronald Lauder.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18085124&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574901&rfi=6
This is what we get when we hire Rubashkin truck drivers.
What do you have against my rosh yeshiva, R' Shmuel Kamenetzky?
"Internal Revenue Service is still at work on its own inquiry on Singer"
"Some USD 3.8 million in funds owned by World Jewish Congress in Switzerland ‘more or less disappeared,’ Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities president tells Ynetnews."
--------------------------------
Singer never made good on his pledge to us anyway. He brought a few shleppers from his family and they ate for free.
The next time we honor a thief, we're going to get the money up-front. That's what the Novominsker paskened, although Singer doesn't live in Boro Park.
Srooli, contact Leib, let's get your book going.
UOJ, When will you be putting up a picture of Stefan Colmer for everyone to see?
COLMER must be STOPPED.
His Victims must come forward bring him to justice. Our children are still suffering and will continue to suffer until COLMER is STOPPED.
STOP COLMER. STOP HIM NOW.
Want a "get"? Forego compensation
"Is it possible to explain the bitter disappointment a woman feels during years of futile back-and-forth discussions in the rabbinic court, when she still doesn't receive a get [religious divorce]? How many tears does she shed over the wasted years, the loss of motherhood, the failure to enjoy the joy of a loving relationship?" asks Rahel Bahat.
Bahat, a religious woman, has been refused a get for 11 years.
About a year ago, she decided she would not keep silent, and is now demanding her husband compensate her financially for her suffering.
However, this has boomeranged:
Since the rabbinic court heard about the damages claim she submitted to the family court, it has refused to continue discussing her case until she withdraws her claim.
The committee for appointing rabbinic and civil judges is due to convene next week. Bahat, feeling trapped, wrote to Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann a month ago to request that he appoint non-ultra-Orthodox rabbinic judges who would show more empathy for women refused a divorce under halakha.
And the Israeli rabbinic court, which is an arm of Israeli law, is not prepared to free me ... until I give up a legal civil claim in another court?" she wrote.
The rabbinic court views claims in court as an infringement on its sole authority over matters of marriage and divorce, and therefore punishes the plaintiffs by refusing to discuss their cases.
Her husband ridiculed the rabbis, promising time and again to give her an unconditional divorce but changing his mind at the last minute. She describes him as a brilliant person whose desire to make her miserable has become his life's project.
She is angry the rabbinic courts submit to the whims of husbands out of the belief that a husband must divorce his wife out of his own free will. She describes a standard ceremony: The rabbinic judges ask the husband what he wants in return for the get, and he raises his price as they continue to pressure her.
Since she had no choice, she agreed to reduce her alimony.
"These people are afraid to do anything because according to their worldview, the husband cannot be forced into a divorce; otherwise it will be artificial," she says.
Bahat was not aware that the civil compensation claim was like a red flag for the rabbis. In December, the Tel Aviv rabbinic court judges stated, "So long as a compensation claim in another court is hovering over the husband's head, this court will not arrange a divorce."
Rabbinic courts director Rabbi Eliahu Ben-Dahan responded: "According to rabbinic court procedure, it is not sufficient for both sides to agree and for the get to be arranged ... The implementation is conditional on a court decision stating there is no halakhic obstacle to arranging the get." In other words, the rabbinic court is fully responsible for holding up the divorce.
Attorney Batya Cahane-Dror of Mavoi Satum, an organization that helps women who have been refused a get, says the fear of artificial divorce is "one big lie. That is the most hard-line approach that exists, and there are solutions even under the Orthodox approach." She adds: "Jewish tradition always found a solution: There is the selling of bread to a non-Jew before Passover, the sale of land during the seventh year, when it is supposed to lie fallow - why are there no solutions here?"
The answer is simple; the husband has the final say; If you screw with them; you will remain an aguna for life, never able to remarry a Jewish man.
Ref. Colemar;
I am working aggressively on this case, it's more important that I get it right, and into the right hands, than put it up quickly.
Please trust me; I've earned it.
Every single day I'm accepting difficult cases, many are extremely urgent, I must prioritize.
Thanks.
I am long time resident of PC. I have been following the Colmer case closely.
To my knowledge, Stefan Colmer has left Town. I asked a few of the Rabbis in town and they do not know where he is. These are the Rabbis who said Colmer was being kept under watch.
Shame on those who took this into their own hands and did not involve the authorities. Becuase of you Colmer will likely move on to the next town and hurt more innocent.
UOJ, What is your priority on on Colemar? Will you accomplish anything before he moves again and can not be caught?
Colemar can run; I've got a handle on this case.
Do you have a GPS Tracker on Colmer's ankle of something?
How can you be so certain you have this so under control?
I'm "certain" about death and taxes; I'm optimistic about finding Colemar and having the appropriate authorities deal with him.
She is angry the rabbinic courts submit to the whims of husbands out of the belief that a husband must divorce his wife out of his own free will.
I delayed giving my ex a get because of language concerning a get her lawyer put in the civil divorce. The rav that my attorney (a religious Jew) consulted said that the language was problematic at best and could be seen by the beit din as coercive. Her lawyer refused to change the language even though we made it clear that it put me in a difficult situation vis a vis the beit din. At the advice of a good and wise friend, I went ahead and granted the get and avoided telling the beit din about it.
However, I wonder what would have happened if I informed the beit din about that clause in the civil divorce. I wonder what all the froomies who kept pressuring me to 'do the right thing' would have said.
Orthodox women are perfectly willing to play both sides of the street. They will use the secular courts to their advantage, yet if men use the beit din process to their advantage, the men are monsters who have prevented righteous Jewish women from getting on with their lives.
Caveat: This is not to be taken as criticism of my ex wife. My issue is with her attorney and the frum Jews who advised her, not her.
Men and women have equal capacities for acting badly.
The WJC had been a corrupt organization long before this happened with Singer. Rabbi Meir Kahane A"H, used to refer to the WJC and UJA as corrupt "fat cats". He spent his life fighting against them. They are just another of the long list of organizations that are "chavrei ganovim". By ousting Singer, they put their split hooves forward like a pig that wants to show that he's a kosher animal.
http://www.jewishtimes.com/Opinion/
Unnerving Touch
Phil Jacobs
Executive Editor
MARCH 16, 2007
There was plenty of herring, whitefish salad, pastries and crackers to go around. There was coffee and for those that wanted, wine.
Blessings were said over food and drinks.
Collective "amens" responded.
About 10 men sat on chairs around two tables. They all seemed to be friends. They ranged in age from their 20s to 50s.
There was a D'var Torah given over the week's portion Ki Tissa. It was a chabura or gathering after shul in this Pikesville home.
Many of the men had something in common that made this group unique here. Several told about the sexual or physical abuse they had endured over the years as students at one of the area yeshivas. It wasn't a one-time get-together. Some of them have been friends since childhood. They know one another's stories almost by heart. Some tell their stories, because it feels good to know they weren't the only victims.
On this cool, sunny morning, with men in black hats and women pushing strollers just yards away on the street, a debate broke out.
A businessman with rabbinic ordination had a friendly confrontation with another friend, also a businessman. Both men, happily married with families, had been sexually molested while teens by a now-deceased rabbi of an area yeshiva and synagogue. It should be noted that men as old as their mid-60s have contacted the Baltimore Jewish Times about this man.
"He was a father figure to me," said one man. "How can we talk just about the bad when he also did some good?"
"You are a textbook case," answered his friend––as in "textbook denial."
Their stories were graphic, and might be too uncomfortable for some people reading this publication.
Finally, the question posed to the businessman who called the rabbi a "father figure:" Would he have permitted his own children to be alone with this man? The answer: an unqualified "no."
There were plenty of other discussions. Only the name of the rabbi would change. The stories of molestation, inappropriate touching and intimidating glaring was a commonality.
One man joked that he was given good grades sometimes for classes he never really took as long as he kept his mouth shut about being molested at both the rabbi's home and school. Another said that should the group write a book, it would be called "Touched by a Rabbi."
There was the issue of protectxia, Hebrew and Yiddish for "protection." Their parents, they said, sometimes went to community leaders, but little was done.
And then there was the hitting, a virtual black- and-blue-board jungle of hitting and humiliation.
One man told of being six years old and placed in a classroom trash can by his teacher.
Others spoke of being hit or poked. One man took his hand, put four fingers together like a wedge and showed how his yeshiva teacher would poke and hurt the students.
As lunch time approached, the crowd started to leave, guests rolling up the plastic tablecloths and crumbs swept into the trash can.
There was not much more to say today.
On the way home, the discussion turned to city politics. And when the walkers started splitting off, one person's parting words: "When I was in ninth grade, I was one of the smarter students. But then this happened, and I started on the way down."
Or as one man had said minutes before: "I held this in for 14 years until I was sitting in the car driving with my wife, and I told her. The more I thought about it, the more I understood what happened to me and to others. It's something that I think about now every day of my life."
The men went home to their wives and children.
They'd sing Shabbat songs, give words of Torah, entertain guests and return to shul for Mincha and Ma'ariv. The week would come and go.
They'll be back this Shabbos.
Missing money in the Swiss office and a power struggle between Bronfman & Ronald Lauder.
Two billionaires fighting over who has the bigger one.
Though I know some here are critical of him, Phil's one of the good guys.
I would like you to dig up all the dirt on Norman Lamm.
Post a Comment